Banding (part two)

I've managed to find some more information about the proposed banding of beer by gravity. That wasn't the only stipulation in the proposed Beer Drinker’s Charter. Which seems to have bbeen heavily influenced by CAMRA.

Beer Drinker’s Charter
A beer drinker's charter will probably be introduced within the next 12 months, Dyfed County Council’s Public Protection Committee was told by Chief Trading Standards Officer, Mr Edwin Nicholl. 

Five recommendations of the charter are: 

1 Beer, ale, stout or lager should be so labelled and its original gravity indicated in X symbols in varying form - one X to five X, denoting one of five specified original gravity bands.

2 All beers to be required to show the malted barley content a percentage of the total cereals and sugars used, 

3 Descriptions ‘Malt Beer' and ‘All Malt Beer' to be restricted to beers containing respectively 70 per and 95 per barley. 

4 The words ‘heavy’ ‘export, 'strong' etc to be restricted to beers of specified gravity bands. 

Mr Nicholl reminded the Committee that in 1975 the Authority carried out a survey in conjunction with other authorities into the original gravity, alcoholic content and cost of a variety of beers, lagers and stouts. 

This confirmed that not in all cases was cost directly related to its quality and strength and the details of the survey were referred to the Food Standards set up by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. 

Mr. Nicholls said "As a result their report has been published which contains radical recommendations which should be implemented by statutory regulations”.

Mr. Nicholls said in reply Councillor D.R. Johns that the regulations had not come into force yet but possibly they would be introduced in 12 months time.
Carmarthen Journal - Friday 24 June 1977, page 1.

So it turns out there was a XXXXX bands. Which majkes it look even more like the WW I price control bands. Which were these (When abolished in 1921. I've missed off the bottom two, which were for stupidly weak beers which no-one brewed in the 1970.)

4d 1027-1032
5d 1033-1038
6d 1039-1045
7d 1045-1053
8d >1054

From what we learnt of the Batemans beers, something very similar could have been used for X to XXXXX.

The stuff about malt content and the restrictions on some words implying strength smacks very much of CAMRA demands.

The big question is: why were the recommendations never put into statutes?

Banding

In one of my newspaper archive searches, I came across this article about the launch of Bateman XXXB in 1977. Which contains a throwaway reference to "banding", something I'd never heard about before.

Let's have a look at the article.

'Jubilee brew packs a wallop
AFTER AN initial period of test marketing to assess the public interest, Messrs George Bateman & Son Ltd, the Wainfleet brewers are putting on general release a new and stronger bitter beer, the first new beer they have produced since before the last war.

Claiming to be the equal fifth strongest beer in the country, the new bitter, which is known as XXXB, has a specific gravity of 48, compared with the 35 or 38 found m most bitter beers. If a report by the Food Standards Committee becomes law, the name of the new beer may have to be changed, for one of the recommendations is that the strength of beers should be officially indicated by "banding", ie by grouping gravities under X, XX, XXX and so on. Under this banding the new beer would become XXXXB, and Bateman's ordinary bitter, which is now known as XB would become XXB."
Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian - Friday 25 March 1977, page 9.

Banding, it seems, was a proposed method of indicating the strength of beer. One which, as I've never heard of it before, never came into effect. Probably because around this time CAMRA forced everyone's hand by revealing beer gravities.

Do you know what this banding reminds me of? The gravity bands of WW I price controls. From the limited information in the article, I can make a guess at the proposed bands.

X 1030-1035
XX 1035-1040
XXX 1040-1045
XXXX 1045-1050

I wonder if XXXX was the top band?

The claim that XXXB was the fifth strongest beer in the country is obvious bollocks. I can think of more than four stronger beers off the top of my head. I think they mean fifth strongest draught beer.

Now more about the beer itself.

"Full bodied
The managing director of the firm, Mr George Bateman, told the Standard "We felt there was a demand for a stronger beer, and in certain parts of the country there seems to be a very considerable interest in these stronger beers. We still think the main trade will be in a lower gravity beer, where the average drinker feels he can have several pints in safety, but there are people who want something rather stronger."

