Let's Brew - 1911 Eldridge Pope Pale Ale

Strongest of Eldridge Pope’s Pale Ales was, er, Pale Ale. There were another couple of versions of AK, but they were so similar to the base AK that I haven’t bothered including them.

This beer was parti-gyled. Not with AK, but with X and XXX. Which you might think is a bit weird. And you’d be right. It was possible because PA was made with almost exclusively first wort. Which didn’t include any No. 3 invert.

All the same elements are here that are in AK. Except in different proportions. There’s half the amount of sugar. Which was three-quarters No. 2 invert and a quarter something called “DL”. No idea what that might be so I’ve just bumped up the amount of No. 2.

Five types of English hops were employed. With no indication of their vintage.

My guess is that this was a semi-stock Pale Ale, aged for a few months before consumption. 

1911 Eldridge Pope Pale Ale
pale malt	10.00 lb	87.57%
flaked maize	0.67 lb	5.87%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.75 lb	6.57%
Fuggles 120 mins	1.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1051
FG	1015.5
ABV	4.70
Apparent attenuation	69.61%
IBU	46
SRM	6
Mash at	152.5º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity

Eldridge Pope mashing scheme 1896

The fermenting room at Eldridge Pope in the 1890s.

I thought some of you might be interested in a typical Eldridge Pope mashing scheme to go along with all the recipes of theirs I've been publishing.

For the 19th century, it's not that complicated a procedure. It's a typical example of what I would call an underlet mash. A mashing system that was incredibly popular in England. Not so much in Scotland, where most brewers seem to have gone for a single infusion, followed by a couple of sparges.

In an underlet mash, there's an initial infusion, followed 15 to 20 minutes later by the addition of a relatively small amount of hotter water from the bottom of the tun. Using an entrance called an underlet. The internal rakes would then be spun a couple of times to mix the hotter water evenly through the mash. Raising the temperature of the mash by a few degrees. The mash was then left to stand for a couple of hours.

In essence it was a simple type of step mash. The only slight downside was that you needed to have internal rakes in your mash tun. Which most breweries, where Steel's mashers were installed, didn't really need otherwise.

Admittedly, the table below would be more useful for anyone trying to recreate it if the initial heats were given. Let me know if you give it a try.

Eldridge Pope XX and PA mashing scheme 15th April 1896
operation	barrels water	strike heat	tap heat	time stood (minutes)
mash	72	161º F		17
underlet	5	190º F	152º F	147
sparge 1	62	170º F	156º F
sparge 2	61	160º F
Source:
Eldridge Pope brewing record held at the Dorset History Centre.

 

 

English Lager (part two)

It may seem difficult for some youngsters to grasp, but at one time fuck all Lager was consumed in Britain. A century after it had been introduced into the country, it still only accounted for 2% of consumption. Not a very impressive rate of growth.

Still, that 2% is enormous compared to the amount of Lager consumed in 1899.

Persons not conversant with brewing statistics inform the public through the daily press that in this country lager beer is becoming a popular drink, but this statement is not borne out by facts, and we can only surmise that the writers have mixed up their continental experience and what they have seen at some of the German cafes in London and of the populous towns with ordinary beer consumption, making this experience to become in their minds the national habit. To show the pertinence of our conclusion we give statistics from the forty-first report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue for the financial year ended the 31st March last. The gross barrels of beer brewed amounted to 35,632,131, and the quantity upon which duty was actually paid within the year was 35,590,095. The quantity of British beer exported from the United Kingdom within the same period was 462,953 barrels, but the quantity of foreign beer imported was only 45,194 barrels. These figures of home production and import are startling enough when given in barrels but probably the expression of them in terms of percentage consumption will make the comparison more striking still and it will be found that of the beer consumed in this country 99.88 per cent, was home brewed, and 0.12 per cent only of foreign origin. We do not overlook the fact that attempts have been made during the last ten years of establishing lager beer breweries in the United Kingdom. The number started has been very small, and in the majority of cases the attempt has met with failure. At the present time there are only about four such breweries in the United Kingdom. The plant in each case is of limited capacity, and the output not such as to make any appreciable difference in the percentages before given, especially when in the calculation it has been assumed that all the beer imported was lager beer, which, strictly speaking, is not the case.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 35 1899, January 15th 1899, pages 5 - 6.

