This month at Barclay Perkins

It hasn't helped me with spreadsheets.

A couple of themes will be hammered at, Until they become as flimsy as silk. For a simple reason: I need to queue up posts before my next trip. The second half of September I'll be in Chile. Again. After just a couple of months.

Having hung a dead albatross around my neck by insisting on posting every day, two week trips form a bit of a problem. No way I can guarantee generating a post per day while I'm gallivanting around. So I queue up posts to cover the whole time I'm away.

Thinking up a couple of dozen posts in a few days before I fuck off enjoying myself can be a chore. And I usually settle on grabbing a theme and mercilessly beating it into submission. Until I've squeezed every last post from its beaten and bruised body.

This time around, that theme will be my 1970s Beer Guide. Your chance to relive the glamour of a vertically integrated brewing industry. And to marvel at the tied estates of brewers long forgotten. By everyone but me.

It's all material from my book "Keg!". A candid look at the UK beer scene in the 1970s. With a load of personal stuff.

I've knocked out a good few books now (somewhere approaching fifty). This one is different. Because it covers a period I lived through, it's far more personal. I'm much more invested in it than in my other books. Which might explain why I keep adding more material. And even whole new sections. I was aiming for 300-350 pages. It's already 379. And I'm barely ankle deep in the brewery guide. Here's hoping I can keep it under 500 pages. 

A more normal service may resume in October. After I've published all my travel posts.

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part five)

I'll warn you now. There were around 90 independent breweries in the mid-1970s. At the rate of three per post, I'll be busy for more than a month. If I can be arsed to keep it up. Then there are the 40-odd breweries owned by the Big Six.

If you know any bottled or keg beers that I've missed, please get in touch. I know that I haven't found information on every beer brewed in the UK in the 1970s. Especially bottled beers. I'm trying to make this the most complete list ever assembled.


Buckley
Llanelli,
South Wales.
Founded:    1769
Closed:    1997
Tied houses:    180

A medium-sized regional brewery in South Wales. Their tied estate stretched along the Welsh coast from Cardigan in the North and Swansea in the South. They were bought out in 1987 and then merged with the Crown Brewery. In 1994 they became independent again through a management buyout. Before merging with Brains in 1997 and closing.

beer	style	format	OG	description
SB Standard Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1031	well hopped
BB Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1036	well hopped
Bulk Beer (tank BB)	Pale Ale	draught	1036	BB filtered for tanks
Mild	Mild	draught	1031	medium dark and fruity
Welcome Keg	Pale Ale	keg	1036	kegged BB
Bitter Ale	Pale Ale	bottled		bottled SB
Welsh Ale	Pale Ale	bottled		a stronger Light Ale
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		medium sweet
PBA	Mild	bottled		a sweet Mild Ale

Burt
Ventnor,
Ise of Wight.
Founded:    1840
Closed:    1993
Tied houses:    11

In the 1970s, Burt was the only brewery on the Isle of Wight. Their small tied estate was mostly around Ventnor in the Southeast of the island. Their beers weren’t usually available outside the island. Their demise was quite complicated. They were taken over and closed in 1993, but the Burts name lived on in a brewpub in Sandown. While the Ventnor Brewery was set up in the old Burt’s premises in 1996 and continued to brew until 2009.

beer	style	format	OG	description
LB Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1030	well hopped
VPA Special Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1040	hoppy and distinctive
BMA Mild	Mild	draught	1030	dry Dark Mild with an unusual flavour.
Ventnor Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Golden IPA	Pale Ale	bottled		strongish Pale Ale
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		medium sweet
Strong Brown	Brown Ale	bottled		stronger and sweeter

Burtonwood
Burtonwood,
Warrington,
Cheshire.
Founded:    1867
Closed:    2004
Tied houses:    300

Burtonwood was one of the largest regional brewers in the Northwest. They owned pubs throughout Cheshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire and North Wales. Never the trendiest of breweries, they produced decent, solid beers.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1036.3	well-balanced
Mild	Mild	draught	1031.8	Dark Mild
Light Mild	Mild	draught	1031.5	thin but well balanced
LXR Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Special Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Top Hat	Pale Ale	bottled		a strong ale
Export	Strong Ale	bottled		Lager-type Pale Ale
Buckle Dark Ale	Old Ale	bottled		strong Dark Ale
Super Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		medium sweet
Stout	Stout	bottled		medium sweet

 

Let's Brew - 1935 Cairnes Cairnes Ale

The stronger pale beer had by now been renamed to simply “Cairnes Ale”. It had lost a couple of degrees of gravity in the process. But it remained over 5% ABV.

