Draught Old Ale in the 1970s

Mostly a bottled beer in its stronger iterations, there were some breweries who had draught versions available during the winter.

Sometimes, served from a pin on the bar. And often limited to halves because of the extreme strength (for the day). Marstons Owd Roger, is a good example. I remember Mogg drinking four pints of it in the Old Kings Arms and having problems with his legs when he tried to stand up. How we laughed.

I’ve used a cutoff point of 1060º for one simple reason: to make sure Old Peculier ends up in the right table.

I can’t really call it the Northern type, as Morrell was in the South and Marston in the Midlands. This stronger type was also available in bottled form

While in the South, a much weaker beer, basically like a pre-WW II Best Mild with an OG of around 1045º, was available on draught in the colder parts of the year.

You can see a few examples below. Most, but not all, are from the South. With a couple, Simpkiss and Hoskins from the Midlands. The big outlier is Timothy Taylor Ram Tam, coming from the North, but looking very much like a Southern example from the OG. Even though it was just Landlord with caramel added at racking time. It’s now called Landlord Dark.

Young’s Winter Warmer is in the London variation on the Old Ale theme, Burton Ale. By 1977, it was the last remaining example (as it remains) after Fullers replaced theirs with ESB in the early 1970s.

Being rather more modest in strength, these beers were usually dispensed by handpump and served in pints as well as halves. 

Stronger style of draught Old Ale
Year	Brewer	Beer	OG
1977	Usher	Thomas Usher 1060	1060
1977	Theakston	Old Peculier	1060.3
1977	Morrell	College Ale	1073
1977	Holden	Old Ale	1075
1977	Marston	Owd Roger	1080
	Average		1069.7
Source:
1978 Good Beer Guide.

Weaker style of draught Old Ale
Year	Brewer	Beer	OG
1977	Hoskins	Old	1039
1977	Harvey	XXXX	1041
1977	Adnams	Olde	1042
1977	Brakspear	XXXX  (or Old)	1043
1977	Taylor	Ram Tam	1043
1977	Gale	XXXXX (Winter Brew)	1045
1977	Tolly Cobbold	Old Strong	1047
1977	King & Barnes	XXXX	1047.5
1977	Hook Norton	Old Hookey	1049
1977	Simpkiss	Old	1050
1977	Young & Co	Winter Warmer	1055
	Average		1045.6
Source:
1978 Good Beer Guide.