German brewers did have pubs in London. The most prominent being Spaten's on Piccadilly Circus, opened in the 1890s. But they also had one Market Street in Manchester. So Lager-drinking wasn't purely a metropolitan phenomenon. Lager had been available in Manchester since 1869:

"THE STOCK EXCHANGE LUNCHEON-ROOMS.
ENTRANCES:
NEWMARKET-ST. and BACK POOL FOLD, CROSS-STREET,
with the WINES Bodega Company, Bass's PALE ALE, Reid's Imperial STOUT, and Dreher's VIENNA BEER."
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Monday 02 August 1869, page 1.

There were, indeed several failed attempts at establishing a Lager brewery. Here are a few:

The Bayerische Lager Beer Brewery in Eltham, Kent, which opened in 1881 and closed in 1888.
The Austro-Bavarian Lager Beer and Crystal Ice Company in Tottenham, London, brewed from 1882 to 1895.
The Kaiser Lager Beer Co. which lasted from 1884 to 1890.
The English Lager Beer Brewery which started brewing at Batheaston in 1890 and went bankrupt in 1893.

There were also established brewers who tinkered with Lager and they abadonned it. For example, William Younger in Edinburgh and the St. Anne’s Well Brewery in Exeter

I'm trying to work out who the four Lager brewers were. Wrexham and Tenent. Who were the other two? Jeffrey of Edinburgh, maybe?

Lots more of this to come.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1911 Eldridge Pope AK

How has a decade and a half affected Eldridge Pope AK? I some ways not all, in others quite a bit.

Let’s start with the quite a bit. The gravity is down more than 5º and the ABV more than half a percent. Boo.

Exactly what I’d expect, mind. In the early years of the 20th century brewers were under pressure. The excise duty on beer was increased to pay for the Boer War and the cost of brewing licences was greatly increased. The price of beer being totally inelastic, brewers reacted to these increases by reducing gravities. Which had been their response for more than a century.

The grist is as near as dammit identical. Same ingredients, same proportions. Nothing to see there.

While the hopping rate per barrel remained identical, the 1911 iteration included a large quantity of old hops. Mid-Kent and Kent from 1908, Worcester from 1909, East Kent from 1909 and Mid-Kent from 1910.

1911 Eldridge Pope AK
pale malt	7.00 lb	79.28%
flaked maize	0.33 lb	3.74%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.50 lb	16.99%
Fuggles 120 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1043
FG	1011
ABV	4.23
Apparent attenuation	74.42%
IBU	32
SRM	7.5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity

 

Exhibit of Foreign and Colonial Beers (part three)

I'm back with this exhibition again. With an article I'll be mining extensively.

Let's continue with the overview of beers from various regions. Starting with India.

The samples from India were top-fermentation beers; but they all partook more or less of the character of lager beers. There could be no doubt that the Indian pale ale of Messrs. E. Dyer and Co., of Solan, was the best of the group; whilst among the Indian stouts the palm must be given to the XX No. 3 of Messrs. E. Dyer and Co., Lucknow.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 38 1902, November 15th 1902, page 672.

I wonder what is meant by "the character of lager beers"? Lots of dextrin but few esters? It's worth noting that the only top-fermenting styles brewed in any of the regions were Stout and Pale Ale. The latter mostly in the form of IPA. There's no Mild or Old Ale. I'm fascinated by how international IPA at this date. Though it would later fall out of fashion.

The samples sent from Japan were very tastefully got up; the beers themselves were of an agreeable flavour, although they were of such a distinct type that much cannot be said about them.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 38 1902, November 15th 1902, page 672.

So, pretty labels, but very distinctive, the Japanese beers. It seems like a bit of a back-handed compliment. And I wish they had said more about them to explain further. Sapporo Lager is one of the beers at the exhibition which I've drunk myself.

The India pale ale of the Copeland Brewery Company, Toronto, was unquestionably the best sample from Canada, some of the other Canadian beer being of rough flavour. Messrs. Howard, Halifax, and the Cosgrave Brewery Company, Toronto, sent some very satisfactory stouts.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 38 1902, November 15th 1902, page 672.

They don't seem to have been very impressed by the Canadian beers. Note that they were IPA and Stout again.

Among the Australian samples, the Carlton Brewery Company, and McCracken’s Brewery, Melbourne, both sent samples of very fair ale. The extra stout of the Shamrock Brewing and Malting Company was in our opinion the best Australian stout.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 38 1902, November 15th 1902, page 672.

