Barclay Perkins Ale hops before WW II

Finally, we get to the hops. Always fascinating. With the odd exception, they were all English.

That Saaz were used to dry hop PA Export, a really top-class beer, demonstrates the regard in which they were held by British brewers. The same goes for Styrian Goldings.

But the overwhelming majority if the hops were from Kent and the classic English varieties of Fuggles and Goldings. You can discern a class divide in the hopping. The Mild Ales are all Fuggles, the Pale Ales a mix of Fuggles and Goldings and the expensive beers all Goldings, at least in the copper.

The vast majority of the hops were from the two most recent harvests and the older ones had all been cold stored. That’s what the CS in the table signifies. Cold storing greatly reduced the decline in alpha acid, especially during the first 18 months.

Barclay Perkins Ale hops before WW II
Year	Beer	Style	hops
1936	DB	Brown Ale	Worcester (1935 CS), MK (1935 CS), MK Goldings (1934 CS)
1939	A	Mild	MK Fuggles (1938 CS), Kent  Fuggles (1938), MK  Fuggles (1937 CS)
1939	X	Mild	MK Fuggles (1938 CS), Kent Fuggles (1938), MK  Fuggles (1937 CS)
1939	XX	Mild	MK Fuggles (1938 CS), Kent  Fuggles (1938), MK  Fuggles (1937 CS)
1939	IPA (bottling)	IPA	MK Fuggles (1938 CS), Kent W (1938), MK Goldings (1937 CS); Styrian dry hops
1939	XLK (bottling)	Pale Ale	MK Fuggles (1938), Kent W (1938), MK Goldings (1937 CS); no dry hops
1939	XLK (trade)	Pale Ale	MK Fuggles (1938), Kent W (1938), MK Goldings (1937 CS); EK Goldings (1938) dry hops
1939	PA	Pale Ale	MK Fuggles (1938), Kent W (1938), MK Goldings (1937 CS); Styrian Goldings (1938) dry hops
1936	PA Export	Pale Ale	EK Goldings (1935 CS), MK Goldings (1934 CS); Saaz (1935 CS) dry hops
1936	KK	Strong Ale	Kent (1935 CS), MK Goldings (1934 CS); EK (1935 CS) dry hops
1937	KK (bottling)	Strong Ale	MK Fuggles (1936 CS), EK Goldings (1935 CS); Saaz (1936 CS) dry hops
1936	KKKK	Strong Ale	EK Goldings (1935 CS), MK Goldings (1934 CS); EK Goldings (1935) dry hops
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/621 and ACC/2305/01/623.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1936 Barclay Perkins Doctor Brown

An old-fashioned Broan Ale recipe this time. Yum.

My first sighting of this beauty in the brewing records is April 1928. Which is about when I would guess the beer made its initial bow.

The second half of the 1920s, when the dust of WW I was finally being shaken off, was when many London brewers launched their version of this new style. Interpretations were diverse, but Barclay Perkins, in common with their local rival Whitbread, went for a relatively strong variant. And one brewed single-gyle, with its own specific grist.

The recipe had similarities with that of the Mild parti-gyle, including crystal malt and No. 3 invert sugar. Though it lacked the amber malt and contained rather less flaked maize.

Being honest, the grist isn’t a million miles away from Barclay’s Mild Ales. It was hopped at a similar level, too: 7.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. It was, however, higher in gravity than any of the Milds. Because of what happened at racking.

The hops themselves were Worcester from the 1935 harvest, Mid-Kent from 1935 and Mid-Kent Goldings from 1934. All had been kept in a cold store.

The quantity of primings: 5 quarts per barrel, compared to just 2 quarts for the X Ale preceding it in the brewing book. Their addition boosted the effective OG from 1040.8º.

1936 Barclay Perkins DB
pale malt	6.00 lb	59.52%
crystal malt 60 L	1.00 lb	9.92%
flaked maize	1.25 lb	12.40%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.25 lb	12.40%
brown sugar	0.50 lb	4.96%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.08 lb	0.79%
Fuggles 150 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1046.5
FG	1016
ABV	4.03
Apparent attenuation	65.59%
IBU	30
SRM	21
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

Russian Stout season

War is hell. WW II meant supplied of Barclay Perkins legendary Russian Stout weren't available year-round. Only in a specific season.

It could have been worse. Most stronger beers had long been discontinued by 1944. The amount of correspondnce Barcaly Perkins sent to its tenants is a sign of how important a beer Russian Stout was. Despite not selling in massive quantities.

Popular enough that not everyone got a supply. The handwritten note at the top of the letter remarks: "sent to tenants with an allocation of Russian Stout."

