Thomas Usher beers in 1894

Looking at the range of beers Thomas Usher brewed in 1894, it’s clear that it was in a process of transition. While there are still five examples of the older style of Shilling Ales, there are also multiple X Ales and Pale Ales.

Starting with the older types, the Shilling Ales. Which run from 50/- to 100/-. And from 1032º to 1068º. The weakest three, which are 1040º or below, are very low gravity for the 19th century. In London, at that time, you didn’t really find any beer under 1050º.

The rates of attenuation, which get as low as just 55%, mostly look very poor. The only question is: was that really the final FG? I know that the last gravities given in some brewing records, such as William Younger’s, were cleansing rather than racking gravities.

Not sure what the “Br” suffix stands for. Though the two beers with it are lower gravity, but more heavily hopped. And more highly attenuated. To put those hopping rates of 5 lbs and 7 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt into context, in the same period, London X Ales had between 7 lbs and 9 lbs per quarter. Meaning Usher’s hopping rates are a bit on the light side, but not crazily so.

None of these Shilling Ales survived WW II, the last examples being brewed in early 1918.

Moving on to the two XX Ales, I’m not totally sure what style they were classed as. I’ve got one as a Mild Ale and the other as a Stock Ale. But they are just my random guesses. The gravities look low for Stock Ales – the weakest London examples were over 1070º - while the hopping rates are too high for Mild Ales.

The attenuation isn’t the greatest. Though if these were true Stock Ales with a secondary Brettanomyces fermentation, the real FG would have been a good bit lower.

Continuing the theme of the Shilling Ales, the Pale Ales have gravities a bit on the low side. London Pale Ales were, the exception of the odd AK, generally over 1050º. And the top-of-the-range examples were over 1060º. I often bang on about how low-gravity IPA is nothing new, and here’s proof. With Usher’s weighing in at just under 4% ABV. Which is a session beer even by modern standards.

The hopping is also, compared to London, a little on the light side. In the capital, 10 lbs to 12 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt was typical. Compared to just 8 lbs per quarter here at Usher.

Finally, we come to the two Stouts. Which, given their gravities in the 1050ºs, look more like Porters. At least by London standards, where the weakest Stouts weren’t far short of 1070º.

That standard Stout has a pretty low level of hopping: just 5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. London Stouts generally had between 8 lbs and 10 lbs per quarter. The hefty 12 lbs per quarter in the Export Stout imply that it really was intended for shipping overseas. 

Thomas Usher beers in 1894
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
XX 60/-	Mild	1055	1015	5.29	72.73%	10.00	2.77
50/- Br	Ale	1032	1009	3.04	71.88%	7.00	1.17
60/-	Ale	1040	1018	2.91	55.00%	5.00	0.86
60/- Br	Ale	1037	1010	3.57	72.97%	7.00	1.36
80/-	Ale	1053	1020	4.37	62.26%	5.00	1.15
100/-	Ale	1068	1030	5.03	55.88%	5.00	1.47
3 XX	Stock Ale	1049	1015	4.50	69.39%	10.00	2.42
IP	IPA	1044	1014	3.97	68.18%	8.00	1.83
PA	Pale Ale	1049	1014	4.63	71.43%	8.00	1.89
PA 60/-	Pale Ale	1055	1015	5.29	72.73%	8.00	2.12
Stout	Stout	1058	1019	5.16	67.24%	5.00	1.48
Stout Export	Stout	1055	1016	5.16	70.91%	12.00	2.77
Source:
Thomas Usher brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archives, document number TU/6/1/2.