Bateman's head brewer, Mr Kenneth Dixon, describes the new beer as "a full bodied bitter with a distinct strong gravity flavour, well hopped and considerable lighter than most gravity beers.” A Standard reporter who sampled the new beer described it as “very smooth and satisfying ” The alcohol content is about 5.8 per cent, compared with 3.9 per cent in ordinary bitter beer.

There is a snag, of course. The new beer is 4p a pint more than ordinary bitter, but according to those who have sampled it, it is well worth the extra.
The experimental marketing was in several public houses in the Lincoln, Louth and Sleaford areas. The new beer is now on sale at the Woolpack, Louth, Stag’s Head, Burwell, Londesborough Arms, Metheringham, Butcher and Beast, Heighington, Nag's Head, Sleaford, Ship Tavern and Brittania, Boston, New Inn and Royal Oak, Wainfleet, Royal Oak, Winthorpe, and Queen's Head, Legbourne.

Gradually the beer will be introduced into all Bateman's houses where there is a sufficient anticipated demand."
Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian - Friday 25 March 1977, page 9.

I don't think XXXB was 5.8% ABV, To achieve that from an OG of 1048, the rate of attenuation would need to be 95%. 4.8% ABV is more likely.

And what was XXXB? A stronger version of XB. I know from a brewery visit to Batemans about this time that the two were parti-gyled together.

I like the idea of being able to drink several pints in safety. That's how I always like to drink my pints.
 

Let's Brew - 1910 Barclay Perkins KK

It’s quite shocking to see how much KK Barclay Perkins brewed. Several hundred barrels at a time. This particular batch was one of the larger ones at 854 barrels. Quite a lot of beer, considering the gravity.

It’s changed quite a bit since 1899. A majority of the base has switched to SA malt. For which I have substituted mild malt. SA malt produced a less easily fermentable wort, making it handy for beers which would undergo a long secondary fermentation. Which would be the case with KK.

Elsewhere, a small amount of crystal malt has been added. And the flaked rice has been replaced by flaked maize. I’m guessing that latter change was made on cost grounds.

There were three types of Hops. Two types of East Kent, from the 1908 and the other from the 1909 harvest. Along with Hallertau from 1908. Both of the 1908 vintage hops had been cold stored.

I’m pretty sure that this was still a genuine Stock Ale. Meaning that it would have undergone a secondary fermentation of nine to twelve months.

1909 Barclay Perkins KK
mild malt	9.00 lb	57.73%
pale malt	2.25 lb	14.43%
crystal malt 60 L	0.50 lb	3.21%
flaked maize	1.50 lb	9.62%
No. 2 invert sugar	2.25 lb	14.43%
caramel 500 SRM	0.09 lb	0.58%
Hallertau 145 mins	3.00 oz
Goldings 60 mins	3.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	3.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1073
FG	1022
ABV	6.75
Apparent attenuation	69.86%
IBU	103
SRM	15
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	145 minutes
pitching temp	59.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

 

More thoughts about Lager

On my daily walks, I've been thinking about the rise of Lager in the UK. And another possibble reason for drinkers moving over to Lager: rounds.

For those of you who aren't that well up on UK drinking culture, I explain. When drinking in a group, rather than everyone buying their drinks individually, each member will take it in turns to go up to the bar and buy a drinks for everyone. That's buying a round.

It works best if everyone is drinking the same, or at least all the drinks are of a similar price. If in a group of five, three are on Mild and two on Bitter, it wasn't much of a problem. In the mid-1970s, the difference in price was just 1p. In 1974 the average price of Bitter was 15p, while Lager was 19p. That's about 25% more expensive.

Should the mix in a group be four Lager drinkers and one Bitter drinker, it's a trickier situation. The lone Bitter drinker would be paying way over the ofdd for his bee: 18.2p per pint. Easier then, to switch to Lager and at least get wwhat you're paying for.

