Let's Brew Wednesday - 1985 Tetley Falstaff

I never drank this beer. Despite it being brewed in the town where I lived.

Tetley also produced a Light Mild in their Hunslet brewery. Not that I can ever remember it being sold in Leeds. Maybe it was for the bits of West Yorkshire where they liked their Mild pale.*

I seem to remember it being a keg-only beer. It only appears in the Good Beer Guide from the early 1980s. I suppose that’s when they started selling some in cask form.

The recipe isn’t hugely different from Mild. It’s 0.5º higher in gravity. And the sugar is different – ERC 4ths. No idea what that was. As this is a beer meant to be pale, I’ve substituted No. 1 invert.

There are a few more hops, as the bitterness level was higher. About halfway between Mild and Bitter. Which has me thinking. This is a bit like mixed – Mild and Bitter in equal quantities. Just a little paler than that combination.

There was less “sterilised beer” than in the Mild added after fermentation, just 7.5% maximum.

For a change, this isn't an excerpt from a recently-published book. It's from the one I'm currently working on, "Keg!". A laugh a minute look at UK beer in the 1970s. Which will be available when I finish it. 

 

* Let me know if I'm talking out of my arse here.

1985 Tetley Falstaff
pale malt	5.25 lb	77.55%
torrefied barley	0.50 lb	7.39%
No. 1 invert sugar	1.00 lb	14.77%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.02 lb	0.30%
Fuggles 90 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.50 oz
Northdown dry hops	0.125 oz
OG	1032.5
FG	1006.5
ABV	3.44
Apparent attenuation	80.00%
IBU	27
SRM	7.5
Mash at	146º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	63º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale

 

Let's Brew - 1960 Lees Mild

What is a Light Mild? It’s a very different question to answer. What makes it different from a low-gravity Bitter? I’m not sure that I have a definitive answer.

Here’s a recipe for one. Will it help answer that existential question?  Possibly not. It does provide an example of the style, if nothing else.

No shock that the grist includes nothing darker than crystal malt. Other than that, base malt and flaked maize, nothing went into the mash tun. If only the same simplicity could be found in the sugars. There were six of those: Invert, C.M.E., C.W.A., DCS, HX and C.D.M. Only the merest hint of the last, which is a dark sugar.

It’s not a massively bitter beer, clocking in at just under 20 IBU (calculated). Enabled by two types of English hops from the 1958 harvest and one of Styrian from 1959.

How did it differ from Lees Bitter? More crystal malt and more types of sugar. And fewer hops. So Mild was most likely a sweeter beer.

1960 Lees Mild
pale malt	4.00 lb	63.09%
crystal malt 60 L	0.50 lb	7.89%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	7.89%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.67 lb	10.57%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.67 lb	10.57%
Fuggles 90 min	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 min	0.50 oz
Styrian Goldings 30 min	0.125 oz
OG	1032
FG	1007
ABV	3.31
Apparent attenuation	78.13%
IBU	19.5
SRM	7.5
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)

 

Light Mild 1946 to 1964

A bit of a change of pace, today. Or perhaps a return to the past. To those heady days of the 2010s, when every day I'd post tables of beer analyses. Let's see if we can relive them.

This is some information on post-war Light Mild which I've assembled for another project. One which, doubtless, I'll bore the eyebrows off you with later.

Where does Light Mild become Dark Mild? I've plumped for 46 EBC (old scale). Totally arbitrary, and possibly a little too high.

Talking of high, the degree of attenuation is just that in most examples. With the odd exception like Whiitaker Best Mild. Some are crazily high at over 90%, resulting in some Milds over 4% ABV. Which is pretty damn strong for a post=war Mild, Light or Dark. On the other hand, a few can't even scrape up to 3% ABV.

Light Mild 1946 to 1964
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1946	Barclay Perkins	Ale	13.5	1031.1	1008.8	2.89	71.70%	19.5
1949	Brickwoods	Mild Ale	13	1033.2	1004.8	3.7	85.54%	20.5
1949	City Brewery	Mild Ale	13	1032.6	1006.8	3.35	79.14%	21
1949	Mitchell & Butler	XX	18	1034.6	1003.9	4	88.73%	35
1949	Portsmouth United	Mild Ale	13	1029.3	1003.1	3.41	89.42%	19
1949	St. Annes Brewery	Mild Ale	13	1034.9	1003	4.16	91.40%	20
1951	Vaux	Mild Ale	15	1035.6	1002.9	4.27	91.85%	24.5
1951	Fremlin	XXL	12	1029.4				22
1951	Shepherd Neame	X	12	1031.4				24
1952	Lees	K		1031				34
1955	Thwaites	Mild Ale	16	1032.2	1006.1	3.39	81.06%	40
1959	Ramsdens	Best Mild	13	1035.5	1006.5	3.63	81.69%	35
1959	Websters	Best Mild	13	1034.9	1004.4	3.81	87.39%	20
1959	Bentleys	Mild	13	1032.9	1005.4	3.44	83.59%	30
1959	Ramsdens	Mild	12	1029.2	1004.7	3.06	83.90%	45
1959	Whitaker	Best Mild	13	1033.1	1010.2	2.86	69.18%	45
1961	Cornbrook	Keg Mild	17	1035	1002.3	4.09	93.43%	20
1961	Ansell	King Pin Mild	19	1037.6	1006.7	3.86	82.18%	45
1961	M & B	Keg Mild	19	1038.5	1009.9	3.58	74.29%	45
1962	Ind Coope	Mild Ale	14	1033.7	1009.5	3.13	71.81%	20
1962	McMullen	Mild Ale	14	1034	1006.3	3.46	81.47%	20
1964	John Smith	Mild Ale	15	1030.9	1008.5	2.8	72.49%	30
	Average		14.3	1033.2	1006.0	3.5	82.12%	28.8
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Dark Mild (part seven)

