As you may have spotted, one of the beers is called IPA. But it's not the only one that could be assigned that name. Ben Truman has it's origins in P1B, a Burton IPA. Pretty sure Double Diamond and Worthington were originally IPAs, too. So I've pulled them out into their own little table.
The IPAs are surprisingly good value. With two of the top three best-value beers. Odd, because some are the same brands as some of the worst-value keg beers. Does it make any sense to you? It doesn't to me.
It could just be because they are relatively strong. Other quite strong beers like Abbott and Cook Country Brew also score well. Overall, this set is better value than the lower-gravity Light Ales. Which isn't necessarily what I had expected. Maybe their poor value was another factor in the decline of the style.
There are other unexpected trends. Like the Midlands, North and Scottish beers being the worst value. I wouldn't have predicted that.
It's interesting to see just how many Pale Ales there were up at around the standard continental strength of 12º Plato (1048º). More than I would have expected.
Overall, attenuation averages out to 75%. Or what I would call average attenuation.Weird, or what?
That's ne done with the bottled beers. Sadly, no Stouts were included.
| Bottled IPA in 1972 | ||||||||
| Brewer | Beer | Price per half pint (p) | º gravity per p | % ABV per p | OG | FG | ABV | App. Atten-uation |
| Truman | Ben Truman | 10 | 4.37 | 0.48 | 1043.7 | 1006.9 | 4.80 | 84.21% |
| Worthington | E | 9.75 | 4.83 | 0.42 | 1047.1 | 1015.4 | 4.10 | 67.30% |
| Ind Coope | Double Diamond | 9 | 5.27 | 0.47 | 1047.4 | 1015 | 4.20 | 68.35% |
| Courage | John Courage IPA | 9 | 5.29 | 0.56 | 1047.6 | 1009.2 | 5.00 | 80.67% |
| Average | 9.4 | 4.94 | 0.48 | 1046.5 | 1011.6 | 4.52 | 75.14% | |
| Source: | ||||||||
| Daily Mirror - Tuesday 11 July 1972, page 9 | ||||||||
| Bottled Pale Ale in 1972 | ||||||||
| Brewer | Beer | Price per half pint (p) | º gravity per p | % ABV per p | OG | FG | ABV | App. Atten-uation |
| London | ||||||||
| Truman | Ben Truman | 10 | 4.37 | 0.48 | 1043.7 | 1006.9 | 4.80 | 84.21% |
| Courage | John Courage IPA | 9 | 5.29 | 0.56 | 1047.6 | 1009.2 | 5.00 | 80.67% |
| Average | 9.5 | 4.83 | 0.52 | 1045.7 | 1008.1 | 4.90 | 82.44% | |
| Midlands, North and Scotland | ||||||||
| Wolverhampton & Dudley | Pale Ale | 9 | 4.23 | 0.34 | 1038.1 | 1014.1 | 3.10 | 62.99% |
| Worthington | E | 9.75 | 4.83 | 0.42 | 1047.1 | 1015.4 | 4.10 | 67.30% |
| Greenall Whitley | Festival | 9 | 4.62 | 0.44 | 1041.6 | 1010.8 | 4.00 | 74.04% |
| Vaux | Special Export | 9.5 | 4.66 | 0.44 | 1044.3 | 1011.9 | 4.20 | 73.14% |
| Jennings | Export | 9.5 | 3.93 | 0.44 | 1037.3 | 1005.1 | 4.20 | 86.46% |
| Scottish & Newcastle | Mc Ewans Export | 10.5 | 4.02 | 0.41 | 1042.2 | 1009.1 | 4.30 | 78.44% |
| Average | 9.5 | 4.38 | 0.42 | 1041.8 | 1011.1 | 3.98 | 73.73% | |
| South | ||||||||
| Greene King | Abbott | 9.5 | 5.09 | 0.56 | 1048.4 | 1007.8 | 5.30 | 83.88% |
| Ind Coope | Double Diamond | 9 | 5.27 | 0.47 | 1047.4 | 1015 | 4.20 | 68.35% |
| Cook | Country Brew | 8.5 | 5.35 | 0.52 | 1045.5 | 1011.6 | 4.40 | 74.51% |
| Devenish | Wessex | 10.5 | 3.57 | 0.32 | 1037.5 | 1011.3 | 3.40 | 70.00% |
| Hall & Woodhouse | Forum | 9 | 4.56 | 0.43 | 1041 | 1010.9 | 3.90 | 73.41% |
| Average | 9.3 | 4.77 | 0.46 | 1044.0 | 1011.3 | 4.24 | 74.03% | |
| Overall average | 9.4 | 4.60 | 0.45 | 1043.2 | 1010.7 | 4.22 | 75.19% | |
| Source: | ||||||||
| Daily Mirror - Tuesday 11 July 1972, page 9 | ||||||||
I remember reading that Ind Coope's Draught Burton Ale (which I used to enjoy) was made from the same recipe as bottled Double Diamond. Keg DD was a different beer, and much weaker.
ReplyDeleteBelieve Worthington White shield is the descendant of a Bass pale ale going back to 1829. London bottled IPA looks like terrific value as for the price of elsewhere you get at the least a 4.8 percent abv beer.
ReplyDeleteOscar