Then there's group pressure. If most are drinking Lager then there's the inclination to switch to it as well, to fit in with the rest of the grioup. And to make round buying simpler. If everyone is drinking the same, ordering at the bar is much easier.

What do you reckon? Do you think round buying was another impetus to Lager conversion?

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part nine)

Another trio of 1970s breweries. Though, this time, two of them are still operating. Good news, eh? Interestingly, both of the survivors are at the small end.

It makes me realise just how random it is which breweries disappear. In the case of smaller breweries, it's often down to personalities. And whether there's a family member willing to take on running the brewery. It's a dilemma which is catching up with many of the pioneers of the craft brewing industry.

Donnington
Donnington,
Gloucestershire.
Founded:    1865
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    17

A small brewery with one of the most idyllic locations of any in the UK. The tied estate is scattered around the surrounding villages.

beer	style	format	OG	description
BB	Pale Ale	draught	1033	well-balanced
SBA	Pale Ale	draught	1040	stronger and sweeter
XXX	Mild	draught	1033	Dark Mild
Light Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1033	BB bottled
Double Donn	Pale Ale	bottled	1040	SBA bottled
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled	1033	XXX bottled

Eldridge Pope
Dorchester,
Doset.
Founded:    1837
Closed:            1998
Tied houses:    200

Another decent-sized regional brewery from the West Country, based in the county town of Dorchester. They were best known for the powerful Hardy Ale, one of the strongest beers brewed in the UK and one of a handful that remained bottle-conditioned. They unwisely split the brewery and tied estate in the 1990s. with the inevitable result of the brewery closing.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1032.6	malty and heavily hopped
Special IPA	IPA	draught	1041	malty, stronger
Royal Oak	Pale Ale	draught	1048	malty
XXXX	Old Ale	draught
Double Mild	Mild	draught	1029.8	Dark Mild
Crystal Bright	Pale Ale	keg	1029.7
Master Keg	Pale Ale	keg		higher gravity
Konig Lager	Lager	keg	1033.5
Crystal Light Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1029.7
Green Top Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1041	bottled IPA
Old Master Strong Ale	Strong Ale	bottled
Goldie	Barley Wine	bottled	1085.3
Dorset Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled	1024.9	medium sweet
Konig Lager	Lager	bottled
Konig Diabetic	Lager	bottled		sugar free
Konig Imperial De Luxe	Lager	bottled		high gravity
Hardy Ale	Barley Wine	bottled	1120	bottle-conditioned

Elgood
Wisbech,
Cambridgeshire.
Founded:    1795
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    65

Located right in the north of Cambridgeshire, Elgood’s tied estate stretched into Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Which I suppose it still does today. They’ve been saved from takeover both by their small size and family ownership. The beers were pretty good, though the only time I came across them was a beer festivals.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1037	lightly hopped
Mild	Mild	draught	1030	slightly sweet Dark Mild
Keg Bitter	Pale Ale	keg		darker than many keg beers
Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1030
Fenman	Pale Ale	bottled		stronger
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled	1030	not too sweet
Russet Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		full sweet
Old English	Old Ale	bottled		heavy and sweet
Stout	Stout	bottled	1030	sweet
Iceberg Lager	Lager	bottled	1033.8

 

Up in the Andes

 I'm at the Lonquimay brewery in, er, Lonquima. This was the view from my room this morning:

It's so amazingly beautiful here. We're brewing an 1894 Thomas Usher Scotch Ale. The most scenic spot I've ever done a collaboration brew.

 

Let's Brew Wednesday- 1910 Barclay Perkins PA

The brewery’s original Pale Ale was brewed in far smaller quantities than XLK. This batch, for example, was a mere 62 barrels.

Only two ingredients are in the grist: pale malt and No. 1 invert sugar. Though, as usual, there were multiple types of base malt. Around a third was made from Californian barley, another third from Hungarian and the final third from English. All malted in the UK, of course.

Note that, unlike XLK, there are no unmalted grains. A sure sign that this was a fancy, expensive beer. Which is one reason why this wasn’t parti-gyled with XLK, as you might have expected.