It must have been a challenge getting the Australian beers to London in good condition. Which might be why there were no Lagers amongst the samples, only top-fermenting beer.

There was a large number of different brands of beers from the United States, and among these may be specially mentioned the export beer of the Pabst Brewing Company, Milwaukee, which was a very fine full drinking beer.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 38 1902, November 15th 1902, page 672.

Interesting that Pabst was selected for special praise. My kids seem to quite like Pabst Blie Ribbon. Though I doubt that's very similar to Pabst Export from 1902.
 

English Lager (part one)

One of the many topics with which I'm weirdly fascinated by is the history of brewing Lager in th UK. Maybe it's because it nicely dovetails with a couple of my other obsessions. Namely Barclay Perkins and brewing in Scotland.

So I was dead pleased to find this lengthy article about English Lager, published in 1899. It seems to have been prompted by Allsopp's announcement that it was getting into the Lager game.

English Lager.
An announcement has been macle, apparently with authority, that Messrs. Allsopp and Sons intend at an early date to commence brewing lager beer at one of their Barton breweries. This announcement is a welcome one to those who take an interest in the world's consumption of beer, because it is likely to settle the question once for all whether in this country the small consumption of bottom-fermentation beer is due to its non-suitability to the wants of beer consumers, or that it has not been brought to the notice of the general public in an attractive form as to quality and price. In America, for instance, with a population of cosmopolitan origin, the production of lager beer is extending in all directions, and it has been asserted by those best acquainted with the industry that in a comparatively short time the brewing of top-fermentation beer will cease altogether, the national taste going in favour of lager beer, which, through not being highly hopped, is not heady, and possesses other properties attractive to the beer drinker of the States. No doubt climatic conditions have had some effect on this change of fashion, but up to the present time it has been a problem waiting for satisfactory solution why it is that in America this change should be generally taking place, whilst here the quantity of lager beer consumed is comparatively infinitesimal, and does not appear to be on the increase.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 35 1899, January 15th 1899, pages 5 - 6.

It's slightly odd that the author combines Allsopp's Lager brewery purchase with domestic consumption of Lager. Because their primary reason for brewing Lager wasn't to serve the UK. Bit for its export markets. Where Lager was seriously cutting into their sales of IPA.

The question of why Lager took off everywhere else in the late 19th century, but not the UK, is a good one. I'd put it down to a couple of factors. Number one being that the UK was already producing high-quality beer. And at a wide range of strength and character. That is, there wasn't a huge Lager-shaped hole in the market.

The second, that the brewing industry in the UK was already highly-developed, both technologically and financially. Breweries already had pretty modern equipment. And, by 1899, most breweries of any size were limited companies. Whereas in, for example, Northern Germany, the breweries were mostly small, old-fashioned and family-owned when the Lager wave swepy over them in the late 19th century. They didn't switch to bottom-fermentation. New limited companies were formed to build and run modern Lager breweries. With the technology cash behind them to easily outbrew and outcompete the older brewers.

Life for a new Lager brewer in the UK was much more difficult. Hence the many failures. There was far more competition from existing, quality beers. And plenty of large brewers with lots of money and also tied house.

I can think of a couple of reasons why Lager would take off more quickly in the USA: immigration and climate. Lots of Central Europeans coming in already used to Lager. It's noticeable that in regions settled earlier, such as the Northeast USA, Ale remained popular well into the 20th century. Anyone who has visited pretty much anywhere in the USA in the Summer can appreciate why you might reach for a nice cooling glass of Lager.

Thinking about it, the title for this article is wrong. It should be British Lager. As, of the handfull of brewers producing Lager at the time, one was in Scotland and one in Wales.

Quite a lot more of this to come. Including details of Allsopp's fancy new Lager brewery. And what became of it.

New local update

Checkpoint Charlie it is. Our new local. That seems to be settled. For the time being, at least. Despite the prices going up. Twice. (When I were a lad, prices only went up in Amsterdam once every couple of decades.)

Outside Checkpoint Charlie.

I feel quite at home there now. Which I should do, after more than a year frequenting the place. Some of the barstaff seem to recognise us. Which, again, they should do after a year. Lucas has chatted with a couple of the other regulars. It would be more of a surprise if he hadn't, sociable beast that he is. Alexei plays the pinball. Which is probably the main reason he turns up.

