Draught Bass Pale Ale 1869 - 1993

I'm back with Draught Bass. This time looking at what it was like for more than a century.

Fortunately, I have plenty analyses of the beer. Thanks to its enormous popularity in the past. At the end of the 19th century, Bass in Burton was one of the largest breweries in the world. And Pale Ale was one of its main products. One of the classic IPAs, though Bass themselves never called it that. For them, it was simply Pale Ale.

We're only looking here at the draught version. Which was principally sold in the UK. With exports mostly in the form of the bottled version. Bass, along with Guinness, was one of the few beers which was sold in the tied houses of other brewers. And, unlike Guinness, it wasn't only in bottled form. The draught version appearing in some "foreign" tied houses.

Before WW I, Draught Bass had the classic Burton Pale Ale gravity of around 1065º. With a very high degree of attenuation leaving it getting on for 7% ABV. Why was the rate of attenuation so high? Because it was a Stock Pale Ale with a long secondary Brettanomyces fermentation.

After WW I, the gravity fell to around 1055º. Which is totally predictable. 1055º being the strongest draught beer got during the interwar period, Falling in with the gravity bands of the last set of price controls in the aftermath of WW I. It was the typical gravity of beers retailing for 8d per pint, which, as you can see, was the case here..

During WW II, the gravity held up surprisingly well, still being 1048 and over 5% ABV in 1944. During the 1950s, it stabilised at around 1045º. Where it remained, other than briefly rising to 1050º in 1965.

I'm quite surprised how much the colour jumped around. And how pale the colour sometimes was. 20 and below is definitely on the pale side for a Bitter. 

Draught Bass Pale Ale 1869 - 1993
Year	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Acidity	colour
1869		1065.9	1010.2	7.33	84.50%	0.17
1869	4	1067.0	1013.2	6.81	80.31%	0.28
1901		1064.0	1013.4	6.48	78.03%	0.144
1927		1055.5
1932		1054.7	1012	5.56	78.06%	0.05
1937	8	1055.0
1940	9	1051.6
1943	14	1047.6	1008.9	5.04	81.30%	0.08	26
1944	16	1048.1	1008.2	5.20	82.95%	0.12	21
1950	18	1049.7					23
1951	19	1049.9	1008.8	5.36	82.36%	0.07	26
1952	19	1046.4					24
1953	19	1044.7					26
1954	19	1046	1008.7	4.86	81.09%	0.04	20
1957	21	1044.6	1005.4	5.12	87.89%	0.04	21
1960	21	1044	1009.8	4.45	77.73%	0.04	19
1965		1050.5	1009.4	5.36	81.39%	0.04	16
1977		1044
1982		1044
1989		1044	1010.1	4.40	77.05%
1993		1043	1009.2	4.40	78.60%		19
Sources:
British Medical Journal August 28th 1869, page 245
Wahl & Henius, pages 823-830
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.
Good Beer Guide 1978
Good Beer Guide1983
Good Beer Guide 1990
1993 Real Ale Drinker's Almanac