Another reason the two had to be brewed individual is the hopping rate. PA’s was much higher: 13 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) to XLK’s 8 lbs. Much heavier dry hopping, too. Three times as much as in XLK.

The hops themselves were East Kent from the 1910 harvest, along with Worcesters from 1909 and `1910, both cold stored. The dry hops were East Kent from 1910.
 

1910 Barclay Perkins PA
pale malt	11.75 lb	88.68%
No. 1 invert sugar	1.50 lb	11.32%
Fuggles 150 mins	2.25 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	2.25 oz
Goldings 30 mins	2.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.50 oz
OG	1060
FG	1014.5
ABV	6.02
Apparent attenuation	75.83%
IBU	81
SRM	6.5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	172º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

 

An outrageous claim

Just a brief one. Mostly a publican explaining why drinkers didn't need to know anything about the strength of their beer. But there's o,e claim which is just, er, mind-boggling.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
I SEE that Mr. W. Wilson, the Coventry M.P., has now received the answer to his beer gravity question. I can tell Mr. Wilson that the gravity of beer has changed very little in say 20 years. If it is as weak as those he represents would have us believe how do they account for the number of people before the courts daily for being drunk and disorderly? 

As to whether beer comes from barrels, cans or casks. I can assure him that very little beer comes from "the wood" today as the wooden barrels are lined the same as metal casks, as recommended by the health authorities. 

I have a cellar about 300 years old and it is cut out of sandstone, but Mr. Wilson or any customers can at any reasonable time see where the beer comes from and how it is piped to the dispenser units in the bars. 

I find that the majority of people are satisfied with their beer - still the cheapest pint in the world - and I would like Bill Wilson to come and talk about the "gravity" of more important things, like old age pension, Northern Ireland and industrial relations. 

Good health, Bill!

Tommy Quinney)
Rainbow Inn,
Allesley.
Coventry Evening Telegraph - Monday 07 August 1972, page 6.

He is right that the strength of beer hadn't changed in the previous 20 years. Average OG had been 1037 since the early 1950s.

But that outrageous claim. That beer in the UK was the cheapest in the world. My response is a single word: Czechoslovakia.

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part eight)

Another couple of regional breweries which closed in the 1980s today. As I remarked in an earlier post, that decade seems to have been particularly hard for the larger regional brewers.

It includes one of Greenall Whitley's victims. They had a habit of buying up well-respected breweries, fucking up the beers and then closing them. They were almost as bad as the worst members of the Big Six when it came to destroying beloved breweries.

Davenport
Birmingham,
West Midlands.
Founded:    1739
Closed:    1989
Tied houses:    118

The tied estate of Davenport, though not enormous, was spread over a wide area. In addition to the West Midlands, it reached the East Midlands, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire. There was even a pub in Leeds and one in Usk South Wales. The brewery was best known for its home delivery service, which operated pretty much nationally. I quite liked their cask beers. They were purchased by Greenall Whitley in 1986 and closed a couple of years later.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1038	well-hopped
Mild	Mild	draught	1033	Dark Mild
Drum Bitter	Pale Ale	keg
Drum Mild	Mild	keg
Continental Lager	Lager	keg
Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Best Bitter	Pale Ale	bottled		weaker and more Bitter
Top Brew	Pale Ale	bottled		very strong Dark Ale
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled
Continental Lager	Lager	bottled

Devenish (Redruth)
Redruth,
Cornwall.
Founded:    1792
Closed:    1991/2004
Tied houses:    200

A subsidiary brewery of Devenish since being purchased in 1934. It mostly supplied the company’s pubs in Cornwall. Devenish closed the brewery in 1991. It reopened again under different management, before closing again in 2004. Devenish didn’t have the best of reputations. Which wasn’t helped when it was revealed much of their beer was under 1030º. They did respond by raising the gravities a few degrees to the ones you see below.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1032.5	full bodied
Cornish Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1042.5	thin but pleasant
XXX	Mild	draught	1033	fruity Dark Mild

