Bottled beer in the 1840's

Northern Liberator, Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.

I been done me some thinking again. It was that article of Lott about bottled beer. The types of Ale that he said were bottled. "I've got a spreadsheet of details taken form price lists. Let's see what bottled beers are in there." That was my thought. Nothing that's going to rewrite human history. But it's mine.

The spreadsheet has over 3,500 entries. Best I cut it down into more digestible chunks by limiting it by date. So we're going to start with the first bottled beers I have, from the 1840's. And what a fascinating bunch they are. That tell quite a story.

I don't have a huge number of examples, only 50-odd in total. And quite a large number of those are for a single brewery, Aitchison. Though that in itself tells a story.  It's no coincidence that a Scottish brewery should feature so prominently in the table. Because Scotland was the part of Britain where bottled beer became common the earliest.

Surprisingly, much Scottish was already being packaged in bottled form in the 18th century. More than 100 years before the rise in popularity of bottled beer in England.

But my mean reason for putting together the table below was to see which styles were being bottled. It provides some confirmation of Lott's assertion that the only Ales bottled were IPA, Mild Ale and Strong Ale.

First, I need to explain a little about the styles I've assigned to the beers, in particular those of Aitchison. I've ended up calling most of them "Edinburgh Ale", though some could equally well be classified as Strong Ale and others as Mild Ale. The problem is that it's not always possible to tell which group a beer belongs in by the description. Is "Superior Ale" a Mild Ale or a Strong Ale? I've no idea. Of course, it could be both.

 Newcastle Courant, Friday 17 April 1840, page 1

You can see that there was still a certain fluidity in the name given to IPA, with Pale India Ale, Pale Export India Beer and India Ale being used as well as the later standard India Pale Ale and East India Pale Ale. There's an intriguing set of brewers for the IPA's - Bass and Allsopp from Burton, Hodgson & Abbott of London, plus the Scottish brewers Aitchison and Tennent. It's an indication of just how quickly some Scottish brewers started brewing IPA.

There are, indeed, quite a few Strong Ales in the table. Especially when you consider many of the ones I've classified as Edinburgh Ales are also Strong Ales. Even more confusingly, the only beers identified as Mild Ales are also pretty strong, as shown by the prices of 5 and 7 guineas per hogshead. That makes them 105 shillings and 147 shillings respectively. In 1847, William Younger's 100/- had an OG of 1090º and their 140/- one of 1112º*. I assume Aitchison's Mild Ales were of a similar strength.

As I would have expected, there are several Stouts, including Guinness. Their beers were mostly sold in bottled form in England. By the 1840's, Guinness was already selling over 40,000 barrels of Stout annually in England. Sales grew exponentially in the second half of the 19th century, as this table shows.

Guinness Extra Stout sales 1840 - 1890 (barrels)
	1840	1850	1860	1870	1880	1890	1900
GB	42,209	44,410	82,690	178,556	207,695	352,109	458,630
Ireland	25,021	26,979	52,594	93,854	201,348	261,359	437,613
Total	67,230	71,389	135,284	272,410	409,043	613,468	896,243
Source:
A Bottle of Guinness, Please by David Hughes, pages 276-279.

The most unexpected beers are the Scottish Table Ale and Dinner Ale. These would have been very low gravity beers for the period. William Younger's Table Ale was between 1033º and 1037º in 1847*. I would be surprised if Aichison's were over 1040º. Scottish brewers had a good reputation for Table Ale and sold quite a lot of it in England. Part of the description probably explains why such a weak beer could be bottled successfully: "highly hopped."

