4d Ale between the wars

The restrictions of the latter years of WW I had created a new style of beer: 4d Ale or Ale. This was a cheap, weak version of Mild whose gravity and retail price was dictated by government decree. Surprisingly, it not only survived into the immediate post war period but hung around right into the early years of WW II. It was finally killed off when the gravity of standard Mild, or X Ale, dropped to a similar level.

Selling for just 4d a pint (X Ale was 5d, Bitter 7d or 8d and Stout 8d) it had an OG of 1027 to 1030º and an ABV of 2.5 to 3%. So just about alcoholic. It had the same grist as X Ale, with which it was usually party-gyled.

The survival of 4d Ale all through the interwar period meant that British brewers had a great deal of experience in brewing very low-gravity beers. This must have been very useful when, in WW II, the gravity of standard Mild was driven down to the level of 4d Ale. In many ways, 4d Ale is the direct ancestor of most modern Milds.

Given the small quantities Whitbread brewed of their Ales (MA in the 1920's, LA in the 1930's), it's a surprise that they them going right up until WW II. In 1933 they brewed just 3,225 barrels of LA, less than 1% of their total output. In the same year 150,000 barrels of their standard X Mild were brewed. LA was surely only economically viable because it was party-gyled with X.

Ale in the 1920's
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price	OG
1926	Barclay Perkins	Ale	4d	1029.1
1926	Buddon Bigg	Ale	4d	1030
1926	Cannon	Ale	5d	1031.6
1930	Fremlins	Ale	4d	1035.7
1927	Fullers	Ale	4d	1036.5
1930	Hammerton	Ale	5d	1033.7
1926	Isherwood	Ale	4d	1026.7
1927	Isleworth	Ale	4d	1033.1
1926	Leney & Co.	Ale	4d	1027.2
1926	Mason	Ale	4d	1030.6
1927	Meux	Ale	4d	1028.7
1930	Shepherd Neame	Ale	4d	1028.5
1930	Style & Winch	Ale	4d	1028.2
1926	Truman	Ale	4d	1030.7
1930	Wells Watford	Ale	5d	1033.7
1926	Wenlock	Ale	5d	1027.7
1927	Young & Co	Ale	4d	1029.6
Source:
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.

This is an excerpt from a book I published a while ago, "Peace!". You can get your copy here.