Problems at Allsopp

When Allsopp was converted into a public company im the late 19th century, the shares were eagerly snapped up by investors. Anticipating regular dividends and a steady increase in the value of the shares. This was based on the success of other brewery flotations, such as Guinness, Bass and William McEwan.

But just a few years later, the brewery issued more shares to raise more capital. This should have raised red flags. Why did they need fresh capital?

Messrs. Samuel Allsopp and Sons, Limited, have issued £550,000 4 per cent, mortgage debenture stock, being part of £1,100,000, at the price of £95 per £100 stock, the trustees being Sir Nevill Lubbock, K.C.M.G., and Mr. H. Hankey Dobree. This issue was decided upon in consequence of the rapid development of the business and the extra capital required. The money will be used to pay off certain temporary loans, chiefly in connection with the purchase of properties, making advances, acquiring plant for the lager beer brewery, etc. The stock is redeemable at the option of the company after 1906 on three months’ notice at the price of £110, and is subject to the existing. £1,100,000 4.5 per cent, and £1,100,000 3.5 per cent, debentore stocks, and in the event of voluntary liquidation is repayable at £110. A trust deed specifically secures by mortgage tho breweries and freehold, leasehold, and copyhold properties, and all other assets by a Boating charge. The issue forms part of £1,100,000, which may be increased to the extent of any diminution in the two prior debenture stocks, and of any increase in the capital subscribed and paid up. The assets on the 30th June last were £6,547,000 and on the 31st December had increased to seven millions, and the profits for 1898-9 had increased from £180,000 in 1893-4 to £305,894. The two debenture stocks absorb £88,000, and the present £1,100,000, when issued, £44,000, or together £132,000.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 36 1900, April 15th 1900, page 227.

The "purchase of properties" means buying tied houses. Allsopp were slow in joining the rush to buy pubs and ended up paying over the odds. Which is why they needed more capital. They also had that fancy Lager plant to pay for.

Another article from the same date presents a slightly more realistic appraisal of the company's prospects.

The Allsopp Position.
A circular was issued to the shareholders of Messrs. Samuel Allsopp and Sons, Limited, last month, stating that the directors deemed it desirable to make the following statement:—

With regard to the general trade of the company the directors see no. cause for dissatisfaction, as the sales for the six months ending December 31st, 1899, exceeded those of any corresponding period since the formation of the company. Since January 1st there has been a slight diminution in the sales, possibly attributable to the large number of men absent from the country, and to the cold and unfavourable spring.

The lager beer plant has proved a complete success, and the installation is being increased in order to meet the growing demand.

The recent debenture issue was entirely successful, the amount being over-applied for by the public.

The policy inaugurated some years since of acquiring licensed properties for the purpose of extending the business has not in the main proved unsatisfactory. The directors, however, regret to state that some recent purchases and investments have not proved as satisfactory as was anticipated. These purchases and their development necessarily entail a present burden upon the financial resources of the company, and it will require patience and careful handling before the expected benefits can be realised.

This matter is having the serious attention of the board.

In consequence of the resignation of the late chairman, the Hon. George Allsopp, M.P., has for the present kindly consented to undertake the duties of chairman.

Mr. W. T. Western, of Messrs. Woodhead and Co., Navy agents, has recently joined the board.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 36 1900, April 15th 1900, page 272. 

Sales were down, the blame being put on poor weather and the large number of young men absent in South Africa for the Boer War.

Not so sure about the unequivocal success of the Lager brewery. As just a few years later iy would be sitting unused in Burton. And was eventually moved to the Archibald Arrol brewery in Alloa.

The company admits that some of investments hadn't paid off. I assume this is principally overpriced and underperforming tied houses.

This was just the beginnings of the fall of Allsopp. Within in a decade they'd go bust and had to be rescued through a purchase by Ind Coope.

Southeastern Bitter in 1971

Here we are back down South. Looking at another set of Bitters. Fun, isn't it? Well, maybe mot. But we can pretend, can't we?

There isn't a great spread of breweries, with three of the beers coming from Ind Coope. I've assumed that all their beers were brewed in Romford, though they could have been brewed in Burton. A beer like Double Diamond was probably brewed in both breweries. And quite possibly in other Allied Breweries plants as well.

With an average price of 15p per pint, this is the second most expensive set, after London. No surprise there. Though, in terms of value, it's about in the middle.

A couple of the individual beers are amongst the worst value. Two of the Ind Coope beers, Superdaught and Double Diamond. The latter was definitely a keg beer and, based on the name, I reckon Superdaught might have been as well. Which would explain the shit value.

Being a key Alleid Breweries' beer, Double Diamond was available in most, if not all, Tetley's pubs. I never tried it myself. As it was expensive, probably awful and there was always Tetley's Mild. Why the fuck would I drink overpriced keg. I can't remember hardly anyone drinking it. Though there must have been a few fans, otherwise it wouldn't have been on sale.

The average OG is the highest of any set. And around 2º higher than the national average. It's high because most of the examples are what I would call Best Bitter.

Alton Bitter is an interesting one. Courage had a brewery in Alton in Hampshire, specifically for brewing Pale Ales. Their original brewery close to Tower Bridge for a long time only brewed Mild, Stout and Burton. They bought a brewery in Alton because the water had a similar profile to Burton.

I didn't even realise that there was a keg version of Long Life. I can only remember it as a canned beer. As you might have guessed from the name, it was a beer with a long self life. Which probably emant it was pasteurised like hell. Not sure why you'd produce a keg version of a beer meant to last forever in cans.

We're almost done now. Only a couple of sets to go. Then we'll have to move onto 1972. 

Southeastern Bitter in 1971
Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (p)	º gravity per p	% ABV per p	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Ind Coope	Superdraught Bitter	15	2.43	0.21	1036.4	1011.8	3.19	67.72%
Ind Coope	Double Diamond Keg	16	2.39	0.22	1038.2	1010.5	3.59	72.51%
MacMullen	Castle Keg	14	2.74	0.27	1038.4	1008.8	3.84	77.08%
Courage	Alton Bitter	14	2.91	0.30	1040.7	1008.2	4.23	79.85%
Ind Coope	Long Life Keg	16	2.69	0.28	1043	1008.4	4.50	80.47%
Average		15	2.63	0.26	1039.3	1009.5	3.87	75.53%
Source:
Sunday Mirror - Sunday 21 March 1971, page 25.

Beer Aerating Machine

While on my quest for information on Formby brewers, I came across this lovely advert for fizzing up your beer.

"THE "SPECIAL”
BEER AERATING MACHINE
(FOSTER’S PATENT),
Also for Aerating Still Wines and making them into Sparkling Champagnes.
NOTE !! We shall be happy to Aerate any Beer sent us, free of charge, except for expenses out of pocket. Bottles, Corks, &c.

This Machine is specially designed for Brewers and Beer Bottlers, to enable them to introduce, in a more perfect form than hitherto, Bottled Beers, making them equal or superior to the best brands, as light beer aerated and bottled by this process becomes a high-class Bottled Beer.

Bass's, Allsopp's, Ind, Coope's, Guinness's, or in fact any of the best brands of beers, can be aerated by this machine, and rendered fit for immediate use. The beer being run into either cylinder, the pump in the first place exhausts the atmospheric air out of it, and afterwards, by an arrangement of cocks, the same pump forces carbonic acid gas into the beer, it being agitated by rotating fans at the same time. When pressure has arrived at 30 lbs, bottling may be commenced. The filling machines used being either for the screw-necked bottles or cork.

See Testimonial in reference to this Machine.

THE “SPECIAL" BEER AERATING MACHINE, complete as above, with two 40-gallon
cylinders (Silvering extra, £40)    ...    ...    ...    ...    ...    ...    ... £135 0 0
GASOMETER AND GENERATOR, Figs. 21 and 22 in our Catalogue ...    ...    ...    20 0 0
                                                                                                                                 £155 0 0
FOB FURTHER PARTICULARS APPLY TO
BARNETT & FOSTER,
“NIAGARA” WORKS, Eagle Wharf Road, LONDON, N".
Kelly's Directory of the Wine and Spirit Trades, 1884.

 By "rendered fit for immediate use" he means you wouldn't have to let it condition after bottling. Not sure what Bass and Guinness would have thought about that. Both were still bottle-conditioning well past WW II.

It wasn't exactly a cheap device, at 155 quid. Possibly worth the money is you turn cheap white wine into champagne.

The 1880s is when you first see artificially-carbonated bottled beers. Brewers started adopting American bottling techniques. Which produced a sediment-free, sparkling beer. Though, as is often stated in technical publications, brewers themselves considered bottle-conditioned beers as far superior in terms of flavour.

Forty years later, the majority of UK beers were artificially-carbonated.

Prominent Firms Ind, Coope & Co.

You can guess where we are again: advertorial country. Just outside London, to be precise, in Essex.

Once again, a brewery with a large trade in the new-fangled type of non-deposit bottled beer.

"IND, COOPE & CO.
The bottled trade, which is the distinctire feature of the brewing industry to-day, has received close attention at the hands of this firm. Bottled ale must present a clear, sparkling apearance, for the public has come to regard “brilliance” as one of most desirable properties. In order produce this appearance brewers have had to instal special plants at considerable expense. Messrs. Ind, Coope, and & Co. possess a cold store room, constructed to hold 500 barrels of this type of beer, and they have four chilling machines constantly at work, dealing with this branch of their business. Among the varieties bottled are the Romford ale, stout, special A.K.K. ale, special stout, and cooper of the finest quality.

Ale for the Army and Navy.
The firm's brewery at Romford is situated on the old Roman road from London to Colchester. In 1799 Mr. Edward Ind purchased a brewery there, and no doubt it was the successor of many earlier beerhouses on the same spot. To go no further back than the reign of Charles I., an inn of some mark stood on what now is almost part of the brewery ground. It was the venue of the sittings of the Parliamentarian Committee appointed to ensure the safety of the eastern counties, and its existence presupposes a source of supply in the near neighbourhood for its cellars. The premises of the present concern cover 37 acres of ground, and the brewery has a capacity of 8000 barrels weekly. Nearly all the men are employed on the piecework system; probably there no other English brewery where this is done. Besides the Romford brewery, Messrs. Ind, Chops, and Co. have a brewery at Burton-on-Trent, whence enormous quantities of ale are despatched to his Majesty's naval and military forces in all parts of the world."
London Evening Standard - Tuesday 20 October 1908, page 9.

Ind Coope was clearly a  substantial brewery. With a capacity of around 400,000 barrels a year, they were very much in the first division on UK brewers. In 1905, just 9 breweries produced more than 500,000 barrels a year and only 40 between 100,000 and 500,000 barrels.* And that 400,000 is just for Romford. There was also their brewery in Burton.

I always Simonds and some Scottish breweries were the main suppoliers of the British military. Obviously a good market to have, sewrvicemen generally being a thirsty bunch.

Here's some more details about Ind Coope's beers, albeit from a slightly earlier date:

Ind Coope's beers in 1890
beer	price per barrel	price (per gallon)	price (per doz) pint
AK Light Bitter	42	14
XXM Mild Ale	42	14
XK Bitter	50	16.67
XXK Strong Ale	64	21.33
P Porter	40	13.33
S Stout	50	16.67
AKK Pale Ale			2s 3d
XXX Strong Ale			4s
S Stout			3s
DS Double Stout			3s 6d
Source:
Eyre's Post Office Plymouth & District Directory, 1890

Interesting how much fuss they made of AKK. At 2.25d per pint bottle, it can't have been all that strong. It was probably just a bottled version of AK. My guess would be an OG of 1045-50º for both AK and AKK.

The prices look higher than those of London brewers. I'd expect AK, XXM And Porter to be around 36 shillings per barrel.


* 1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 118.

Tied house sales

I was looking for some statistics on UK beer exports. So I had a dive in "The British Brewing Industry 1830 - 1980". Didn’t find exactly what I was after. But I did find this: a breakdown of sales for various breweries between their tied houses and the free trade.

It's a topic I’d wanted to get some hard facts on. I was aware that the percentage of sales in their own tied estate varied a lot between breweries. With some not really selling into the free trade at all. Holts used to be like that in the 1980’s. They wouldn’t even sell to beer festivals. While others, especially Scottish brewers, had almost no tied trade.

The numbers below confirm this diversity. Though there are a couple of caveats. Scottish brewers may have owned very few pubs, but they made extensive use of loans ties. They controlled far more outlets than they owned.

And the club trade is counted as free. Even though most clubs were really tied. All the Liberal clubs in Leeds, for example, seemed to be tied to S & N. Bass Charrington also had a large chunk of the club trade tied up, as well as the many pubs they owned.

Also counted as free are a lot of off sales. Though not all, as breweries often owned off-licences as well as pubs. Off-sales also made up a much smaller percentage of sales back then.

One thing that stands out is the huge difference in the trade of three London brewers: Barclay Perkins, Meux and Whitbread. The first two had the typical tied estate model, with the vast majority of their beer sold in their own pubs. While Whitbread sold almost half their beer in the free trade. I think I understand why: they had long bottled a large percentage of their beer and had managed to get their bottled products into rivals’ pubs. Later clever use of the Whitbread “umbrella” got their bottles into even more other breweries’ tied houses.

I was surprised at just how big Ind Coope and Allsopp already were in the 1940’s, with an estate about half the size of one of the smaller members of the Big Six in the 1970’s.

Brewers' tied estates and free-trade distribution, 1948/9
Brewing company	Barrelage distributed to on/off licensed premises		Tied estate	Tenanted	Managed
	Tied estate %	free trade/clubs canteens %	(numbers)	%	%
All (Brewers' Society Survey)*	69	31	54,940	83	17
Average of 22 Companies**	73	27	12,914	82	18
Barclay Perkins	88	12	1,005	96	4
Boddingtons'	99.9	0.1	209	75	25
Brakspear	93	7	141	97	3
Bristol Brewery Georges	94	6	756	98	2
Matthew Brown	87	13	550	93	7
Cameron	93	7	362	93	7
Eldridge Pope	81	19	192	92	8
J. W. Green	89	11	358	100	0
Greene King	88	12	502	82	18
Hall & Woodhouse	95	5	140	100	0
Ind Coope & Allsopp	68	32	2,697	79	21
McEwan	19	81	57	7	93
Meux	90	10	341	75	25
Mitchells & Butlers	77	23	873	14	86
Newcastle	85	15	324	59	41
Russells & Wrangham	37	63	93	90	10
H. & G. Simonds	63	37	1,222	94	6
John Smith's	74	26	842	75	25
Steward & Patteson	95	5	614	99.8	0.2
Strong	91	9	468	92	8
Tetley	64	36	378	86	14
Whitbread	51	49	808	96	4
Source:
"The British Brewing Industry 1830 - 1980" by T.R. Gourvish and R.G. Wilson, 1994, page 436.
* Barrelage data include Scotland, tied house data England and Wales only.
** Companies = earlier selection of 35, excluding Bass, Guinness and Tamplin (who made no returns) and Arrol, Colchester and Style & Winch (the subject of takeovers, but adding Simonds, Strong and Eldridge Pope.
Source: Brewers' Society, Brewing Returns, 1949, BS.

Branded Lager in 1953

There are indeed a couple of more types I’ve not done yet. Isn’t this fun? Just you and me a pile of dead beer brands. Well, mostly dead.

Because this set contains rather more survivors than the others. Why? Because they were already big international brands. You’ll be wondering which they are. I count seven: Amstel, Carling Black Label, Heineken, Graham’s Golden Lager (now called Skol), Pilsner Urquell, Carlsberg and Tuborg. Though, as you may have noticed many of these are just the name of the brewery rather than a real brand name.

Most of the British-brewed examples come from Lager pioneers, brewers that had a dedicated Lager brew house or only brewed Lager: Ind Coope, Red Tower and Wrexham Lager Brewery. This is an interesting point in the history of British Lager. When it was about to move from being a niche product to a mainstream one. A few years later at the end of the 1950’s many regional brewers started to market their own Lagers, though how many of them were actually bottom-fermented and lagered is anyone’s guess.

Oddly enough, Lager has come full circle. The Lagers from regional brewers have mostly disappeared, replaced either by national brands such as Carling or international brands like Carlsberg and Heineken. So very much like the early 1950’s. Isn’t that a strange turn of events?

Branded Lager in 1953
Brewery	Brand	Type
Amstel	Amstel	Lager
Anglo-Dutch Brewers (Distributors)	Golden Tree	Lager
Brading Breweries Ltd., Canada	Cincinnati Cream	Lager
Canadian Breweries (International)	Carling's Black Label	Lager
Castletown Brewery Ltd.	Anchor	Lager
Dyer Meakin Breweries	Golden Eagle	Lager
Heineken	Heineken's	Lager
Ind Coope & Allsopp	Graham's Golden Lager	Lager
Ind Coope & Allsopp	Jacob's Lager	Lager
Pilsner Breweries	Pilsner Urquell	Lager
Red Tower Lager Brewery	Red Tower	Lager
South Australian Brewery	Regal	Lager
Wurzburger Hofbrau, Bavaria	Wurzburger Hofbrau	Lager
Charles C. R. Walker (Export)	Wyvern Brand	Lager Beer
Carlsberg Byggerierne	Carlsberg	Lager Beers
Backus & Johnston's Brewery	Maltina	Lager Stout
Tuborg Breweries	Tuborg	Pilsener
Wrexham Lager Beer	Ace of Clubs	Pilsener
Bryggeriet Stjerhen	Danish Star	Danish Pilsner
Source:
Brewery Manual 1953-1954, pages 382 - 394.