I think that's me all explained out. There's nothing left for me but to leave you with the table:

Bottled beers in the 1840's
Brewery	Place	year	beer	style	price per dozen	size	source
S. Bloxsome & Company	Bristol	1849	Alloa Scotch Dinner Ale	Dinner Ale	2s 6d		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1840	Edinburgh Ale, strongest and best made	Edinburgh Ale	8s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 17 April 1840. page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1840	Strong Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	6s	reputed quart?	Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1840	Superior Ale	Edinburgh Ale	4s 6d	reputed quart?	Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1842	Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	4s	quart	Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1842	Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	6s	quart	Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1842	Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	8s	quart	Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1843	Splendid Edinburgh Ale, Strongest	Edinburgh Ale	6s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 06 May 1843, page 2.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1843	Fine Pale Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	4s 6d	reputed quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 06 May 1843, page 2.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1843	Splendid Ale	Edinburgh Ale	4s 6d	reputed quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 05 August 1843, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1843	Strongest Ale	Edinburgh Ale	6s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 05 August 1843, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1843	Prime Strong Ale (Old Bottle 1)	Edinburgh Ale	6s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1843	Prime Strong Ale (Old Bottle 1)	Edinburgh Ale	4s 6d	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1844	Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	3s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 10 May 1844, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1844	Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	4s 6d	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 10 May 1844, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1844	Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	6s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 10 May 1844, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1846	Rich Flavoured Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	4s 6d	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1846	Strongest and Best Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	6s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1848	Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	3s 6d	pint	Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1848	Edinburgh Ale	Edinburgh Ale	6s	quart	Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1840	Highly hopped and attenuated India Ale	IPA	3s	reputed quart?	Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1842	Pale India Beer	IPA	4s	quart	Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1843	India Pale Ale, much esteemed	IPA	3s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 06 May 1843, page 2.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1843	Superior India Pale Ale	IPA	3s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 05 August 1843, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1843	Pale India Ale	IPA	3s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.
Allsopp	Burton	1845	India Pale Ale	IPA	5s	quart	Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.
Allsopp	Burton	1845	India Pale Ale	IPA	2s 6d	pint	Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1845	Pale Export India Beer	IPA	3s	quart	Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1846	Pale Export India Beer	IPA	3s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1848	Pale India Ale	IPA	3s 6d	pint	Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1848	Pale India Ale	IPA	6s	quart	Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.
S. Bloxsome & Company	Bristol	1849	East India Pale Ale	IPA	3s 6d		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Bass	Burton	1849	East India Pale Ale	IPA	4s		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Hodgson & Abbott	London	1849	India Ale	IPA	4s 6d		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Tennent	Glasgow	1849	India Pale Ale	IPA	4s	quart	Glasgow Herald - Friday 22 June 1849, page 3.
Tennent	Glasgow	1849	India Pale Ale	IPA	2s 6d	pint	Glasgow Herald - Friday 22 June 1849, page 3.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1845	Mild Ale (5 guineas a hogshead)	Mild Ale	4s 6d	quart	Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1845	Mild Ale (7 guineas a hogshead)	Mild Ale	6s	quart	Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.
S. Bloxsome & Company	Bristol	1849	Dursley Pale Ale	Pale Ale	2s 6d		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Unknown	Dublin	1845	XX Dublin Porter	Porter	4s	quart	Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.
Unknown	Dublin	1845	XX Dublin Porter	Porter	2s	pint	Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.
Unknown	London	1849	Brown Stout Porter	Porter	2s 9d		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Georges	Bristol	1849	Strong Old Porter	Porter	4s		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Guinness	Dublin	1845	Extra Stout	Stout	5s	quart	Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.
Guinness	Dublin	1845	Extra Stout	Stout	2s 6d	pint	Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.
Unknown	London	1849	Extra Brown Stout	Stout	4s		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Unknown	Dublin	1849	Extra Stout	Stout	3s 4d		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Allsopp	Burton	1845	Burton Strong Ale	Strong Ale	6s	quart	Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.
Allsopp	Burton	1845	Burton Strong Ale	Strong Ale	3s	pint	Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.
S. Bloxsome & Company	Bristol	1849	Strong October Beer	Strong Ale	4s 6d		"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1840	Edinburgh Table Ale, highly Hopped, an excellent Stomachic	Table Ale	3s	reputed quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 17 April 1840. page 1.
Aitchison	Edinburgh	1840	High hopped Table Ale	Table Ale	3s	reputed quart?	Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.

* William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/2/3.

