Cannon (Ramsgate) beers in 1893-1894

Looking at the range of the Cannon Brewery, it seems quite odd. Because there’s no Porter or Stout. There is an explanation. In 1878, Cannon was taken over by Tomson & Wooton. Who did brew a Porter. I assume they just provided whatever Black Beer Cannon required.

Other than that, Cannon’s range of six beers looks reasonably complete. A table Beer, two Mild Ales, two Pale Ales and an Old Ale. At least, that’s what I think KKK was. Not totally sure about that.

Just like at their parent company, the gravity range was pretty narrow: 1048º to 1062º. (Thar’s ignoring the tiny quantities of Table.) 

The Milds might look impressively strong by modern standards. But they were weedy compared to those brewed in London. In 1884, Whitbread X was 1062º, stronger than Cannon XXX.  Though London beers did tend to be stronger than those brewed elsewhere in the UK.

The hopping rate of X is also lower than in London. Where Whitbread X received 8 to 9 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt.  XXX, however, is at about that level.

KKK is the strongest beer of the set. But, at 1062º, not particularly strong for the day. Oddly, its hopping rate was lower than for XXX. Which isn’t what you would expect. It was the most heavily dry-hopped of their beers, though.

The AK is a little on the weak side for the style: they were usually 1045º to 1050º. But, as the name indicates, it was sold cheaply. Just 10d per gallon. Whereas the usual price was 12d per gallon.

KK is the most heavily hopped beer. Which makes sense as it’s the strongest Pale Ale. It doesn’t look quite strong enough or heavily hopped enough to be a Stock Pale Ale. My guess would be that it’s semi-stock. 

Cannon (Ramsgate) beers in 1893-1894
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	dry hops (oz / barrel)
T	Table	1026.6				6.00	0.64	0.00
X	Mild	1048.4	1009.4	5.16	80.54%	6.00	1.10	0.00
XXX	Mild	1060.6	1013.9	6.19	77.16%	8.94	2.17	2.00
KKK	Old Ale	1062.1	1015.5	6.16	75.02%	8.00	1.94	4.00
AK 10d	Pale Ale	1042.7	1013.3	3.89	68.87%	7.00	1.23	2.00
KK	Pale Ale	1058.9	1008.3	6.70	85.90%	10.00	2.35	2.00
Source:
Cannon Brewery (Ramsgate) brewing record held at the Kent Archives, document number R/U7/B6.