London Stout after WW II

A reminder of some of the fun that awaits you if you make it to Poesiat & Kater on Saturday 18th November, 14:00 - 16:00. When I'll be talking about the history of Stout.

Even after WW II, there were still multiple categories of Stout in London. The weaker ones were in the low 1030ºs and cost 22d per pint. The stronger ones were in the mid-1040º and cost around 30d per pint.

The rate of attenuation of the weaker ones was mostly pretty crap, with the majority of examples well under 60%. Not quite as bad as Scottish Sweet Stout, but poor enough to leave them under 2.5% ABV. The Isleworth Stout looks pretty pathetic, with an OG of barely 1020º and less than 1.5% ABV. How on earth can watery beer be a Stout?

Attenuation was a smidgin better in the stronger Stouts, but still averaged below 60%. Most of the beers are pretty feeble in terms of ABV considering their gravity. This is a big change from the 1930s, when the majority of London Stouts were over 70% apparent attenuation.

It’s odd that the attenuation of London Stouts should have got poorer after WW II when the exact opposite took place with Guinness. With the rate increasing considerably in the early 1950s.

As you would expect, the stronger examples were a bit darker on average. That’s despite there being considerable variation across the different beers, the palest being just 150 and the darkest 425.

London Stout after WW II
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1957	Isleworth	Stout	22	1021.8	1011.8	1.29	45.87%	300
1957	Fullers	Nourishing Stout	22	1033	1009	3.11	72.73%	240
1957	Taylor Walker	Nourishing Stout	22	1033.3	1012.9	2.63	61.26%	300
1957	Courage	London Stout	22	1033.7	1015.6	2.33	53.71%	300
1956	Truman	Eagle Stout	22	1034.8	1016.1	2.41	53.74%	225
1957	Courage & Barclay	London Stout	22	1034.9	1016.3	2.39	53.30%	340
1956	Truman	Eagle Stout	22	1034.8	1016.1	2.41	53.74%	225
	Average		22	1032.3	1014.0	2.37	56.33%	276
1957	Barclay Perkins	Stout	30	1042.5	1020	2.89	52.94%	300
1957	Courage	Hodgsons Stout	30	1043.3	1022.2	2.71	48.73%	325
1954	Truman	Best Stout	24	1044	1017.6	3.41	60.00%	150
1957	Watney	Reids Special Stout	35	1045.2	1011.8	4.33	73.89%	225
1959	Taylor Walker	Cannon Stout	29	1045.8	1018.1	3.57	60.48%	425
1957	Hammerton	Oatmeal Stout	30	1047.1	1021.6	3.28	54.14%	350
1957	Charrington	Punch Stout	30	1047.2	1017.4	3.85	63.14%	270
	Average		29.7	1045.0	1018.4	3.44	59.05%	292
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

I'll be giving a talk on the history of London Stout at the taproom on Saturday, 18th November, 13:00 to 14:00.

Probably the only time I'll give a talk in Holland this year. Don't miss it.

Poesiat & Kater
Polderweg 648,
1093 KP Amsterdam 

Here is the link for the event:

https://facebook.com/events/s/the-story-of-london-stout-by-r/304408102440443/

This is the book based on the talk (and much expanded). Get your copy now!