Aitchison beers 1843 - 1859

Advertisements can tell you a lot. That's why I actively search them out. Not with too much success when it comes to Scottish breweries. Except in the case of Aitchison, where I found a nice set of ads from the middle of the 19th century.

Irritatingly, many of the adverts don't specify the bottle size. That's why I've put "quart?" in the table. My guess would be that they are reputed quarts. A reputed quart is two thirds of an Imperial quart, or 757.7 ml. The ones marked "pint" and "quart" look like Imperial measures. At least when I compare the price of the same beer on draught.

So they're a bit easier to see at a glance, I've put them into a table. There are five main types of beer on offer: Table Ale, Edinburgh Ale, Strong Ale, Draught Ale and Mild Ale. But on closer observation it becomes clear that the same beers are being described by different names.

Let's start with everyone's favourite nowadays, India Pale Ale. Though it isn't always called that in the adverts. It also appears as India Ale, Pale India Beer, Pale Export India Beer and Pale India Ale. Couldn't they make their mind up what to call it? It's a great demonstration of just how inconsistent British breweries were in their naming conventions.

Interesting that Aitchison were already brewing IPA in 1840. That's pretty early. But we've already learned that Scottish brewers were quick to jump on the Pale Ale train. Though Aitchison's prices were lower than those of Allsopp. In 1845 a dozen quarts of Allsopp's IPA cost 4s 6d. I guess the big Burton brewers could get away with charging more.

Handy that the 1840 advert has a description of Aitchison's IPA: "Highly hopped and attenuated India Ale." Just for the last few brainwashed style nazis out there who still believe that Scottish beer only ever had a few hops waved at it. The description pretty much sums up the characteristics of early IPA: heavily hopped and highly attenuated.

Next we come to Table Ale. Slightly odd choice of name there. Usually it was called Table Beer, especially if it was heavily hopped, as was often the case. Being low gravity it often needed a good dose of hops to stop it spoiling too quickly. We know this one was heavily hopped because the advert says so "highly Hopped, an excellent Stomachic". The price is surprisingly high: the same as the India Ale.

The Scots seem to have had a name for Table Beer. It's not a type of beer that you would normally expect to get shipped very far. Yet Scottish breweries were selling it as far away as London.

Now Edinburgh Ale. Or perhaps I should just say Ale, because the names Edinburgh, Scotch and Mild Ale seem to be used interchangeably. With some additionally being called Strong Ale. Then there's Pale Edinburgh Ale as well. My guess is that these would have been Shilling Ales within the brewery. Or Guinea Ales. You can see that in 1845 advert that guinea designations are used for what were described as Mild Ales.

Scottish Ales, even the very strong ones, were usually sold young. Which made them technically Mild Ales. Though as you can see, often the terms Edinburgh Ale or Scotch Ale were preferred. Confusing, isn't it? It's taken me years to get my head around it.

Now I just happen to have details of William Younger's beers from 1847. Assuming that Aitchison's would have been roughly similar, we can get some idea of their strength. Five guineas is 105/-, seven guineas 147/-. Younger's 100/- had an OG of 1090º and their 140/- an OG of 1112º. So pretty damn strong.

I assume Draught Ale is another beer of this type. But it's impossible to be sure. The naming is just too vague.

So we can see the main products of Aitchison: IPA and strong Mild Ales. Very typically Scottish.

