London Stout 1910 -1920

To call WW I a monumental shock to UK brewing is no overstatement. Though, while it may have put the boot into Porter, Stout managed to struggle through the war, albeit at a greatly reduced strength.

Not that Stout was brewed without interruption throughout the war. Some brewers discontinued their Stout and simply sold their Porter as Stout. Once the most draconian limits on gravity were loosened, Stouts were on the menu again. Though obviously at a much lower strength than in 1914.

After the war, Porter in London went into terminal decline, limping through until WW II. While Stout continued to be brewed in large quantities. Though even it was becoming rarer on draught.

Over on the South bank of the river, Courage managed to brew their Stout right through the war. In contrast to Fullers, who dropped their Stout, but continued with their Porter. Courage did the exact opposite, discontinuing their Porter in early 1918 and not bringing it back until 1920.

Though if you look at Courage Stout in 1918, with its puny gravity of 1036.5º, it looks more like a Porter.

I’m surprised that Courage were able to brew a beer over 1060º as late as January 1918. Lucky devils who got to drink it. After surging over 1050º in late 1919, the gravity settled down in the mid-1040ºs right up until WW II. While many brewers opted to brew their Stout as an 8d per pint beer, Courage plumped for a 7d beer.

The hopping rate per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, other than a brief rise in 1915, was in decline throughout the war. Between 1914 1nd 1918 the fall was almost 25%. 

Courage Double Stout/Stout 1914 - 1920
Date	Year	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
21st Oct	1914	Double Stout	1078.9	1033.2	6.05	57.89%	7.20	2.33
10th Mar	1915	Double Stout	1078.9	1033.2	6.05	57.89%	7.23	2.37
22nd Sep	1915	Double Stout	1075.9	1032.1	5.79	57.66%	8.09	2.62
1st Dec	1915	Double Stout	1075.9	1025.5	6.67	66.42%	7.13	2.28
10th May	1916	Double Stout	1068.7	1024.9	5.79	63.71%	7.26	2.24
3rd Jan	1917	Double Stout	1071.7	1028.8	5.68	59.85%	6.11	2.16
24th Oct	1917	Double Stout	1063.7	1023.3	5.35	63.48%	5.98	1.87
16th Jan	1918	Double Stout	1063.7	1021.1	5.64	66.96%	5.85	1.82
2nd May	1918	Stout	1035.5	1008.0	3.63	77.34%	5.52	1.00
2nd Jul	1919	Stout	1048.5	1011.1	4.95	77.14%	5.34	1.22
1st Oct	1919	Stout	1053.7	1014.7	5.17	72.68%	5.95	1.50
21st Jan	1920	Stout	1043.8	1013.3	4.03	69.62%	5.51	1.28
Sources:
Courage brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/08/247, ACC/2305/08/248, ACC/2305/08/249, ACC/2305/08/250 and ACC/2305/08/251.

This is an excerpt from my new book on London Stout. Get your copy now!