I'd have put up with having to take Russian Stout in half pints rather than nips. Then you'd only neded two bottles to get a full pint. I mean, who drinks less than a full Imperial pint of Russian Stout? That's just disrespectful, man.

War with the French

Porter wasn’t a static thing, it continued to develop during the 1700s. Moving away from its origins as a 100% brown malt beer.

Towards the end of the 18th century, almost constant war with the French left the British government in need of cash. And they turned to their favourite source of revenue: alcohol. At the time, beer was taxed in three ways: on the malt, on the hops and on the finished beer itself.

A combination of increased taxation on malt to pay for the wars with France and the introduction of new technology, in the form of the hydrometer, transformed Porter grists. Brewers realised that, though cheaper, the poorer yield from brown malt actually made it more expensive to use than pale malt. The base malt changed from brown to pale, with brown retained just for flavour and colour.

It’s likely that this is when brown malt stopped being diastatic. With a majority of the malt pale, there was no need for the brown malt to retain any diastatic power. At a time when it was also required to provide more colour and flavour than previously.

At this point London brewers still used ingredients from the immediate area: malt from Hertfordshire or Sussex and hops from Kent. This would change radically in just a couple of decades as the UK’s population and thirst for beer outstripped the productive capacity of agriculture.

The increased taxation had a couple of effects on Porter. The first was the move away from a 100% brown malt beer to one brewed from a base of pale malt. But it retained a high percentage of brown malt.

The second change was a reduction in OG. Dropping from 1075º in the 1770s to around 1055º by the first years of the 19th century. This was as a direct result of increased taxation, which encouraged brewers to lower strength to cut costs.

Taxes on beer 1779 - 1815
Year	Tax/bush.malt	tax/lb. Hops	tax/brl strong	tax/brl small	tax/brl table	Price quart porter
1779	9.25d	1d + 5%	8s	1s 4d	2s	3.5d
1780	1s 4.25d	1d + 10%	8s	1s 4d	2s	3.5d
1783	1s 4.25d	1d + 15%	8s	1s 4d	3s	3.5d
1786	1s 4.25d	1.6d	8s	1s 4d	3s	3.5d
1791	1s 7.25d	1.6d	8s	1s 4d	3s	3.5d
1801	1s 4.25d	2.5d	8s	1s 4d	3s	4.5d
1802	2s. 5d	2.5d	10s		2s	4d
1804	4s 5.75d	2.5d	10s		2s	6d
1815	2s. 5d	2d	10s		2s
Sources:
The Brewing Industry in England 1700-1830 Peter Mathias, p.369
A History of English Ale and Beer, H.A. Monckton, p.204

Porter before black malt
Year	Brewer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	pale malt	brown malt	amber malt
1804	Barclay Perkins	1055.4	1015.5	5.28	72.02%	6.83	2.00	42.59%	47.43%	9.98%
1807	Whitbread	1052.6	1015.5	4.91	70.53%	13.06	3.60	66.32%	16.84%	16.84%
Sources:
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan archives, document number LMA/4453/D/09/002.
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan archives, document number ACC/2305/1/525.

You'll find more information that you'll ever need to know about Porter in my excellent book on the subject:

No Reduction In Beer Output

The restrictions imposed on brewers in WW II were far less Draconian than in WW I, but kicked in far earlier.

That was mostly dictated by the different progress of the two wars. In the first conflict, UK food supplies only came under serious threat almost three years in, in spring 1917. In WW II the serious problems started after less than a year, after the fall of France in the summer of 1940.

Which is why in early 1941 brewers voluntary reduced their grain usage:

"No Reduction In Beer Output
BUT GRAIN CUT MAY MEAN LIGHTER BREWS
The ten pear cent. cut in grain for brewing implies no restriction on the quantity of beer produced, states the "Brewing Trade Review", official of the Brewers' Society.

"It is the desire of authorities the that British beer shall to be available where needed," the journal states,

"Under present conditions of effort and strain it would be indefensible if the British worker were prevented from obtaining that refreshment and relaxation which he is accustomed and for which the present circumstances accentuate the need."

With modern vastly improved methods of brewing, the journal says, it is probable that the saving in material will be much more real than apparent that the beer drinker eill have little conscience of the change. Some beer of heavier gravity may, however, disappear from the bar, it is added, and be replaced something lighter."
Morpeth Herald - Friday 07 March 1941, page 6.