Back to Dark Mild again. With an example that I'd already caught, but was lying hidden in one of my spreadsheets.

It also demonstrates why it's so difficult to find references when searching the newspaper archive. Because, as you'll see, it doesn't say Dark Mild straight out.

Sussex Agricultural Express - Saturday 24 January 1903, page 9.

The "Dark" and "Mild" don't even appear on the same line. Though reading with human eyes, it's clear that XB is being described as a Dark Mild. Interestingly, it does cost a little more than the pale version.

I assume that XXB, described as Family Ale, is a slightly stronger Mild Ale. I base that on its position in the advert and the "X" designation. But the term was used for different styles of beer. Whitbread's Family Ale was a lower-gravity Pale Ale. While Tetley's was a type of Mild.

I'm intrigued by the AK, which is described as "Crystal Ale". Eldridge Pope marketed their AK as "Crystal Ale". The term implies a sparkling, clear beer. It was often used for filtered, non-deposit bottled beers.

But what's the difference between AK and BB, another Bitter selling for the same price? And which is described as "Tonic Dinner Ale", which is typical of the description of  AK. Don't get me started on AKK and what the hell "Amber Ale" signifies.

Pale Mild Ale

The results of searching for "Dark Mild" in the newspaper archives were pretty disappointing. I only found a handful of references to the term before 1920

After a bit of thought, another , indirect method occurred to me. Why not search for "Pale Mild"? If something;s being called Pale Mild, then Dark Mild must also exist. Otherwise, the "pale" prefix would be redundant.

And Bingo, I found this advert from 1899:

 South Bucks Standard - Friday 12 May 1899, page 1.

Two Mild, X and PX, with the latter clearly described as Pale Mild. What surprised me most about this was that at such an early date Dark Mild should be the norm.

My guess would be that X and PX were identical. With caramel being added to X. In any case, with the price being identical they would have at least been the same strength.

I decided against "Light Mild" as it's ambiguous. It could mean either light in colour or light in strength.

When I started down the beer history rabbit hole, I never imagined it would be so hard to pin down a date for the beginning of Dark Mild. I've enough evidence now to be certain that it lies in the 19th century. Probably at least 1890. Though the date varied by region and brewery.

Wheeler's must have been a decent-sized brewer. When it it was taken over in 1924 it owned 148 pubs.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1963 Lees Mild

It being Mild month once more, it seems a good time for another Mild recipe.

The 1950’s version of Lees Best Mild has been a big hit with home brewers. Mostly, I think, because of its complex malt bill. This time, though, we’re looking at its younger brother: simple Mild. What’s most surprising to me, is that not only wasn’t it  parti-gyled with Best Mild, but it has a totally different grist.

There’s one good reason for that: the two beers were different in colour. The usual convention was Ordinary Mild dark, Best Mild pale. For some reason, Lees did it the other way around. And with all the dark malt and dark sugar in Best Mild, there’s no way they could parti-gyle Ordinary Mild with it.

I sometimes wonder why pubs sell several Bitters of only slightly differing gravities. This case is even crazier – Best Mild, at 1035º, was only 2 gravity points higher than this beer. It does make you wonder why they bothered. Though I suppose, at least, the different grists left beers with distinct characters.

Speaking of grists, Ordinary Mild contained crystal malt, which Best didn’t. While Ordinary lacked the oak smoked and flaked oats that were in Best.

There’s an even bigger difference when it comes to the sugars. Best: Invert, Black Invert, PS Crystals, D.C.S., HX and C.D.M. Ordinary: Invert, C.M.E., Stacons, Laverna, D.C.S, HX and a tiny amount of C.D.M. I won’t even try to guess what all that lot were. I’ve substituted No. 1 and No. 2 invert.