It's not the same as Butcher's Tears. Yet. All those layers of interactions need time to build up. Like layers of paint. I'll give it a few more years.

Tears II garden.

We've visited Tears II, the Butcher's Tears shop, a couple of times. And had a couple of beers in their massive garden, which was pleasant. But it's not a pub. Ruling it out as our local. 

Hard work building up a local. But it's work I'm prepared to put in.

Let's Brew - 1897 Eldridge Pope XXXX

An 1890 price list describes XXXX as a Strong Old Ale. No equivocation, as with the different flavours of XXX.

Still the same three elements in the grist: pale malt, flaked maize and sugar. But with a much lower proportion of the last two. Leaving it almost 95% pale malt. What else am I going to talk about here? Let’s have a think.

I know. There are no fewer than six types of pale malt. Some made from English barley and some from foreign barley. Which seems slightly excessive. Two or three is more usual.

Four types of hops on this spin. Three English, one Californian. One lot of English hops from the 1895 harvest and another from 1896. There’s no indication of the age of the other two types of hops.

Given that this was advertised as an Old Ale, I’m fairly certain that this would have been aged. Probably for at least a year. And maybe more. 

1897 Eldridge Pope XXXX
pale malt	16.25 lb	94.20%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	2.90%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.50 lb	2.90%
Fuggles 150 mins	3.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	3.00 oz
OG	1075
FG	1024
ABV	6.75
Apparent attenuation	68.00%
IBU	61
SRM	7
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity

Punch taling the piss out of a school of brewing

Everyone seems to have found the idea of teaching brewing at university hilarious. So much so, there was an article parodying the school in the magazine Punch.

The Proposed School of Brewing.
(From Punch.)
OXFORD, 2,000 A.D.
[“The Midland University, which is being formed at Birmingham, will, in one respect, be quite unique amongst the Universities of Great Britain, for it has been decided to establish in connection with it a school of brewing. There will be a chair of brewing, and the training will be of the fullest. ... A special brewing laboratory will be established contiguous to the University buildings."— Westminster Gazette.]

On reading the above, Mr. Punch was seriously perturbed. What about Oxford and Cambridge? How would they stand such competition? Would they be cut out of the field by their up-to-date rival? Obviously there was but one way to answer these questions, and accordingly Mr. Punch’s Special Prophetic Interviewer was dispatched to the Isis.

At the first glimpse it was obvious that, whatever else had happened, Oxford was not deserted. Great changes had, however, been effected. The spires and towers had all disappeared, and in their place rose a forest of tall chimneys. The S. P. I. made his way to Christ Church, which indeed he had some difficulty in recognising. Tom Quad and the Cathedral had been pulled down to make room for a huge red-brick building, whence issued a continuous stream of brewer’s drays driven by undergrads in cap and gown. The S. P. I. entered. A large audience were listening to Dr. Vatz, the Dean, who was lecturing on the Chemistry of Bitters, samples of which were handed round the class at frequent intervals. It appeared to be a very popular lecture. At its conclusion the S. P. I. presented himself to the Dean, who kindly volunteered as cicerone.

“Great changes?” remarked the Dean. “No doubt there are. Why, in your time, there wasn’t even a chair of Brewing. This is the Bottling Department. Most of the undergraduates here are Freshmen. That man in the scholar’s gown? He is one of our most promising students, and has already taken the Hertford and Ireland. No," added the Dean, smiling indulgently at the S. P. I's ignorance, “these are no longer classical scholarships, they are given for Malting and Brewing.”
The Brewers' Journal vol. 35 1899, January 15th 1899, page 7.

They imagined that beer wouldn't be the only industry taught at the university.

“Then is beer the only profession now taught in Oxford?" “By no means. In Balliol they make whisky, in All Soles, boots and shoes, and so forth. But here we don’t do much but brewing. Christ Church is still the aristocratic college, you know. Even in your time brewers were a majority of the House of Lords—not a majority ? Well, a big percentage, at all events.”

“And classics?”

The Dean laughed. “Of course, the old regime died hard. Balliol was the Pioneer of the new Oxford Movement, and when she first put up her whisky laboratory. Convocation and Congregation protested to a curate. But the change had to come. Birmingham was beating us everywhere. The aristocracy were all going there, Birmingham Bachelors of Brewing and Doctors of Distilling were getting every post in the country worth having."
The Brewers' Journal vol. 35 1899, January 15th 1899, page 7.

