Northeastern Bitters in 1978

Thank you the Mirror. Both Daily and Sunday. For analysing beers in the 1970s and publishing the results. At a time when beer strengths were a closely guarded secret.

But, you might say, CAMRA had started publishing gravities in the Good Beer Guide. However, that was all they published. They didn't include the ABV or the price. Information which the Mirror did provide. Using the ABV, I've been able to calculate the FG and the degree of attenuation. The type of stuff I lap up. CAMRA also only concerned themselves with cask beer. So there was nothing about the strength of keg beer.

The first article I'm consulting has 81 analyses. Mostly draught Bitter, but, for some reason, also including Old Peculier. They come from all over the UK. I thought it would be more manageable to split them up by region.

I'm starting with the Northeast, which I've defined as everything East of the Pennines from South Yorkshire to the Scottish border. It's pretty arbitrary, but what the hell.

If you're wondering why the prices are missing for some beers you can blame the newspaper archive. The right-hand edge of one of the pages has been clipped, cutting off the prices.

I almost forgot another handy thing about the Mirror articles. They include some rudimentary tasting notes. Something that wasn't very common in the 1970s. Oh, and there's also a score out of 12. So you can see which beers the two journalists who compiled the report liked best. All useful stuff.

It's interesting how high the rate of attenuation is. It averages a whisker short of 80%. 

The average gravity of 1037.3º is about exactly the same as average UK beer gravity overall. The spread of gravities is quite small, from 1032º to 1042º, but with most between 1036º and 1038º.

I've excluded Old Peculier from averages because, well, it isn't a Bitter. 

Northeastern Bitters in 1978
Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (p)	º gravity per p	% ABV per p	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	score	Flavour
Theakston	Old Peculier				1056.2	1014.8	5.38	73.67%	11	Rich, fine & deceptively mellow.
Timithy Taylor	Landlord Bitter				1042	1008	4.42	80.95%	10	Full bodied, hoppy taste.
Cameron	Strongarm				1041.2	1011.7	3.82	71.60%	10	Rich flavoured brew. Great value.
Federation	Federation Special				1040.9	1009.5	4.08	76.77%	11	A member ot Beer’s yalty. Excellent.
Newcastle	Newcastle Exhibition				1040	1007	4.29	82.50%	10	Crisp, nutty flavour, Very good.
Stones	Best Bitter	29	1.33	0.14	1038.6	1007.1	4.10	81.61%	8	Fruity & nicely balanced.
Timithy Taylor	Best Bitter	32	1.19	0.14	1038.2	1004.8	4.35	87.43%	8	Real “Bitter”. Unusual flavour.
Ward	Sheffield Best Bitter	28	1.35	0.14	1037.9	1006.8	4.05	82.06%	10	A beautiful nutty bitter.
Vaux	Sunderland Best Bitter	29	1.29	0.13	1037.3	1008.95	3.68	76.01%	8	Nice, smooth and hoppy.
Webster	Pennine Bitter	31	1.19	0.13	1036.8	1006.65	3.92	81.93%	10	An excellent beer needing an acquired taste.
Hull	Old Traditional Bitter	31	1.17	0.12	1036.2	1007.55	3.72	79.14%	9	Creamy, nicely hepped bitter.
Tetley	Cask Bitter	29	1.25	0.13	1036.2	1006.3	3.89	82.60%	11	Real ale. Truly supurb.
Tetley	Keg Bitter	31	1.16	0.12	1036.1	1006.95	3.79	80.75%	8	Last survey champion, but not quite my palate.
John Smith	Best Bitter	33	1.09	0.11	1036	1007.3	3.73	79.72%	8	Creamy, tasty. Good flavour.
Cameron	Best Bitter	27	1.31	0.13	1035.3	1008.7	3.45	75.35%	9	Nice fruity taste. Good head and lively.
Federation	Federation Ordinary	23	1.40	0.14	1032.1	1007.35	3.21	77.10%	9	Refreshing. Lacks guts but no complaints at the price.
Newcastle	Newcastle Amber	26	1.23	0.13	1032.1	1005.4	3.47	83.18%	6	Party beer. Nice hut you can’t come to any harm.
Average		29.1	1.25	0.13	1037.3	1007.5	3.87	79.92%	9.1
Source:
Sunday Mirror - Sunday 17 September 1978, pages 22 - 23.