Oddly, Ordinary Mild has a slightly higher hopping rate than Best. I’ve guessed Fuggles, but all I know for sure is that they were English. Around 10% of the hops were Styrian Goldings. But as that would only amount to 0.15 oz. at this scale, I didn’t bother with it. Feel free to throw a few in if you feel like it.

Before I forget, the FG is also a guess. Lees didn’t bother filling it in.

1963 Lees Mild
pale malt	5.25 lb	76.98%
crystal malt 60 L	0.25 lb	3.67%
flaked maize	0.33 lb	4.84%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.33 lb	4.84%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.66 lb	9.68%
Fuggles 90 min	0.75 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.75 oz
OG	1033
FG	1007
ABV	3.44
Apparent attenuation	78.79%
IBU	21
SRM	6.5
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)

Portsmouth & Brighton United Breweries beers in 1952

Sorry. More price list stuff. I just can’t resist. Especially as I have lots of details for this brewery’s beers.

Let’s kick off with the price list:

Portsmouth Evening News - Thursday 20 November 1952, page 7.

Let’s get stuck in. There are five draught beers in total. Which is quite a lot for the early 1950s. Many breweries would have only had two, Mild and Bitter. It’s a decent range: Bitter, Best Bitter, Mild, Old Ale and most interesting of all, Golden Ale.

It’s of note for a couple of reasons. The name, to start with. It gives a lie to anyone who thinks Golden Ales are a recent phenomenon. The price tells us a lot, too. It’s more than double the price of the Ordinary Bitter. Implying a beer of 1060º, at least. Which was incredibly strong for a draught beer back then. Especially a pale one.

Before I forget, here’s a few analyses of these Portsmouth United’s beers:

Portsmouth & Brighton United Breweries beers 1948 - 1951
Year	Beer	Style	Price per pint d	package	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1948	Double Stout	Stout	18	bottled	0.07	1033.6	1011	2.92	67.26%	210
1948	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	19	bottled	0.08	1038.2	1005.4	4.27	85.86%	55
1948	IPA	IPA	19	bottled	0.07	1033.8	1005.7	3.65	83.14%	20.5
1948	Pompey XXXXX	Strong Ale	21	bottled	0.08	1040.7	1009.4	4.06	76.90%	70
1949	Mild Ale	Mild	13	draught	0.08	1029.3	1003.1	3.41	89.42%	19
1950	India Pale Ale	IPA	15	bottled	0.04	1033.7	1009.4	3.15	72.11%	22
1951	Mild Ale	Mild	14	draught	0.04	1029.3	1005.1	3.14	82.59%	75
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

A shame there’s no Golden Ale in there, you’re probably thinking. That’s what I thought at first, too. Then I remembered I’d been sent some brewing logs for the brewery. Some from around this period. And one is for Pompey Royal Golden Ale. The OG is 1060.5º. Around where I would have guessed.

I’ve just a few random records. Some from during the war, some from just after. Most of the beers in the table above have lower gravities than in 1940. But one is the same. And I mean exactly the same. In 1940 XX Mild had an OG of 1029.3. Spooky, eh?

Did you notice that the two Mild examples are totally different in colour? One is paler than the IPA, the other a darkish brown. Looks to me like they were making two version, one coloured with caramel and one not.

The bottled IPA listed seems to have starting calling itself Light Ale by 1952. Another great example of the fluidity of style designations in Britain.

Fancy taking a look at the recipes I have for Portsmouth United’s beers in the 1940s? I thought not. But I’ll publish them anyway.

Draught Mild Ale in 1960

I’m fair rattling through these things. I might even complete this series before I forget about it.

One thing this last set has taught me. That Whitbread were losing interest in Mild. That’s why I’ve included beers from both 1959 and 1960 in the Gravity Book table. I had too few from 1960 to form much of a set.

One point the numbers do prove is that Mild was good value for money. Obviously, it was way better than bottled beer – they cost more than 6d for 1% ABV. But also better than draught Bitter which averaged 4.2d. Why was that? Customer expectation. And historic – Pale Ales had always sold at a premium, right since they first became widespread in the 19th century.

While I’m making comparisons with Bitter, I may as well look at bitterness levels, too. The average for Bitter was significantly higher: 32.1. But looking at individual beers, the situation is more complex. The Bitters have values ranging from 20 to 40. The Milds 15 to 37. Only four of the 25 Bitters had a higher value. Bizarrely, their Bitter had a much lower value, just 20. Meaning their Mild was almost twice as bitter as their Bitter.

There’s one thing that is particularly pleasing. As I have brewing records for Whitbread for 1960, I can see what that 26 units relates to in terms of hopping rate. It’s the equivalent of 0.7 lbs hops per barrel. Using the figures for Whitbread Bitter and Truman Bitter, I come up with pretty consistent results. 1lb of hops per barrel equates to around 37 or 38 hop bitter index units. Now if I run the hopping through Beersmith, I should be able to equate those units with IBUs.

Note that the Carlisle State Management Mild is 1d cheaper than any of the others. The only one under a shilling a pint. Otherwise, 12d seems the standard price for Ordinary Mild, a penny more for Best Mild.

Speaking of which, it’s nice to have three sets of Mild and Best Mild. Not that in the two pairs where the colour is specified, the Best Mild is paler. This seems to have been the general rule both sides of the Pennines. Though in both cases the Ordinary Milds aren’t that dark.

Talking of colour, only three Milds are what I would call properly dark (i.e. colour of 80 or over):  Chester Northgate Brewery, Fullers and Greenall Whitley. This is making the difference between Bitter and Mild look pretty arbitrary. Many of the Milds are no darker than Bitter and some are more bitter.

Not sure why the Gravity Book examples have so much greater degree of attenuation. The average of the Which? set is brought down by four London Milds: Charrington, Watney, Whitbread and Courage & Barclay. Were London Milds sweeter? Unfortunately my second table only has two London beers. Though they are two of the least well-attenuated. All the others, save Ansells, are northern beers.

The strongest in both tables is Ansells. That doesn’t surprise me. In the West Midland, where Ansells was from, Mild was incredibly popular and tended to be stronger than elsewhere.

Draught Mild Ale in 1960
Brewer	Beer	Price per pint d	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Index of Hop Bitter	price per % ABV
Carlisle State Management	Mild	11	1031.2	1008.8	2.90	71.79%	16	3.79
Greene King	Mild	12	1030.7	1006.1	3.20	80.29%	18	3.75
Greenall Whitley	Mild	12	1030.8	1004.7	3.40	84.90%	32	3.53
Friary Meux	Mild	12	1031.1	1006.5	3.20	79.26%	21	3.75
Thwaites	Mild	12	1031.1	1005	3.40	84.08%	23	3.53
Wilson	Mild	12	1031.2	1005.8	3.30	81.41%	24	3.64
Fremlins	Mild	12	1033.3	1005.6	3.60	83.18%	17	3.33
Charrington	Mild	12	1033.5	1012.6	2.70	62.39%	15	4.45
Watney	Mild	12	1031.1	1011.7	2.50	62.38%	21	4.79
Whitbread	Mild	12	1031.4	1011.3	2.60	64.01%	26	4.62
Courage & Barclay	Mild	12	1031.7	1010.8	2.70	65.93%	26	4.44
Hammond United	Best Mild KB	12	1032.7	1005	3.60	84.71%	37	3.33
Truman	Mild	12	1033.2	1009.3	3.10	72.14%	28	3.87
John Smiths	Mild	12	1033.6	1009.7	3.10	71.28%	32	3.87
Ind Coope	XXX	12	1034.3	1009.6	3.20	72.01%	14	3.75
Ansells	Mild	12	1036.5	1009.5	3.50	73.97%	24	3.43
Average		11.9	1032.3	1008.2	3.13	74.61%	23.4	3.87
Source:
Which Beer Report, 1960, pages 171 - 173.

Draught Mild Ale in 1959 / 1960
Brewer	Beer	Price per pint d	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour	price per % ABV
Bentleys	Mild	13	1032.9	1005.4	3.44	83.59%	30	3.78
Bents	Mild Ale	12	1033.2	1003.6	3.86	89.16%	55	3.11
Chester Northgate Brewery	Mild Ale	14	1030.6	1005.6	3.25	81.70%	95	4.31
Fullers	Mild Ale	12	1032.2	1006.6	3.32	79.50%	90	3.61
Greenall Whitley	Mild Ale	12	1030.4	1005.5	3.23	81.91%	80	3.71
Greenall Whitley	Mild Ale	13	1029.3	1005.3	3.12	81.91%	65	4.17
Ramsdens	Best Mild	13	1035.5	1006.5	3.63	81.69%	35	3.59
Ramsdens	Mild	12	1029.2	1004.7	3.06	83.90%	45	3.92
Threlfalls	Mild Ale	12	1032.8	1004.3	3.71	86.89%	50	3.23
Websters	Best Mild	13	1035	1005.9	3.64	83.14%	20	3.57
Websters	Mild	12	1031.6	1004.8	3.35	84.81%	55	3.58
Whitaker	Best Mild	13	1033.1	1010.2	2.86	69.18%	45	4.54
Whitbread	Best Ale		1030.3	1008.5	2.88	71.95%
Ansell	Mild Ale	13	1038
Lees	Mild		1032.0
Lees	Best Mild		1035.0
Tetley	Mild Ale	12	1031.9	1003.6	3.54	88.71%	60	3.39
Average		12.6	1032.5	1005.8	3.35	82.00%	55.8	3.73
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/01/127.
Lees brewing records

Brown Ale next.