The article finishes with some good, old-fashioned sexism.

“And what about the women?”

“Of course, the New Movement affected them too. Somerville is now a steam-laundry with a mangling laboratory, and Lady Margaret’s is a school of cookery where they read for degrees in the domestic arts. But I must be off," cried the Dean, “to visit the fermenting bins, or the Freshmen will be poisoning themselves with the carbonic acid. Before you leave Oxford, you should run round and see the improvements at the Ashmolean. It used to be a library, didn’t it ? Now it’s the University Co-operative Stores, where undergraduates do their practical work for the shopwalkers’ degree."

So the S. P. I. returned to town, satisfied that Oxford will hold her own with her pushful younger sister.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 35 1899, January 15th 1899, page 7.

All very amusing, I'm sure you'll agree. Well, and incredibly snobbish and condescending.

Reminding you of some more of my excellent books

And also that I promise all the money I raise will be spent on kid's shoes. Maybe a little whisky as well. And the odd bottle of cachaca.

Talking of the kids, this book recounts some of my travels with them.

 

My book in brewing in WW I recounts its true horrors: like 1% ABV Mild. 

 

 The happy years of post-WW II brewing you can find in "Austerity!",

 

Follow me on my travels, mostly around the USA. 

 

 I usually describe this as an expansion pack for the Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer. Just recipes. Lots of them.

 

 Me touring around again, this time pushing my Scottish book.

 

 And this is that Scottish book. By far the best history of Scottish beer.Full of facts rather than myths. Lots of recipes, too.

 

 Finally, guide to a country that no longer exists.

Lost pubs

There's much lamentation nowadays when a pub is lost. A sad day when last orders really are the last orders.

Pubs are seen as community assets. Generally, a good thing. Worthy of protection and preservation.

But that wasn't always like that. Go back 120 years and there were many who considered pubs so irredeemably evil that they needed to be stamped out. Unfortunately, many such men served as licensing magistrates. With the power to arbitrarily refuse or remove a licence. A power they weer only too happy to abuse.

In 1902, Farnham licensing magistrates decided to refuse the renewal of the licences of nine of the town's 45 pubs. For no other reason than that they thought there were too pubs. Not then they were dens of crime, unsafe, insanitary, insolvent or anything else. Just some magistrates wanted to eliminate as many pubs as possible.

A delicensed pub was worth a fraction of its value as a pub. Especially a fully-licensed pub (one that could sell both beer and spirits). Meaning a destruction of capital for the brewer. This threat led to a fall in the price of a pubs. As a big chunk of a brewer's capital was tied up in pubs, this fall in the value of their tied estate led some to being overcapitalised. Some marked down their shares from £10 to £1. The economic impact of closures was greater than just the loss of pubs.

Between 1870 and 1914 there was a 25% fall in the number of on-licences in England and Wales. Despite a considerable growth in the population, which rose from 31.5 million in 1871 to 46 million in 1914.
 
I'll finish with some numbers. 

Number of pubs in England and Wales 1879 - 1914
Date	Full	Beer / wine	Total Pubs
1870	68,789	49,396	118,185
1875	69,184	43,884	113,068
1880	69,112	49,597	118,709
1881	68,632	38,309	106,941
1885	67,822	37,278	105,100
1890	67,315	36,498	103,813
1893	67,028	35,809	102,837
1895	66,750	35,351	102,101
1895			103,341
1900			102,189
1905			99,478
1910	64,129	28,355	92,484
1914	62,104	25,556	87,660
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1912, page 162.
Brewers' Almanack 1971, page 83.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1897 Eldridge Pope XXX

In addition to their standard Mild, Eldridge Pope also had something a little stronger. In the form of XXX.

An Eldridge Pope price list from 1890 has different types of XXX.:

M XXX Burton Ale
XXX Old or Mild Ale 

Not sure which one of the three this is.

The ingredients are exactly the same as in XX. Though the proportions aren’t the same. As all the extra gravity comes from more base malt. The quantities of flaked maize and sugar remaining exactly the same. Still none the wiser as to exactly what type of sugar that was.

Half the malt was made from English barley, the rest from what’s simply described as “foreign”. Which doesn’t narrow down the origin much. Could be California, Chile, Australia, Hungary, the Middle East. Anywhere malting barley was grown, really.

There were only two types of hops, both English. Neither with any indication of vintage. 