You can see the effect on Barclay Perkins standard Bitter, XLK:

Barclay Perkins draught XLK 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	dry hops (oz / barrel)
22nd Jun	1939	1045.8	1014.5	4.14	68.35%	7.50	1.35	3.00
11th Jun	1940	1042.8	1012.0	4.07	71.96%	7.50	1.27	3.00
22nd Apr	1941	1042.8	1011.0	4.20	74.28%	6.00	1.02	2.00
8th May	1942	1035.3	1009.5	3.41	73.09%	5.61	0.82	2.00
2nd Dec	1944	1035.7	1010.5	3.33	70.59%	5.29	0.77	4.00
7th Apr	1945	1035.4	1012.8	3.00	63.98%	5.09	0.75	4.00
25th Jan	1946	1035.3	1010.0	3.35	71.67%	7.00	1.04	4.00
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/623, ACC/2305/01/624 and ACC/2305/01/626.

You can observe the typical WW II gravity decline: a small fall in 1940, a larger fall in 1941 and then stability until war's end.

Something similar happened with Whitbread's Bitter:

Whitbread PA 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
27th Sep	1939	1048.2	1012	4.79	75.10%	7.33	1.41
30th Apr	1940	1047.2	1011	4.79	76.69%	7.33	1.44
14th Aug	1940	1043.1	1011.5	4.18	73.32%	7.25	1.34
6th Feb	1941	1042.9	1015	3.69	65.03%	6.54	1.11
30th Jan	1942	1040.0	1011	3.84	72.50%	5.85	0.97
29th May	1942	1038.6	1009	3.92	76.68%	6.03	0.96
3rd Apr	1943	1038.5	1009.5	3.84	75.32%	6.03	1.01
22nd Feb	1944	1039.1	1010.5	3.78	73.15%	6.13	1.00
4th Apr	1945	1039.4	1010	3.89	74.62%	6.03	1.01
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/107, LMA/4453/D/01/108, LMA/4453/D/01/109, LMA/4453/D/01/110, LMA/4453/D/01/111 and LMA/4453/D/01/112.

Both beers lost around 20% of their gravity over the course of the war.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Barclay Perkins XLK (trade)

Filling the Ordinary Bitter slot in Barclay’s pubs was the exotically-named XLK (trade). If you’re wondering about the name, LK stands for London Keeping, i.e. London Bitter, and X to indicate the strength.

Truman brewed a similar beer which was called simply LK. It was the only Pale Ale brewed at Brick Lane. All the others were brewed in Burton.

XLK had been around somewhat longer than IPA: since at least 1886, when it had an OG of 1053º. It was split into versions, trade (draught) and bottling, at 1050º and 1045º, respectively, just a few months before the outbreak of WW I. A third weaker version, crate, was introduced in 1917, but dropped in the early 1920s. Crate indicated a beer that was sold in crate holding four quart bottles.

The recipe, unsurprisingly enough, is almost identical to IPA. With the one exception that XLK was dry hopped. And had an OG 1 degree higher.

1939 Barclay Perkins XLK (trade)
pale malt	7.25 lb	74.28%
flaked maize	1.00 lb	10.25%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.50 lb	15.37%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.01 lb	0.10%
Fuggles 150 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1046
FG	1014.5
ABV	4.17
Apparent attenuation	68.48%
IBU	29
SRM	11.5
Mash at	150º F
After underlet	154º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	150º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

Let's Brew - 1939 Barclay Perkins IPA

One for the style purists today: a typical Southern English IPA.

Just a few months before WW II kicked off, in June 1939, this Barclay’s IPA rolled out of the Park Street Brewery. Well, probably not roll, more clink out. It was an exclusively bottled beer.

IPA (bottling) as it appear on the records, was apparently quite a new beer, only appearing in the early 1930s. A revved up version of the older XLK (bottling), which had an OG of 1039º. The two, obviously, were parti-gyled together.

The recipe for Barclay’s Perkins Pale Ales hadn’t changed much since the mid-1920s. Pale malt, PA malt, flaked maize and invert sugar. Originally No. 2, but sometime after 1936 that changed to No. 3. Along with the caramel, it makes for quite a dark beer. Darker than it should be. The log gives the colour as 10.

The hopping is reasonable, with mostly hops from the most recent season. The third from the 1937 season had been kept in a cold store, so wouldn’t have deteriorated much. Barclay Perkins usually dry-hopped their Pale Ales, except those intended for bottling.

Sad to think this is the precursor to watery post-war Light Ale.

