Cairnes beers in 1923

"When are you going to write more about Irish beer?", I'm often asked. (Well, I'm sure at least one person has asked me.) The short answer is: now.

I've been very busy or the last couple of months. Either travelling, preparing or travelling or writing about travelling. Then there's that other thing I've been working on that I can't tell you about. Today is the first time in ages I haven't been tied up with something. And could get back to some basic work. Like trawling through brewing records.

Cairnes records, to be specific. Stuff from just before and after WW I. Quite fascinating. By the end o the war, they were just brewing two beers: Single Stout and Bitter Ale. Mostly the former. Though with gravities of 1039 and 1044, respectively, in early 1918, they were stronger than their English equivalents. For the simple reason that the average gravity brewers had to stick to was higher in Ireland.

I've chosen to look at 1923 because that's when things, in the brewing world at least, were starting to get back to normal. Or at least all into the pattern that would continue through the 1920s and 1930s. And I've more than just to beers to play with.

Cairnes entered WW I with a range of five beers: two Mild Ales, one Bitter Ale and two Stouts. Though you could argue that Single Stout was really a Porter.

In 1923, things look quite different. No sign o the Mild Ales. (Though I could have missed them, as they weren’t very frequent brews.) And the addition o a new Strong Ale. The two Stouts remain the same.

Unsurprisingly, the beers which survived are weaker. Ten degrees in the case of the Bitter Ale, nine or Single Stout and twelve or Double Stout. On the other hand, the hopping rates per quarter have remained at about the same level. Interesting, that. Attenuation has remained around the same.

The beers look like they all into classes from the last set of WW I price controls. That is, Bitter Ale and Single Stout look like 6d per pint beers, Strong Ale and Double Stout like 8d beers. Though, of course, the Cairnes brewery, being in Drogheda, was no longer in the UK in 1923. And UK rules and taxation no longer applied. 

Cairnes beers in 1914
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
2d Ale	Mild	1038	1012	3.44	68.42%	7.89	1.14
Mild Ale	Mild	1062	1022	5.29	64.52%	6.21	2.06
Bitter Ale	Pale Ale	1050	1019	4.1	62.00%	9.64	1.81
Single Stout	Stout	1050	1014.5	4.7	71.00%	6.7	1.27
Double Stout	Stout	1067	1023	5.82	65.67%	8.49	2.42
Source:
Cairnes brewing record held at the Guinness archives, document number GDB/SUB/0022.

Cairnes beers in 1923
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
Bitter Ale	Pale Ale	1040	1015	3.31	62.50%	9.97	1.35
Strong Ale	Strong Ale	1055	1014	5.42	74.55%	10.06	1.89
Single Stout	Stout	1041	1013	3.70	68.29%	8.50	1.27
Double Stout	Stout	1055	1022	4.37	60.00%	8.92	1.42
Source:
Cairnes brewing record held at the Guinness archives, document number GDB/BR17/1257.