Aitchison beers 1843 - 1859
year	beer	price per barrel (shillings)	price per gallon (pence)	price per doz bottles	size	source
1840	Edinburgh Table Ale, highly Hopped, an excellent Stomachic			3s	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 17 April 1840. page 1.
1840	Edinburgh Ale, strongest and best made			8s	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 17 April 1840. page 1.
1840	Draught Ale,	72	24			Newcastle Courant - Friday 17 April 1840. page 1.
1840	Strong Edinburgh Ale			6s	quart?	Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.
1840	Superior Ale			4s 6d	quart?	Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.
1840	High hopped Table Ale			3s	quart?	Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.
1840	Highly hopped and attenuated India Ale			3s	quart?	Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.
1840	Best Draught Ale	72	24			Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.
1840	Best Draught Porter	48	16			Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.
1842	Edinburgh Ale			4s	quart	Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.
1842	Edinburgh Ale			6s	quart	Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.
1842	Edinburgh Ale			8s	quart	Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.
1842	Pale India Beer			4s	quart	Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.
1842	draught Pale India Beer	48	16			Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.
1843	Splendid Edinburgh Ale, Strongest			6s	quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 06 May 1843, page 2.
1843	Fine Pale Edinburgh Ale			4s 6d	quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 06 May 1843, page 2.
1843	India Pale Ale, much esteemed			3s	quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 06 May 1843, page 2.
1843	Superior India Pale Ale			3s	quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 05 August 1843, page 1.
1843	Splendid Ale			4s 6d	quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 05 August 1843, page 1.
1843	Strongest Ale			6s	quart?	Newcastle Journal - Saturday 05 August 1843, page 1.
1843	Prime Strong Ale (Old Bottle 1)			6s	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.
1843	Prime Strong Ale (Old Bottle 1)			4s 6d	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.
1843	Pale India Ale			3s	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.
1843	Prime Draught Ale	72	24			Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.
1844	Edinburgh Ale			3s	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 10 May 1844, page 1.
1844	Edinburgh Ale			4s 6d	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 10 May 1844, page 1.
1844	Edinburgh Ale			6s	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 10 May 1844, page 1.
1845	Pale Export India Beer			3s	quart	Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.
1845	Mild Ale (5 guineas a hogshead)			4s 6d	quart	Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.
1845	Mild Ale (7 guineas a hogshead)			6s	quart	Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.
1845	Mild Ale (5 guineas a hogshead)	70	23.33			Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.
1845	Mild Ale (7 guineas a hogshead)	98	32.67			Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.
1845	Draught Ale	72	24			Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.
1846	Pale Export India Beer			3s	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.
1846	Rich Flavoured Edinburgh Ale			4s 6d	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.
1846	Strongest and Best Edinburgh Ale			6s	quart?	Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.
1846	Draught Ale	72	24			Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.
1848	Edinburgh Ale			3s 6d	pint	Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.
1848	Edinburgh Ale			6s	quart	Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.
1848	Pale India Ale			3s 6d	pint	Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.
1848	Pale India Ale			6s	quart	Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.
1859	Pale Ale	54	18			Newcastle Courant - Friday 29 July 1859, page 1.
1859	Six Guinea Ale	84	28			Newcastle Courant - Friday 29 July 1859, page 1.
1859	Draught Scotch Ale	56	18.67			Newcastle Courant - Friday 29 July 1859, page 1.

William Urquhart, Esq, Brewer, Dalkeith

What a stroke of luck. Actually managing to find an article about McLennan and Urquhart. They're one of the breweries that it's harder to track down information on. Despite them having lasted into the 1950's. They didn't fall to one of the usual predators, but Aitchison, who bought them in 1955. The Dalkeith brewery closed in 1958. Aitchison itself only lasted three years longer.

While the text below is mostly about William Urquhart, we do learn something about the Dalkeith Brewery. Mostly what a crap state it was in when purchased by McLennan and Urquhart.

"William Urquhart, Esq, Brewer, Dalkeith
President, Midlothian Licensed Trade Defence Association