1939 Barclay Perkins IPA
pale malt	7.00 lb	72.77%
flaked maize	1.00 lb	10.40%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.50 lb	15.59%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.12 lb	1.25%
Fuggles 150 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1044
FG	1013.5
ABV	4.03
Apparent attenuation	69.32%
IBU	29
SRM	17
Mash at	150º F
After underlet	154º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	150º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

Let's Brew - 1947 Barclay Perkins Victory Stout

1947 wasn’t a great year for British brewing. Gravities were still falling, despite the war being over.

Which explains why Barclay Perkins had a Stout that was under 3% ABV. How ironic that such a feeble beer was called Victory Stout. Though the primings would have raised the effective OG to 1037º

Though, with all dark malts it probably drank heavier than it really was. The grist is anything but simple, with five different grains. I’m slightly disturbed by the low percentage of base malt, not much more than a third of the grist. In the original, it’s three-quarters SA malt, a quarter mild malt. As I doubt you’ll be able to buy SA malt, I’ve specified all mild malt. It’s probably about the closest equivalent.

The hops were all from Kent, Mid-Kent Fuggles (1946), East Kent Tolhursts (1946), Mid-Kent BG (1946) and Kent Fuggles (1945). All pretty fresh then, leaving quite a bitter beer. All that roast barley would have made it taste even more bitter.

I’m really intrigued as to how this beer would taste. Loads of dark malt, quite heavily hopped, but with quite a lot of residual sugar, too. Weak and bitter. Probably how a lot of Britons were feeling in 1947.

1947 Barclay Perkins Victory Stout
mild malt	2.75 lb	37.52%
brown malt	0.75 lb	10.23%
amber malt	0.50 lb	6.82%
crystal malt 60 L	0.50 lb	6.82%
roast barley	1.00 lb	13.64%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.50 lb	20.46%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.33 lb	4.50%
Fuggles 90 min	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 min	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 min	1.00 oz
OG	1034
FG	1014
ABV	2.65
Apparent attenuation	58.82%
IBU	43
SRM	39
Mash at	147º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

Beer in 1958 (part two)

The first article in Beer in Britain contains a very handy overview of the brewing industry.

First, the number of people employed directly or indirectly by brewing:

“The industry to-day comprises large, medium and small brewery firms — over 250 of them — but the six largest make over a third of the output. Breweries and maltings together employ about 70,000 people (operatives and staff, including lorry and tanker crews) with a high average net output of £1,240 a year, 45 per cent, above the average for all manufactures. The small number of workers in a brewery is striking. The retail distribution occupies far more; upwards of 350,000 workers are employed in licensed premises, but these include hotels as well as pubs. The whole chain of activities listed earlier must occupy nearly 500,000 people. Many others are employed in allied trades: by suppliers of machinery and bottles and glasses, and by firms using by-products, making yeast into vegetable extracts or supplying fertilizer from hops.”
"Beer in Britain", 1960, page 4.

Of course, there were more than 250 breweries in 1958. They’re talking about the number of brewing companies. Which had been falling throughout the 1950’s, as this table shows:

Number of breweries in the UK 1950 - 1960
Year	Breweries
1950	567
1951	539
1952	524
1953	501
1954	479
1955	460
1956	426
1957	416
1958	399
1959	378
1960	358
Sources:
BBPA Statistical Handbook 2003, p. 92
Brewers' Almanack 1955 p.68
Brewers' Almanack 1962 p.67

I’m wondering who the six largest brewers were in 1958. Here’s my guess: Watney Mann, Courage Barclay, Whitbread, Hammond United, Charrington and M&B. I could well be wrong, mind.

70,000 isn’t a huge number. But brewing isn’t very labour-intensive. You only need a handful of people to run a brewhouse. Very few of those 70,000 would have been working in the brewhouse. A large number would have been working in ancillary jobs, such as drayman. And at a time when casks were still made of oak, the cooperage would have been one of the biggest employers in a brewery. With so few workers, it’s not surprising that the average net output was above that of most industries. When the pub trade is included, however, the numbers employed look much more respectable.

In 1958 there were 69,913 pubs in England and Wales* and 6,074** in Scotland, making a total of 75,987. If 350,000 were employed, that comes to just 4.6 per pub. And remember that figure included hotels. But there were also 22,567*** clubs in England and Wales plus 1,219*** in Scotland. If you add in those, that’s just 3.5 employees per licensed premises. That seems pretty low. But, if they aren’t counting the landlord and their family member, it could be right.

Something about mergers in the industry:

“The trend to bigger breweries has been partly by amalgamation, and this continues. The consumption of beer is below the peak (of 1945) and tends still to fall; there are many competing claims on consumers' purses (including television and, of course, wines and spirits). Hence amalgamation is perhaps the main way to further development, though the bigger firms have their own vigorous selling campaigns. (They are conspicuously among the largest poster advertisers; and they differ as conspicuously in the concessions they make in this part of their work to the susceptibilities of the highbrow.)

