Something that struck about the competition's categories. They were split into bottled and draught, subdivided into Pale Ale, Mild Ale and Stout, then further by gravity. I was surprised to see victors in the Mild Ale of 1042º to 1046º category. Who brewed a Mild that strong in the 1950s? Then totally gobsmacked to see medals awarded in the 1047 to 1055 category. I'm certain there were no Milds of such a strength.
For example, in 1957, Walsall Clubs and Hardy & Hanson, won medals for the strongest category of draught Mild.* What the hell were these beers? Were they ever sold in pubs, or were they just competition beers? Or another type of beer, submitted as Mild? I'm dead confused.
In 1954, Drybrough of Edinburgh won a medal for a bottled Mild Ale of an original gravity of 1036 to 1041.** Have their brewing records for that year. Not only did they not brew a Mild of any description, they didn't brew a beer in that gravity range. Take a look. There's nothing between 1032º and 1043º. What the hell was the beer they entered in the competition.
| Drybrough beers in 1954 | ||
| Beer | Style | OG |
| B 60/- | Pale Ale | 1031 |
| 60/- | Pale Ale | 1032 |
| XXP | Pale Ale | 1043 |
| Export | Pale Ale | 1045 |
| Burns | Strong Ale | 1073 |
| Source: | ||
| Drybrough brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number D/6/1/1/7. | ||
In 1957, Murray, another Edinburgh brewer, won silver in the draught Mild category of 1042º to 1046º.*** I've analyses of quite a few of their beers from this period. This looks like their Export to me. A beer of 1044º. Did they just submit one coloured up with caramel? Scottish brewers did that a lot.
It makes you wonder how many of the beers entered in all of the categories were special "competition" beers.
* Birmingham Daily Post - Tuesday 01 October 1957, page 5.
** Edinburgh Evening News - Thursday 07 October 1954, page 7.
*** Edinburgh Evening News - Monday 30 September 1957, page 8.
In some amateur comps in Australia you have to declare, for milds in particular, O.G and F.G to make sure that competitors are not entering more flavourful and stronger beers "above their class" in the BJCP guidelines.
ReplyDeleteSo in the case of O.G, this covers milds that can be mashed high, say 70 degrees, for dex and body as opposed to sacch and come out tasty but still in the ABV range.
In a way of course these are still "competition beers" because any brewery doing this would quickly be pulled into line by the accountants!!
A bit like the cask versions of bottled beers you sometimes see at beer festivals, but never in the brewery's tied pubs.
ReplyDeleteI know with the Australian International Beer Awards, if a brewery submits a beer that's not instantly recognisable, .e.g. a new craft brewery, they will check with retailers or pubs to make sure it actually is in the market. That stops some of the shenanigans, of course a brewery can submit a beer that was, ahem, not quite the same as the retail version.
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