Although born and educated in Edinburgh. Mr Urquhart. whose portrait forms the supplement to this week's issue, has been so long resident in Dalkeith that he must be looked upon as belonging entirely to the smaller centre. It is now wearing on for a quarter of a century since Mr Urquhart. in company with Mr Alexander McLennan, came to Dalkeith and took a lease of the Dalkeith Brewery from the then proprietor. The terms of their lease gave Messrs McLennan & Urquhart the option of purchasing the establishment outright, and this option they exercised within a few years after settling in the place. When they went to Dalkeith first, the partners found the brewery to be of the usual country town order, engaged mostly in the brewing and selling of sweet ale, and in bottling. They also found the brewery machinery very much in need of repair, and the water supply, which was obtained from shallow wells, deficient in quantity and very doubtful in quality. The nature of the business changed at the very outset, the local character of the trade being done away with, and the business conducted on precisely the same lines as the big breweries in Edinburgh. The machinery was also attended to. and most important of all, heed was given to the supply of water. A deep bore was sunk to a distance of nearly four hundred feet below the surface of the ground, and an abundant supply obtained of the very finest brewing water. In the hands of Messrs McLennan & Urquhart the business of the brewery greatly increased, and the improvements and extensions of the establishment were rendered necessary, and were carried out as occasion demanded with no sparing hand. The brewings of the firm are mostly in demand in the East country, but agencies exist in several of the large centres in Scotland and North of England, and the ale from Dalkeith is appreciated by many, as its merits deserve, in places far removed from the ancient Midlothian town. The firm is not now constituted as it originally was. Some five years ago. Mr Alexander McLennan, who was Mr Urquhart's first partner, retired into private life, and his brother, Mr James McLennan, was then assumed by Mr Urquhart as partner. The name of the firm is not altered, but the personality of the partners has undergone some change.

Mr Urquhart takes an interest in local affairs, and, for a matter of twelve years, he has served the burgh well on the Commission Board. He is presently the convener of the Water and Drainage Committee. A keen curler, he acts as president of the local club; and a still keener golfer, he is connected with no fewer than four golf clubs, viz: The Old Dalkeith Club (of which he was president last year), the New Dalkeith Club, the Glencorse Club, and the Luffness Club. In politics, Mr Urquhart is a Conservative, and in religious matters he is a staunch upholder of the Establishment.

As president of the Midlothian Association, it goes without saying that the subject of our sketch takes a keen interest In the Trade Defence Movement. He has been at the head of his Association since its formation, and he has had the pleasure of seeing it expand in membership and in funds, until now it is one of the most powerful affiliated associations in Scotland, apart from those connected with the large towns. We hope both it and its worthy president may continue long to flourish."
The National Guardian, July 31 1896.

The first thing that strikes me is the firm was still a partnership in 1896. In the 1890's pretty much every brewery of any size became a public company. Maybe they were just a bit slow off the mark.

The Dalkeith brewery sounds like it was a sleepy sort of business, still brewing the sweet Ale that had been long popular in Scotland. By the second half of the 19th century the demand for this type of beer was falling, with Pale Ale very much on the rise. Though it doesn't explicitly say so in the article, I assume that by run along the lines of a large Edinburgh brewery, they mean it produced Pale Ales in the modern way.

Once again, the importance of good quality brewing water is made clear. Was the need for better water also prompted by the brewing of Pale Ale? It seems to have been much less forgiving of poor or unsuitable water than other styles.

It would be easy to assume that brewers were all Tories. But they weren't. Archibald Arrol, for example, was a Liberal. Which could be quite bizarre, many temperance campaigners being Liberals as well.

What other material do I have for McLennan and Urquhart? A few beer analyses. Would you like to see them? Sure you would. They'll be coming soon.

Aitchison beers 1925 - 1959

Aitchison. It's my new best mate. Remember I said That I felt a table coming on? It's come. The table, I mean. Today.

I'm quite lucky, having most of the 20th century covered. Pretty much right up until they closed in 1961.


As you can see, the majority are Pale Ales of various strengths. Mostly the two classic variations from between the wars: 60/- at around 1039º and 70/- at 1045. Roughly the equivalent to modern 70/- and 80/-. One of the things I like about the Thomas Usher Gravity Book are the descriptions of flavour. The ones for Aitchison's Pale Ales aren't particularly flattering : "thin sweetish flavour". I wonder if this is when sweet Pale Ales came into fashion in Scotland?

Note the watery Pale Ale sold as 90/-. The practice of calling Strong Ales 90/- in Scotland is very recent. I suspect it goes back at the very most to the 1970's. I can't remember seeing a 90/- in the 19th century. They tended to go for multiples of 20: 60/-. 80/-, 100/-, 120/-., 140/- and 160/-. 90 bob seems to have first appeared after WW I and referred to a weak, bottled Pale Ale or IPA. Why they're called 90/- when they're weaker than 60/- Pale Ales is a mystery to me. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Brown Ale, as in England, had a burst of popularity in Scotland in the 1920's and 1930's. The two pre-war samples here are right on the border between a standard and a Double Brown in terms of gravity. The post-war one, at just over 1040º, is a around 10º stronger than a typical 1950's Brown Ale. With a colour of 50 EBC, it's only slightly darker than Newcastle Brown.