The most recent amalgamations have included some between already large  firms—Watney's and Mann's, for example, and Barclays and Courage's. Here there are special considerations; the need, for example, to close Watney's brewery at Victoria for town-planning reasons.
"Beer in Britain", 1960, pages 4 - 5.

That last statement is news to me. Watney’s brewery was on a piece of desirable real estate, between Victoria Station and Buckingham Palace. After closure it was redeveloped as an office complex. Not sure why they needed to merge with Manns as they had another large brewery further west along the Thames at Mortlake.

There were a lot of takeovers in the 1950’s, with some breweries, such as Hammonds and Whitbread, going on buying sprees. Which inevitably led to a reduction in the number of breweries and an increase in scale of the remaining ones. Falling beer sales were one of the driving forces behind consolidation. Buying up a rival and its pubs was one of the easiest ways to increase output in a declining market.

Beer production started to rise after 1960, but only exceeded the 1946 figure in 1970. You can see in the table below that despite this average output per brewery rose considerably in the second half of the 1950’s.

Beer production and output per brewery 1950 - 1960
Year	Bulk barrels	Breweries	Average output per brewery (barrels)
1950	26,513,997	567	46,762
1951	24,891,746	539	46,181
1952	25,156,489	524	48,009
1953	24,883,227	501	49,667
1954	24,582,303	479	51,320
1955	23,934,215	460	52,031
1956	24,551,158	426	57,632
1957	24,506,524	416	58,910
1958	24,647,978	399	61,774
1959	23,783,833	378	62,920
1960	26,115,012	358	72,947
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, p. 50
Brewers' Almanack 1962, p. 48
BBPA Statistical Handbook 2003, p. 92
Brewers' Almanack 1955 p.68
Brewers' Almanack 1962 p.67

More about pubs next. 






* Brewers' Almanack 1971, page 83.
** 1922 – 1972: The Brewers' Society Statistical handbook 1973”, page 52.
*** Brewers' Almanack 1971, page 83.
**** 1922 – 1972: The Brewers' Society Statistical handbook 1973”, page 52.

Who was branding their beers in 1954? (part two)

Time to continue my beating of this particular percussive instrument: beer branding in the 1950’s.

I’m seeing some patterns in this data. OK, it may be a little skewed by not being an inclusive list. It seems to have a bias towards the bigger, better-known breweries. But those that ended up as the kernel of the Big Six seem to have been keener on branding than their less expansionist colleagues.

Barclay Perkins were in the game early. Most of these brads were already around before WW II:

Barclay Perkins branded beers in 1954
Brewery	Beer	Type
Barclay Perkins	Festival Ale	Very Strong
Barclay Perkins	Russian Stout	Very strong
Barclay Perkins	Southwark Ale	Brown Ale
Barclay Perkins	Victory	Formerly Milk Stout
Barclay Perkins	Winter Brew	Strong Ale
Barclay Perkins	Golden Hop	Strong Light
Source:
Brewery Manual 1953-1954, pages 382 - 394.

Amazingly one – Russian Stout – has survived, albeit with a 20-year gap at the end of the 20th and start of the 21st centuries.

Here are some more from one of the other key elements of the Courage group:

Simonds branded beers in 1954
Brewery	Beer	Type
H. & G. Simonds	Archangel	Stout
H. & G. Simonds	Berry	Brown Ale
H. & G. Simonds	Bulldog	Pale Ale
H. & G. Simonds	Golden Dry	Pale Ale
H. & G. Simonds	Heavy	Mild
H. & G. Simonds	London Heavy	Mild
H. & G. Simonds	Old Berkshire	Strong Ale
H. & G. Simonds	Reading Pale Ale	Bitter
H. & G. Simonds	SOS	Winter Brew
H. & G. Simonds	Tavern	Pale Ale
H. & G. Simonds	Velvet	Stout
Source:
Brewery Manual 1953-1954, pages 382 - 394.

A couple of those might still be knocking about. I think Bulldog is still brewed for export. And Tavern is probably living a zombie existence, brewed god knows where for a few ageing fans. Simonds were also early branders. Their Hop Leaf Pale Ale I believe was introduced in the 19th century. Now that is definitely still around, brewed by Farsons in Malta.

Judging by the length of the list, the whole of Simonds bottled range must have been branded. In its day, Berry Brown Ale was well known and was brewed in several of Simonds breweries.

Lots more of this, obviously. Saves me having to write too many words.