1897 Eldridge Pope XXX
pale malt	12.25 lb	85.96%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	3.51%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.50 lb	10.53%
Fuggles 150 mins	1.75 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.75 oz
OG	1065
FG	1019
ABV	6.09
Apparent attenuation	70.77%
IBU	38
SRM	9
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity

Not very Reinheitsgebot

German beer is renowned for its purity, right? That's not necessarily true.  As German brewers have been guilty of various dodgy practices in the past.

This report details some of the illegal practices which the makers of Malzbier got up to. Though it should be borne in mind that the article refers to practices in 1901 in Saxony. Where, at the time, the Reinheisgebot did not apply. It was only a few years later that the law was extended to the whole of Germany.

Beer Substitutes in Dresden.
In a report on the work of the Municipal Chemical Station of Dresden for the year 1901 Beythien states that the attention bestowed in the previous year on the various draught beers sold in Dresden having shown the existence of a satisfactory state of things in this connection, dispensed with the necessity of constant examination on the part of the station. On the other hand, the investigation of several kinds of sweetened malt extracts led to some curious revelations. In one case of a so-called wheat malt extract, chiefly consisting of sugar colouring, and used in the preparation of “malt beer,” the maker and 25 vendors of the bottled product were prosecuted for adulterating single beer, or diluted Kulmbacher beer, with saccharin. Another “sweet malt-beer” was found on analysis to contain 1.52 per cent. of alcohol and 5.64 per cent. of extract, and to consist merely of single beer qualified with sugar. It is stated that quite two dozen varieties of a similar nature are still being sold in the city. Another product of like character (“Methon”), and consisting of sugar solution, impregnated with carbonic acid and slightly scented, has been largely advertised as a “non-alcoholic beverage"; and the same claim has been advanced in connection with a “champagne beer" prepared by diluting and carbonising an essence containing 7.78 per cent, of alcohol and 15.8 per cent. of extract. The extract was found to consist chiefly of sugar colouring, the foam being produced by a substance believed to be identical with saponin.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 38 1902, October 15th 1902, page 626. 

These Malzbiers were supposed to be non-alcoholic, like the malt drinks that you find in some tropical countries today. And definitely weren't supposed to be watered-down and sweetened beer. Kulmbacher would certainly have needed a lot of watering down as it was usually at least 6.5% ABV.

Why would they be charged with adulteration for the addition of saccharin? Because even before the Reinheitsgebot its use in beer was banned in Germany. Which is ironic, given that the current version of the Reinheitsgebot does allow artificial sweeteners in some classes of low-alcohol beer.

 

 

Beer in Madagascar in 1902

Madagascar and beer. They aren't two things I'd usually associate with each other. Yet here we are.

It seems some beer was being shipped to Madagascar. Though, given its size, the quantities weren't really that large. Only around 2,500 Imperial barrels. To put that into context, the UK exported over 20,000 barrels to Malta annually.

The Beer Trade of Madagascar.
The quantity of beer annually imported into Madagascar is very considerable, the estimated quantity for the past year being about 4,000 hectols. (hectol. 22 imperial gallons). This total shows a marked increase over the figures for the two preceding years, viz., 2,000 and 3,000 hectols. in 1899 and 1900 respectively.

In the district of Diego Suarez there is an annual sale of about 20,000 bottles of beer. They are imported in cases containing 24 or 48 bottles, each bottle containing about 0.7 litres (1.23 pints). The retail price is from 1.25 francs to 1.50 francs per bottle, and is practically the same in the whole coast region for beer of French manufacture.

In the Province of Tamatave and the districts of Andovoranto and Vatomandry, the sales reach to about 150,000 bottles per annum. The retail price ranges from 1.25 francs to 1.50 francs per bottle for French beers, and from 1.75 francs to 2 francs for British or German beers.

About 120,000 bottles of French and German beers are annually sold in the Province of Majunga. German beer, although dearer in consequence of the Customs duty, sells well owing to its quality. The price of French beer is from 1.25 francs to 1.50 franca per bottle; that of German beer is about 2 francs per bottle.

With regard to the less important provinces, the yearly consumption of beer in the Province of Imerina amounts to about 200,000 bottles, in the Provinces of Ambositra and Botsileo about 30,000 bottles each, in the Cercle Tulear about 15,000 bottles, and in the Province of Nossi-Bé about 8,000 bottles of French beer, and 8,000 bottles of German beer from Hamburg and Bohemia.