The recipe hasn’t changed a bunch sine 1923. A touch more sugar, a touch less maize. That’s about it for changes. At least as far as the grist goes. The hopping is a completely other matter.

Because that’s totally different. Whereas the earlier beer had all English hops, here they’re a combination of US West Coast and Yugoslavian. Given the quantities used, this must have led to an appreciable difference in flavour. Though the changes, were spread over time. First going to English and Oregon and only several years later to Oregon and Styrian.

The Oregon hops were from the 1933 harvest. While the Styrians are from 1932 and 1933.

1935 Cairnes Cairnes Ale
pale malt	9.75 lb	86.44%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	4.43%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.00 lb	8.87%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.03 lb	0.27%
Cluster 120 mins	1.00 oz
Cluster 90 mins	1.00 oz
Styrian Goldings 60 mins	1.00 oz
Styrian Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1052
FG	1012.5
ABV	5.23
Apparent attenuation	75.96%
IBU	66
SRM	9
Mash at	148.5º F
After underlet	155.5º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1084 Irish ale

 

 

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part four)

I hope you're enjoying this series of posts. Because there are an awful lot of them to come.

One thing that's struck me as I've been going through the breweries is how many regional breweries closed in the 1980s. And how many of the really small breweries are still open. I suppose brewers owning fewer than 20 pubs weren't the most attractive takeover targets. Not being public companies probably helped some.

We're still on the letter "B".

Belhaven
Dunbar,
Lothian.
Founded:    1719
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    25

One of a handful of surviving independent Scottish breweries in the 1979s, Belhaven is the only one to still survive. They brewed the classic three Scottish Pale Ale type of 60/-, 70/- and 80/-. And pretty good examples of the styles they were, too. Theirs was one of the few 60/- still available in cask form.

beer	style	format	OG	description
60/- Light	Pale Ale	draught	1031	dark and fruity
70/- Heavy	Pale Ale	draught	1036	well balanced
80/- Export	Pale Ale	draught	1042	distinctive
Strong Alle	Strong Alle	draught	1070	Scotch Alle
Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Export Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Strong Ale	Strong Ale	bottled	1070
No. 1 Stout	Stout	bottled		medium sweet
Dunbar Sweet Stout	Stout	bottled
Trinidad Stout	Stout	bottled		dryish; exported to Anguilla, Jamaica, St. Kitts, Tahiti and Trinidad

Brakspear
Henley-on-Thames,
Oxfordshire.
Founded:    1779
Closed:            2002
Tied houses:    130

A much-loved brewery, which was located in a quaint riverside town. Their tied estate was mostly in the town of Henley itself and the surrounding villages. Their beers had a well-deserved reputation for quality. They were amongst my favourite southern beers.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Pale Ale	Pale Ale	draught	1035	well hopped
Special Bitter Ale	Pale Ale	draught	1043	slightly sweet
XXX Mild	Mild	draught	1031	thin and hoppy Dark Mild
XXXX	Old Ale	draught	1043
Beehive Keg	Pale Ale	keg		filtered but unpasteurised
Light Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Henley Strong Ale	Strong Ale	bottled
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled
Henley Lager	Lager	bottled

Matthew Brown
Blackburn,
Lancashire.
Founded:    1830
Closed:            1991
Tied houses:    600

A major regional brewery in the Northwest, Matthew Brown’s tied estate was spread across all of Lancashire and most of Cumbria. Outside of this area, their beers only really turned up at beer festivals. They were genuinely regional, despite their size. I found their beer pretty decent and really well conditioned in the cask. It was bought by Scottish & Newcastle in 1987 and closed a few years later.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1036	well balanced and malty
Mild	Mild	draught	1031	dark and nutty
Keg Bitter	Pale Ale	keg	1039
Lion Lager	Lager	keg	1037.2
Light Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Crystal	Pale Ale	bottled		A stronger Light Ale
Export IPA	IPA	bottled		A strong Light Ale
Kings Ale	Barley Wine	bottled
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		The Dark Mild bottled
Lion Stout	Stout	bottled		medium sweet
Lion Lager	Lager	bottled

 

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part three)

More 1970s breweries beginning with the letter"B". I hope it's going to stir up some memories for those of you of a similar age to myself. And that you'll post those memories in the comments.

Bateman
Wainfleet,
Lincolnshire
Founded:    1824
Closed:    still open
Tied houses:    140

A family-owned brewery with a reasonably-sized tied estate scattered around Lincolnshire, mostly within 45 miles of the brewery. Pretty well all of their pubs sold cask beer. The beer range might have been quite narrow, but it was pretty good.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1037	malty and heavily hopped
Light Mild	Mild	draught	1032	similar to Bitter
Light Dinner Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
India Pale Ale	IPA	bottled		medium gravity
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		Light gravity
Double Brown	Brown Ale	bottled		medium gravity

Batham
Brierley Hill,
West Midlands.
Founded:    1882
Closed:    still open
Tied houses:    8

A tiny brewery which started its days as a homebrew pub, later building a small estate of tied houses. Their beers, as today, were excellent, if rather difficult to find. Their pubs were mostly located in the Black Country.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1043	distinctive and full bodied
Light Mild	Mild	draught	1036
Strong Dark Mild	Mild	draught

Beard
Lewes,
West Sussex.
Founded:    1741
Closed:    1958/1998
Tied houses:    26

A brewery which ceased brewing in the 1950s, but continued to run its estate of tied houses. Their pubs were scattered around East Sussex, with a concentration in Lewes. The beer was supplied by Harveys. They were purchased by Greene King in 1998.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1033	nutty
Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1040	stronger and sweeter
Mild	Mild	draught	1030	Dark Mild
XXXX	Old Ale	draught	1041
Keg Biiter	Pale Ale	draught	1040	kegged Best Bitter
IPA	IPA	bottled
Blue Label	Pale Ale	bottled
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		medium sweet
Exhibition Brown	Brown Ale	bottled		stronger than Nut Brown
Sweet Stout	Stout	bottled
Elizabethan Ale	Barley Wine	bottled	1090

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1935 Cairnes Bitter Ale

With the loss of a few degrees of gravity, this is looking very much like a postwar UK Ordinary Bitter. Though perhaps a touch more bitter.

Nothing is very different from in 1923. The recipe contains the same four elements: base malt, flaked maize, sugar and caramel. The only real change is that some of the base malt has been replaced by sugar.

The replacement of the English hops used in 1923 by higher-alpha acid North American and continental hops leaves the calculated bitterness a good bit higher at 49 IBU rather than 38 IBU. All of the hops were from the 1933 season. 

1935 Cairnes Bitter Ale
pale malt	6.75 lb	84.06%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	6.23%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.75 lb	9.34%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.03 lb	0.37%
Cluster 120 mins	0.67 oz
Cluster 90 mins	0.67 oz
Styrian Goldings 60 mins	0.67 oz
Styrian Goldings 30 mins	0.67 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1037
FG	1008
ABV	3.84
Apparent attenuation	78.38%
IBU	49
SRM	8
Mash at	147.5º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1084 Irish ale

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part two)

I'm gratified - if somewhat amazed - that there's at least a handful of people interested in my 1970s brewery guide. Especially delighted that I've a good excuse for posting sections of it here. As it's a chance to get more feedback on the breweries and their beers.

I welcome your input. The best and most relevant comments will be added to the book.

Adnams
Southwold,
Suffolk.
Founded:    1818
Closed:    still open
Tied houses:     70

Just like today, Adnams was a family-owned brewery with a good reputation for quality. While availability of their beers was mostly limited to East Anglia, they were starting to be available in free houses in the London area.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Mild	Mild	draught	1032	Dark Mild
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1036	distinctive
Strong Ale	Old Ale	draught	1042
Tally Ho	Barley Wine	draught	1075	Winter only
Bitter	Pale Ale	keg
Champion Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1032
Fishermans Strong	Pale Ale	bottled
Braodside	Pale Ale	bottled	1068
Tally Ho	Barley Wine	bottled	1075
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled	1029.8	medium sweet

Ann Street
St. Helier
Jersey.
Founded:    1900
Closed:    2003
Tied houses:    50

One of a handful of small breweries in the Channel Islands, Ann Street, unlike some of the others, produced no cask beer. Their beers were only available on Jersey.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Best Bitter	Pale Ale	keg		well hopped
Extra Special Bitter	Pale Ale	keg		stronger and sweeter
Mary Ann Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Mary Ann Special	Pale Ale	bottled
Mary Ann Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		medium sweet
Mary Ann Stout	Stout	bottled		Dry Stout

Arkell
Swindon,
Wiltshire.
Founded:    1843
Closed:    still open
Tied houses:    62

A family-owned brewery with a small tied estate mostly fairly close to Swindon. Their beers were, as they are now, in the malty Southwestern style. Around half of the pubs were within five miles of Swindon.  They had some free trade, even as far away as London.

beer	style	format	OG	description
BB Bitter Beer	Pale Ale	draught	1033.2	pleasantly nutty
BBB Best Bitter Beer	Pale Ale	draught	1038.2
Kingsdown Ale	Strong Ale	draught	1060	bitter brew
Keg Bitter	Pale Ale	keg	1038.2	BBB chilled and filtered but not pasteurised
Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1033.2	bottled BB
Best Bitter Beer	Pale Ale	bottled	1038.2	Bottled BBB
Strong Ale	Strong Ale	bottled
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled

 

 

 

Clubs in the 1970s

The other main type of on-licensed premises, after pubs, were clubs. Of various types. Though the largest single group were workingmen’s clubs.

Surprisingly, the number of club licences was on the increase. Growing by almost 13% over the course of the decade. What were these new clubs? I’d really like to know, because I don’t think new workingmen’s clubs were being formed.

I frequented clubs a little. Not the dancey type of club, but the workingmen's sort.

When I first starting drinking, clubs were this mysterious, closed-off world. Inaccessible, just like pubs had been in my early teenage years.

Clubs remained alien when I first started visiting pubs. That all changed in my second year at university. Some of my friends had moved to Chapeltown. Into a house directly opposite the Trades Club.

My friends realised that the student union was affiliated to the Clubs and Institutes Union (CIU). As were most working men’s clubs. Meaning we could go and play on their snooker tables. There being fuck all tables outside clubs then.

The draught beer was crap. But they had Guinness. Because of the large West Indian contingent in the clientele. We could hear the thwack of every domino they smacked down.

Old political allegiances meant that inner city Leeds had many Liberal clubs. When I lived on Burley Road, there was a club not that far away called, funnily enough, The Burley Road Liberal Club.

We used our CIU cards to get in to play snooker. Often enough that at one point they asked: “Do you want to become members, lads?” Which is what we did.

There was an obvious Scottish & Newcastle tie. But they had hand pulls serving Younger’s IPA and No.3. Of course, I drank the latter. Being dark and vaguely Mild-like. Now, knowing more of Scottish brewing practice, I suspect No. 3 was just IPA with added caramel.

We mostly went to the club to play snooker. But, of course, we’d have a couple of pints to accompany the game. They looked after the beer pretty well. And I’ve always had a soft spot for Younger’s No. 3.

What? Me work?

For the first time in a couple of months, I've returned to the manuscript of my next book, "Keg!". It was supposed to be a quick book, finished in the spring.

That didn't work out. I kept finding more and mmore dead interestinag stuff about the 1970s. Enough to totally deflect me from the idea of a quick book. I think broadening my research will be worth it in the end. If only for me. (A phrase I have used revealingly often.)

What I'm working on - a combination of existing tables and some new research - might well be a complete waste of time, in terms of reader interest. All the breweries in the UK, circa 1974. Along with the beers they brewed, thanks to Frank Bailie's "Beer Dinker's Companion from 1974 and the "1978 Good Beer Guide". The latter providing most of the gravities. A beer guide to the past.

With "Keg!" am I subconsciously trying to recreate my youth? No. It's totally consciously. Isn't that what most writing is? Grasping at an idealised past that's slipping through your fingers. Either that, or to create an idealised world, where you're the hero. I boarded the nostalgia train. And just got carried away. Again.

I find it hard to know when to stop. "Blitzkrieg!" is a good example. I could have published it a year before I did. Except I kept adding stuff.

Things are under control with "Keg!". It's only 370 pages. At the moment. Adding the brewery/beer entries will only be around another 90 pages. 460 is still way short of the Lulu maximum of 740 pages.

Let's Brew - 1934 Cairnes Double Stout

Yet another Cairnes recipe today. Well, I need to somehow justify all the time I've been spending going  through their brewing records.

Unlike Single Stout, which had seen its gravity whittles away over the years, Double Stout was the same strength as in 1923. Remaining at the same strength as Guinness Extra Stout.

Though there have been some changes to the recipe. Namely, the addition of flaked maize and a type of sugar. Not exactly sure what type of sugar it was, as it’s only described as “Saccharum”. It’s probably a kind of invert. Though I can’t be sure. I’ve guessed No. 2 invert.

The base malt was mostly made from Irish barley. Though 10% was made from Californian barley.

The hops are very different from in 1923., when they were all English. Here, they’re a split between Oregon and Styrian. The hopping rate is about the same at around 8 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt.  However, as the types of hops were higher in alpha acid, the calculated bitterness level is quite a bit higher 53 IBU.
 

1934 Cairnes Double Stout
pale malt	10.00 lb	80.65%
roast barley	1.00 lb	8.06%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	4.03%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.75 lb	6.05%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.15 lb	1.21%
Cluster 120 mins	1.25 oz
Cluster 60 mins	0.50 oz
Styrian Goldings 60 mins	0.50 oz
Styrian Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1055
FG	1014
ABV	5.42
Apparent attenuation	74.55%
IBU	53
SRM	34
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1084 Irish ale