Devenish (Weymouth)
Weymouth,
Dorset.
Founded:    1742
Closed:    1985
Tied houses:    190

Between their two breweries, Devenish supplied tied houses across most of the West Country, stretching as far east as Hampshire. Their beers didn’t have the best reputation. In 1985 all brewing was moved to Redruth and the Weymouth brewery closed.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1043	well hopped
Wessex Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1032	stronger
Saxon Bitter	Pale Ale	keg	1030.9
Dark Keg	Mild	keg		sweet
Whitbread Tankard	Pale Ale	keg
Light Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1029.8
Wessex Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1037.5
Cobbler's Nio	Barley Wine	bottled
Bosun Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled	1032.2
S-W Stout	Stout	bottled		sweet

 

Why was Lager so popular?

Ever wondered why an increasing number of drinkers were switching to Lager in the 1970s? I certainly have. Here's a rather counterintuitive answer.

Low gravity or not, lager is Britain’s fastest- growing drink. 

More than twenty-five out of every hundred pints sold in Britain’s pubs are lager. 

Yet only thirteen years ago the figure was one in a hundred. 

So what are the reasons for the fantastic growth of lagers popularity?

Mr. Claude Smith, President of the Incorporated Brewers’ Guild, puts it down to cash. 

"It all down to people having more money,” he says. 

“At the bottom of the Pile you get mild drinkers. When they get paid more, they drink bitter. 

“When they get paid even more, they drink lager, 

“Tt’s sort of fashionable and up-market. They want to prove they can afford it.”
Sunday Mirror - Sunday 01 October 1978, page 17.

So people were drinking Lager exactly because it was expensive and poor value. Seems a bit weird to me. What do you think? Did people really move to Lager because it was expensive?

Nice to know that in the 1970s, as a Mild drinker, I was at the bottom of the pile.

Breakfast update

 I'm out in the wild breakfasting again. I thought you'd like to see what I ate.

Let's Brew - 1910 Barclay Perkins XLK

By this point, Barclay Perkins Ordinary Bitter was very much a mainstream beer, being brewed in large quantities. This batch, for example, was 420 barrels,

There have been a few changes to the recipe since 1900. There’s a slight increase in the percentage of pale malt, replacing some of the adjuncts. Speaking of which, the flaked rice has been dropped, partially replaced by flaked maize.

Three types of base malt were used. A third was made from Californian barley, the rest English. Some of that English malt is described as “Gillstrap”. I assume they mean Gilstrap, one of the big Newark maltsters.

The percentage of sugar is around the same at 18%. However, rather than being all No. 1 invert, a small proportion of it has been replaced by No. 2 invert.

All the hops were English: Kent from the 1909 harvest and Worcester from 1908. The latter having been cold stored. The dry hops were Worcester from the 1909 season. 

1910 Barclay Perkins XLK
pale malt	7.50 lb	74.07%
flaked maize	0.75 lb	7.41%
No. 1 invert sugar	1.75 lb	17.28%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.125 lb	1.23%
Fuggles 145 mins	1.25 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1050
FG	1013
ABV	4.89
Apparent attenuation	74.00%
IBU	41
SRM	6.5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	145 minutes
pitching temp	59.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part seven)

More disappeared breweries. And ones which disappeared beneath the surface leaving barely a ripple. Some breweries attracted much more attention at their demise. Or maybe I only really noticed the efuss about ones located close to where I lived.

I've been thinking about why the 1980s saw so many regional brewers disappear. Could it be connected with the rise of Lager? Regionals struggled to establish Lager brands of their own and hence were at a disadvantage compared to national brewers. In 1970, the big brewers held 92% of the Lager market. And in 1975, Lager had grabbed 20% of the beer market. As a regional, that's one in five pints that you can't supply.

Small brewers - if their beer was any good - would have drinkers seek out their pubs. You'd make the effort to go to a Harveys or Bathams pub. But who would bother to find a Vaux or Matthew Brown tied house? In their trading area, these weren't exactly rare.