It should be noted that French beers enter Madagascar free, and have to pay only the consumption duty of 10 centimes per bottle, or 5 francs per hectolitre when imported in casks. Foreign beers have to pay the same consumption duty as French beers, and in addition an import duty of 12 francs per 100 kiloms. gross.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 38 1902, March 15th 1902, page 124.

Interesting that the French didn't have a monopoly on beer imports. There was also a lot of German beer. Though some of the beer described as "German" was from Bohemia, which was actually German Austrian at the time. I assume that the French beer was Lager like the German stuff. I could be wrong.

If I knew what a franc was worth at the time, I could make some comments about the prices. But I don't, so we'll have to pass on that.
 

Comparison of Burton London and Edinburgh brewing waters (ppm)

You can't imagine how much time I dedicated to finding an analysis of Edinburgh brewing water. Without success. And know I've just tripped over the information. When I wasn't looking for it.

Meaning that I can now compare the waters of the big three UK brewing centres: Burton, London and Edinburgh.

Edinburgh water is hard. Harder than London water, but not as hard as Burton water. Then again, what is? Burton water is ridiculously stuffed with minerals.

Though not as high as in Burton, the calcium sulphate (gypsum) content of Edinburgh number 1 water is pretty high. Though, interestingly, much lower in sample 2. Was sample 1 the water usually used for brewing? The high gypsum would surely have helped in the brewing of Pale Ales before water treatment became the norm.

Quite a lot of magnesium sulphate in the Edinburgh number 1 leaves the totally sulphur content of Edinburgh water quite high. Though still well short of Burton water. Would this have been enough to give Edinburgh Pale Ales the Burton snatch?

The chalk (calcium carbonate) and common salt (sodium chloride) content of the Edinburgh waters was notably higher than either in Burton or London. What effect would that have had on brewing? If only I understood all this shit. 

Comparison of Burton London and Edinburgh brewing waters (ppm)
	Burton		London		Edinburgh
	highest	lowest	Old London well water	London Metropolitan Water Board supply.	Number 1	Number 2
Calcium carbonate	290.4	290.4	160.2	253.4	349.7	497.4
Calcium sulphate .	1742.4	721.6	—	33.4	205.7	171.8
Magnesium chloride	37.0	12.3	—	—	—	37.5
Magnesium sulphate	457.6	369.6	—	22.9	191.8	27.5
Magnesium carbonate	—	—	82.7	—	—	—
Sodium chloride .	93.3	58.1	121.4	35.2	206.1	136.9
Sodium nitrate	73.9	51.0	—	5.3	—	—
Sodium carbonate	—	—	65.1	—	—	—
Sodium sulphate .	—	—	140.8	44.0	78.5	—
Chloride of potassium	—	—	—	—	50.3	9.9
Phosphates	—	—	—	—	—	5.5
Oxide of iron	—	—	—	—	—	4.6
Silica	—	—	—	—	12.0	5.6
Total solids (dried)	2816.0	1513.6	570.2	394.2	1094.0	993.0
Sources:
Brewing Theory and Practice by E.J. Jeffery, 1956, page 101.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 38 1902, February 15th 1902, page 101.

Let's Brew - 1912 Crowley Porter

It’s odd to find a brewery as far away from London as Hampshire that was still producing a Porter as late as 1912. It’s probably explained by Crowley also owning a brewery in Croydon

I must say that it’s quite an interesting recipe. First off, there’s no black malt as you might expect. Instead, the roasted element consists of chocolate malt. Which wasn’t that common at the time. There’s also rather a lot of wheat malt. Which I assume is there for head retention purposes. The small amount of oats is presumably there so that some could be sold as Oatmeal Stout.

There are two types of sugar, cane sugar and a type of caramel. Rather a lot of caramel, hence the dark colour.

Just a single type of English hops, from the 1911 harvest, was employed. The hopping rate was fairly modest at 6.25 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt.

1912 Crowley Porter
pale malt	7.50 lb	70.89%
chocolate malt	0.75 lb	7.09%
wheat malt	0.75 lb	7.09%
flaked oats	0.25 lb	2.36%
brown sugar	1.00 lb	9.45%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.33 lb	3.12%
Fuggles 135 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1050
FG	1015.5
ABV	4.56
Apparent attenuation	69.00%
IBU	27
SRM	37
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	176º F
Boil time	135 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale