Scottish draught Stout after WW II

The tendency towards ever-sweeter Stouts continued north of the border. And with it some very puny beers, especially in terms of ABV.

I was shocked to find draught Scottish Stout after WW II. Especially as I’ve precious little evidence of it between the wars. But it must have been a thing, as I’ve found examples from three different breweries. Draught Stout remained reasonably popular in London and, obviously, was big in Northern Ireland. In the rest of the UK, it was pretty much dead by WW II.

The main common feature of these draught Stouts is a puny OG. With the weakest, from Robert Younger – under 1030º. Which is a total joke for a beer whose name literally means “strong”.

Not that London draught Stouts were much stronger. In 1947, Barclay Perkins Best Stout was just 1037.6º  and Whitbread Stout 1035.3º.

At least the rate of attenuation is reasonable, with even the worst pushing 70% apparent. Though, due to the low OG, only one manages to crawl past 3% ABV. Even that is better than the next set manages.

Scottish draught Stout after WW II
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1947	Younger, Robert	Stout	14	1028	1007.5	2.66	73.21%
1947	McEwan	Stout	14	1030.5	1006	3.18	80.33%
1947	Campbell, Hope & King	Draught Stout	12	1032.5	1010.5	2.85	67.69%
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number TU/6/11.