Only odds and sods left. Those next, then.

Branded Pale Ale in 1953

Brands: don’t you just love them? Saves having to think too hard about your purchases. Which is presumably why big breweries were so keen on them.

Pale Ales, which were the flagship of many breweries, were some of the beers most likely to be branded. Many breweries pushed strong bottled Pale Ales back in the 1950’s. Things like Ben Truman, Double Diamond or Red Barrel. Which tells you how complete the Brewery Manual list is as it contains only one of those names. Many of these beers also became keg brands.

Intriguingly not only is simple Diamond in the list, but also another beer called Diamond Ale from another brewery. Odd that a large brewer like Ind Coope should be using a brand name that they didn’t have exclusive rights to.

Talking of missing brands, I don’t see the two biggest Pale Ale ones: Bass Red Triangle and Worthington White Shield. I could probably think of more, if I put my mind to it.

Names like “All Bright”, “Starbright” and “Sunbright” were common for filtered bottled beers. The name obviously intended to conjure up an imagine brilliantly clear beer.

Label colours – Red Label and Green Label – were also well liked. Though here’s another inconsistency in this list. Flowers Green Label is cited as a generic trade mark for their bottled beer. When it was in fact the name of a specific bottled Pale Ale.

Webster’s Green Label is lumped in the Pale Ales. Even though it was a Light Mild. In the book’s defence, Webster’s were always a little coy about its style. I can remember the TV ads for it, from which I assumed it was a Bitter.

Coincidentally, that’s the only one of these beers I drank. At least under the name given. I was rather partial to Burton Ale, the cask version of Double Diamond.

Branded Pale Ale in 1953
Brewery	Beer	Type
H. & G. Simonds	Golden Dry	Pale Ale
A. M. & E. Sergeant	Dolphin	Pale Ale
Ann St. Brewery	Mary Ann	Pale Ale
Castletown Brewery	Red Label	Pale Ale
Drybrough	Starbright	Pale Ale
Gardner	Cavalier	Pale Ale
Gardner	Extra	Pale Ale
George Younger & Son	Highland	Pale Ale
H. & G. Simonds	Bulldog	Pale Ale
H. & G. Simonds	Tavern	Pale Ale
H. B. Clark	County's Best	Pale Ale
H. E. Thornley	Sunbright	Pale Ale
Hall & Woodhouse	Forum	Pale Ale
Ind Coope & Allsopp	Coronet	Pale Ale
Ind Coope & Allsopp	Double Diamond	Pale Ale
Ind Coope & Allsopp	Diamond	Pale Ale
John Lovibond & Sons	Royal College	Pale Ale
Meux's Brewery	Treble Gold	Pale Ale
Morrell's Brewery Ltd.	Castle Ale	Pale Ale
Richard Whitaker & Sons	Light Shire	Pale Ale
Saml. Webster & Sons	Green Label	Pale Ale
T. Losco Bradley	Gold Gross	Pale Ale
The Ely Brewery	Brewers Own	Pale Ale
The Ely Brewery	Imperial	Pale Ale
The Star Brewery	Diamond Ale	Pale Ale
Tomson & Wotton	Double Allbright	Pale Ale
Truswell's Brewery	Sunbright	Pale Ale
Wilson's Brewery	Olympic	Pale Ale
Source:
Brewery Manual 1953-1954, pages 382 - 394.

Probably Old Ale and Strong Ale next.

Ind Coope other bottled beers 1950 - 1960

Time to look at the rest of Ind Coope’s bottled beers. Which tell us a little about brewing of the period.

I’ll go through the styles alphabetically because I can’t be arsed to think of anything more clever. Dull old me. Which means we start with Barley Wine. Of which they had two: Arctic Ale and Colne Spring Ale. The former was the descendent of beer really made for Arctic voyages and the other a brand acquired with the purchase of Benskin.

Arctic Ale is pretty strong for the 1950’s, at a little under 8% ABV. But it’s puny compared to its ancestor. These are the vital statistics of the 1875 version, analysed in 1961*:

Present gravity	1053.4º
Original gravity	1126.4º
Alcohol (v/v)	9.65%
Colour (E.B.C.)	156º

Note the massive finishing gravity, which isn’t that much lower than the OG of the 1950’s version. It says much about how British beer had changed since the 19th century.

I was surprised to see that Colne Spring Ale was cheaper, despite being considerably stronger than Arctic Ale. It’s actually not bad value when you consider it has four times the ABV of the weaker Stouts and Brown Ales.

Ind Coope other bottled beers 1950 - 1960
Date	Beer	Style	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1950	Arctic Ale	Barley Wine	54	0.05	1079.8	1020.1	7.80	74.81%	18 + 40
1951	Arctic Ale	Barley Wine	52.5	0.08	1078.1	1019.1	7.71	75.54%
1952	Arctic Ale	Barley Wine	54	0.07	1080.3	1020.2	7.85	74.84%	21 + 40
1953	Arctic Ale	Barley Wine	54	0.08	1079	1018	7.98	77.22%	18 + 40
1950	Arctic Ale No. 1	Barley Wine		0.10	1079.9	1020.8	7.72	73.97%	40 + 16
1956	Arctic Barley Wine	Barley Wine	54	0.05	1077.1	1019.7	7.49	74.45%	105
1959	Benskins Colne Spring Ale	Barley Wine	47	0.10	1092.8	1009.3	11.08	89.98%	80
1950	Allsopp Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	15	0.04	1029.9	1007.7	2.88	74.25%	7.5 + 40
1955	Double Brown Ale	Brown Ale	25	0.04	1047.8	1012.6	4.57	73.64%	45
1950	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale		0.06	1029	1009.5	2.52	67.24%	40 + 9
1950	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	18	0.05	1032.3	1008.6	3.07	73.37%	40 + 9
1951	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	18	0.04	1032.6	1007.7	3.23	76.38%	40 + 8
1951	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	19	0.05	1031.9	1008.3	3.06	73.98%	17 + 40
1952	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	19	0.05	1030.9	1011.7	2.48	62.14%	11 + 40
1954	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	19	0.04	1030.7	1009.7	2.72	68.40%	11 + 40
1955	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	22	0.04	1033.6	1011.2	2.90	66.67%	105
1956	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	20	0.04	1032.2	1012.3	2.57	61.80%	90
1959	"Dry Club" Stout	Stout	26	0.02	1038.7	1013.2	3.30	65.89%	240
1950	Allsopp Special Stout	Stout	36	0.05	1034.4	1010.4	3.11	69.77%	1 + 40
1951	Allsopp Special Stout	Stout	24	0.05	1037.8	1011.9	3.35	68.52%
1953	Allsopp Special Stout	Stout	30	0.05	1038.1	1013.4	3.19	64.83%	1 + 11
1959	Allsopp's Sweet Stout	Stout	28		1037.8	1015.4	2.89	59.26%	275
1960	Allsopp's Sweet Stout	Stout	26	0.04	1037.7	1017.3	2.63	54.11%	300
1960	Nourishing Stout	Stout	20	0.04	1031.9	1015	2.18	52.98%	275
1950	Special Stout	Stout		0.05	1035.9	1011.7	3.13	67.41%	1 + 14
1950	Special Stout	Stout	24	0.05	1038.2	1014.9	3.01	60.99%	1 + 14
1951	Special Stout	Stout	24	0.08	1038.3	1013.4	3.22	65.01%	1 + 14
1951	Special Stout	Stout	29	0.07	1037.1	1015.3	2.81	58.76%	1 + 16
1952	Special Stout	Stout	23	0.05	1037.9	1011.5	3.42	69.66%	1 + 11.5
1956	Special Stout	Stout	26	0.04	1038.1	1014.9	2.99	60.89%	250
1956	Sweet Stout (lactose present)	Stout	28	0.05	1038.5	1016.5	2.83	57.14%	250
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

I’ve not much to say about Nut Brown Ale. Other than that they clearly deliberately made it sweeter after 1952 by dropping the level of attenuation. Oh, and they seem to have upped the gravity a bit when tax fell in 1950.

It’s nice to see a Double Brown, a stronger type of Brown Ale that mostly died out in the 1950’s. This one is a bit weaker than Whitbread’s, which was over 1050º and disappeared in 1955. The colour is quite pale (80 is Dark Mild). So more in the direction of Newcastle Brown.

All that’s left are the Stouts. All two of them. Clearly Special Stout was rechristened Sweet Stout in 1956. Looks like they raised the FG by adding lactose at the same time. Leaving a beer you’d need to drink several gallons of to get any kind of buzz. You can see that the gravity of the Stout was also raised a bit in 1950.

Draught beers next time.





* The Brewer, volume 67, 1961, pages 511 - 513.