Anyway, on with today's trio before I get too distracted. I've another three blog posts to write today.


Cook
Halstead,
Essex
Founded:    1885
Closed:            1974
Tied houses:    0

A rather unusual brewery in that it had no tied houses. Instead, they owned some off-licences, sold to the free trade and also directly to private customers. They closed just too early for me to have a chance to try their beer. They may have been the last brewery producing an Oatmeal Stout.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught		lightly hopped, only supplied to private customers
Golden Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1034.3
Country Brew	Pale Ale	bottled	1045.5
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled	1032.9	medium sweet
Oatmeal Stout	Stout	bottled		a dryish Stout

Crown (South Wales & Monmouthshire United Clubs)
Pontyclun,
Glamorganshire.
Founded:    1919
Closed:            1989
Tied houses:    350 (mostly clubs)

This was one of the breweries established by clubs just after WW I. The name was changed to Crown in 1977. The main outlets for their beers were the affiliated clubs. Though there was also some free trade in pubs. They merged with Buckley in 1989 and stopped brewing.

beer	style	format	OG	description
CPA Clubs Pale Ale	Pale Ale	draught	1033	also in tank form
SBB Special Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1036	also in tank form
Crown Keg Beer	Pale Ale	keg		pasteurised
Clubs Amber	Pale Ale	bottled		Light Ale
Clubs Special	Pale Ale	bottled		stronger
Clubs Extra	Pale Ale	bottled		strongest
Clubs Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		sweetish

Darley
Thorne,
South Yorkshire.
Founded:    1837
Closed:            1986
Tied houses:    100

A smallish regional brewery which was acquired by the much larger Vaux in 1978, but continued to brew. Their tied estate was mostly in South Yorkshire, but stretched as far east as Hull and South into Lincolnshire. The beers were pretty good, without being anything spectacular.

beer	style	format	OG	description
IPA	Pale Ale	draught	1038	well-balanced
Dark	Mild	draught	1032	Dark Mild
Light Mild	Mild	draught	1032	hard to find
Keg Bitter	Pale Ale	keg
East India Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Amber Ale	Pale Ale	bottled		lighter
Special Mild Ale	Mild	bottled	1032	bottled Mild
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled
Barley Cream	Stout	bottled		medium sweet

 

Ticked Good Beer Guides

ticked 1982 Good Beer Guide

Strange day, today. I'm flying off to South America. Again. But my flight leaves quite late in the evening. Leaving me a good chunk of the day to fret whether I've packed everything. I really should have a checklist.

What have I been doing? Continuing with my totally superfluous beer guide to the 1970s. I'm really cracking on and am up to Jennings. Which, due to the crazy number of breweries starting with the letter "H", is just about halfway through the independent breweries.

It's a lot of fun. Remembering all these defunct breweries and their beers. I drank loads of them, having volunteered at the Great British Beer Festival in 1977, 1978 and 1979. Remembering exactly which ones I sampled is more of a problem. I wish I'd ticked beers off in the Good Beer Guide like my mate Simon did. And many others.

Including previous owners of my vintage Good Beer Guides. I did have copies of my own. Once. Not after a couple of international moves. Funny how stuff goes missing then. My second-hand 1980 edition is ticked. All Bitter, as far as I can see.

1982's first owner was another Bitter drinker, only straying with Boddington Best Mild.

I hadn't thought about it before. This is an insight into one particular beer drinker's preferences. Or perhaps into which beers were available to him. Really, a combination of both. Given the broad geographical spread of the breweries ticked, I'm guessing a fair few were drunk at beer festivals. Where Mild probably was an option. Not judging here. Just observing.

1984 isn't ticked. 1987 isn't. Neither is 1990. A shame.

Ticked Good Beer Guides are an amazing resource. A glimpse into what one drinker drank in one year. A sort of beer diary. Did they carry ticks over to the next years Good Beer Guide? Let me know if you were a ticker.

Anyone else have ticked Beer Guides? Either their own or someone else's? I'm particularly interested in ones from the 1970s and 1980s.