The beers sold as Strong Ale and Scotch Ale are probably the same beer. 1070º to 1080º is decent gravity for the 1950's and is around what most domestic Scotch Ales were in the 1930's. You'll not that both are a fairly dark brown. Those two-number colours are about 90 - 100 EBC.

I was surprised to see there's only one Stout. And that isn't even an Aitchison's beer. It's a brand from brand from McLennan & Urquhart, whose Dalkeith brewery Aitchison bought in 1955 and closed in 1958. It looks a typical low-alcohol, Scottish sweet Stout. It's a shame there aren't some other Aitchison Stouts to compare it with.

That's it for now. Unless I can find any more Aitchison-related material.

Aitchison beers 1925 - 1959
Year	Beer	Style	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Flavour
1925	??	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1009	1059.5	25	6.61	84.87%
1927	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1006.3	1035.3		3.77	82.27%
1927	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1006	1035		3.77	82.86%
1927	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	6d	half pint	bottled		1009	1038	30	3.76	76.32%
1927	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	7d	half pint	bottled		1011	1045	25	4.42	75.56%
1928	60/- Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1007	1039.5		4.23	82.28%
1929	60/- Beer	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1009.8	1038.8		3.76	74.84%
1929	60/- Beer	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1009.8	1040.3	Pale no. 1 - 2 glass paler than standard	3.96	75.78%	thin sweetish flavour with after bitter. Possibly indicates addition of priming.
1929	70/- Beer	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1008	1045	Pale no. 2 half glass paler than our Newcastle 70/-	4.82	82.22%	Does not drink its gravity.
1929	60/- (pale)	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1008	1045.5	Between 1 - 2. Same as our standard	4.89	82.42%	Thin sweetish flavour, but after bitter not so prounced as sample from ???
1931	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	7d	pint	bottled	0.05	1008.8	1039.3		3.96	77.61%
1931	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	8d	pint	bottled	0.06	1015.9	1047.9		4.14	66.81%
1931	XXXX Ale	Strong Ale	8d	pint	bottled	0.05	1009.9	1046.6		4.77	78.76%
1933	Brown Ale	Brown Ale		pint	bottled		1015.5	1045.5		3.88	65.93%
1934	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	draught		1007.3	1039.3		4.16	81.53%
1937	60/- Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1007	1040	9 – 10	4.29	82.50%
1939	60/- Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1007	1039	12	4.16	82.05%
1940	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1008	1038		3.90	78.95%
1947	105/- Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1008	1036		3.64	77.78%
1947	80/- Ale	Pale Ale	16d	pint	bottled		1008	1042		4.42	80.95%
1949	"Best Cellar"	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1010.5	1042		4.09	75.00%
1949	PA 90/-	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1007	1029		2.85	75.86%
1950	Scotch Ale	Scotch Ale		half pint	bottled	0.13	1020.8	1080	4 + 40	7.73	74.00%
1950	Best Cellar Ale	Ale	1/1d	half pint	bottled	0.06	1011.3	1046.8	21 B	4.61	75.85%
1953	Strong Ale	Strong Ale	1/3d	nip	bottled	0.07	1021.5	1072.6	9 + 40	6.64	70.39%
1956	Aitchie Blue Seal Pale Ale	Pale Ale	1/4d	half pint	bottled	0.05	1010.2	1030	26	2.56	66.00%
1956	Gold Seal Brown Ale	Brown Ale	10.5d	half pint	bottled	0.04	1013.9	1041.6	50	3.58	66.59%
1959	Dalkeith Sweet Stout	Stout	15d	halfpint	bottled		1021.3	1037.3	600	2.05	42.90%
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive