Stock Pale Ale talk

My talk for the Brettanomyces Festival, on Stock Pale Ale is all finished. Words written, slides created. And am told there will be beer. For definite. I do hope so.


Because the second half of the talk won't make much sense if the beer isn't there to taste. And I really, really want to try it. Based on the description of the brewer, Mike Siegel, it has a really long lasting bitterness recorded in 19th-century texts. I think he's really nailed it.

1877 Truman P1K* is the recipe. 11 months in wood, Brettanomyces secondary fermentaion. I'm nearly wetting myself just writing about it. Can't wait until next Saturday. When I'll discuss Stock Pale Ale in general and Goose Island Brewery Yard in detail.

I think a few tickets for my talk are still available, but I wouldn't leave it too long.








Stock Pale Ale: Barrel-aged IPA
Saturday 25th June 12:30
Proeflokaal De Prael, Amsterdam.





* A beer that was later known as Ben Truman. initially a posh bottled beer, later a keg beer.

Let's Brew 1891 Barclay Perkins KK

Here’s another recipe that will feature in volume II of Strong! Though who knows when that will come out. It’s behind vol. II of Scotland! in the queue. The queue of books I have to finish, that is. I’ve several in various states of completion. I still plan a huge update of Decoction! when I can be arsed.

It’s amazing to think that this KK was an everyday drinking beer. One of the standard features of a late Victorian London bar. Also amazing to think that in the 20th century draught Burton, which is what this is, went from on sale everywhere in London to totally forgotten in just a couple of decades (1955 to 1975).

Even I wouldn’t be able to put away many pints of a beer this strong. Victorians must have been made of stronger stuff. Or just total pissheads. Having read plenty of newspaper reports of drunken disorder, I suspect the latter is true.

The grist is typical of Barclay Perkins grists after the 1880 Free Mash Tun Act: 75% malt, the rest split evenly between an adjunct and sugar. Initially, they preferred flaked rice as an adjunct but switched to flaked maize around 1900. My guess would be because of the price. Flaked maize was used by most breweries in England, an exception being Whitbread which only used malt and sugar. Many Scottish brewers preferred their maize in the form of grits.

The hops are an interesting mix of English and German. As is often the case, the foreign hops are named by variety, while the English hops only mention the region where they were grown. In this case Mid Kent. So they could be Fuggles, but my money would be on something classier, such as a form of whitebine. Of which Goldings are the most easily available modern variety.

At this time KK was almost certainly aged for a couple of months before sale. Probably in trade casks, i.e. the cask in which it would be shipped to the customer. This seems to have been the usual practice for K Ales. While Stouts still tended to be aged in vats.

You’ll note that this Burton is still relatively pale. That changed around 1900, when, like X Ale, KK started to become darker. Don’t ask me why. I have no hard evidence, just half-arsed guesses.

1891 Barclay Perkins KK
Mild malt	11.00 lb	69.84%
crystal malt 60L	0.75 lb	4.76%
flaked rice	2.00 lb	12.70%
No. 2 invert sugar	2.00 lb	12.70%
Hallertau 90 min	3.50 oz
Goldings 60 min	2.75 oz
Goldings 30 min	2.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1074
FG	1019
ABV	7.28
Apparent attenuation	74.32%
IBU	106
SRM	13
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1098 British ale - dry
or	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

Brettanomyces, FG and me

Busy writing my chat for the Brettanomyces Festival. I wouldn't usually leave it this late, but I've been a busy bunny. It's my third gig this month.

One of my dreams will be turning into liquid reality. Like that dream about drinking Holes Mild in 1940, but being awake. And really drinking beer.

I finally persuaded someone to brew a beer that's intrigued, tempted and tantalised me since I learnt of its craziness: Stock Pale Ale. The original IPA style. Beers not sold young, but properly aged until the hops were well rotted, as they said in the 18th-century. A beer with a firm, persistent bitterness, that lasted past throwing out time, the chip shop and crap late-night TV, right through until the next day's lunch.

Not sure how coherent I'll be, given the pants wetting excitement of the beer. A bit like slurping down C Ale on Monday. Hard to not do an involuntary happy dance.

Stock Pale Ale, 1870's recipe, 11 months in wood, Brettanomyces secondary fermentaion. My liquid dream.

If you've bought a ticket for my talk, you'll get a chance to to try it, too. You haven't? I can sort you out for an appropriate fee.

London in March

Here are some notes I wrote while in Lodon for the historic beer conference thing. Been too busy to post them until now.

That pub on the way to Tottenham Court Road*

Almost walked straight back out again until I spotted the Truman Scorcher. I really dislike the way Taylor Walker pubs are replacing London Pride with the deceptiveley-named London Glory. It's 16:10 and pretty empty. Just me and a bloke in the spell of his phone.

Mmm. Something not quite right about the beer. A touch of sourness. Doubtless the pub's fault. Don't think I'll be finishing it.

Bree Louise
Still stinky. I'm taking advantage of being in London by myself to drop by. Dolores isn't a fan.

Sambrook's Candle Maker IPA 6.8% ABV.
Black IPA that is. And it's pretty damn black. As dark as midnight down a well at midnight on the dark side of the moon. Opaque in a good, not orange juice sort of way. Not that you'd notice from the taste. Well, maybe a little at the back end, where there seems to be a touch of non-hop bitterness.

I managed to get a highly-desirable seat by the gents. Handy when you're as old and weak-bladdered as me. As for the smell - it doesn't really make any difference here.

Quite liked that black IPA. So I got another. Could be the ABV talking, mind.

Had a crazily-scheduled beer appointment at noon yesterday, just a few hours landing back from the US. Turned out to be as much a business meeting as a piss up. I think. Being a bit confused at the time, I'm not 100% sure.

London has its own particular atmosphere. Busy, not not quite in such a concentrated, frantic way as New York City.

Why did I suddenly start humming "No Fun"? Because it has a catchy riff? Because I am having fun. Of the sat in a pub with a nice beer and nothing I fucking need to do sort of way.

"You're crazy, Ronald." has been a recurring theme in my chats with Dolores. I understand what she means. But it's a mortality thing. Where once there was an endless horizon, the earth has turned flat. At one point, I'm going to drop off the edge. And the drop gets closer every day. I'm getting shit done while my legs, guts and brain are still working reasonably well.

Regrets?  Not having better handwriting.

Need a wee. Thank Stalin** the bog isn't far.

Reading the Evening Standard - all fluff, puff and bluff.






* Marlborough Arms  
36 Torrington Pl,
London WC1E 7LY.
Tel: +44 20 7636 0120

** That's for Jeff. Know you don't like taking the Lord's name in vain,. So I substituted the red/dark lord's.


Bree Louise  
69 Cobourg St,
London NW1 2HH.
Tel: +44 20 7681 4930
http://www.breelouise.pub/

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1879 William Younger 160/-

Here’s the top of the range Shilling Ale from William Younger, so you can compare and contrast it with their No. 1 Ale.

Obviously, this being 19th-century Scotland, the recipe isn’t very complicated. Just pale malt and a load of hops. Strange how they used so many hops, despite them not growing in Scotland. (That’s irony, by the way.) It’s not quite as heavily hopped as No. 1. But it’s still stuffed with hops.

The biggest differences I can see with No. 1 is the degree of attenuation (lower) and the dry hopping rate (much lower). It’s not a massive difference. Then again, I struggle to understand why Younger brewed more than 20 different beers, many that look extremely similar to each other. They’ve easily the largest beer range of any brewery that I’ve studied. And not just part-gyled from the same worts. Most of Younger’s beers were brewed single gyle.

The combination of heavy hopping and high FG must have resulted in a thick, bittersweet beer. I did brew one of the weaker Shilling Ales recently. It turned out really, really nice. I brewed it SMaSH: just pale malt and lots of Goldings. It had the wonderfully hoppiness that you get from huge quantities of Goldings.

Shilling Ales were meant to be drunk young. Which makes sense, as they are really a form of Mild Ale. Which means the FG in the log must have been pretty close to the FG when the beer hit drinkers’ lips.

1879 William Younger 160/-
pale malt	25.25 lb	100.00%
Cluster 90 min	3.50 oz
Cluster 60 min	3.50 oz
Cluster 30 min	1.75 oz
Goldings 30 min	1.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.18 oz
OG	1109
FG	1049.5
ABV	7.87
Apparent attenuation	54.59%
IBU	132
SRM	8
Mash at	158º F
Sparge at	161º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	55º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

Changing taste

More stuff about the increasing popularity of bottled beer in the 1950’s. Along with an explanation of why it was occurring.

As it was a landlord addressing a group of landlords, you’d like to hope that he knew what the hell he was talking about.

“Changing taste
Victuallers find people today are drinking more bottled beer
ADDRESSING the annual meeting Grantham and District Licensed Victuallers' Association yesterday week, Mr. G. K. Gordon, of Nottingham, representative of the National Trade Defence Association, said that there was a considerable decline in the consumption of draught beer, almost certainly because people today were drinking more bottled beer. He associated this with the fact that the habits of the public were changing — people were becoming more hygienically minded and demanding packed goods. Another reason he offered was that bottled beer was attractive to the eye, and, further, that it was easier to handle.”
Grantham Journal - Friday 17 December 1954, page 3.

 
He gives two reasons: bottled beer looks prettier and was perceived as more hygienic than draught . The reasoning being that because it was presented in a sealed container it couldn’t be tampered with, as cask beer could be. The liking for factory-packaged goods went back to the 19th century, when the dodgy practices of unscrupulous grocers made consumers wary of loose produce. After the war, the public’s love of packaged goods only grew.

This prediction was pretty wide of the mark:

“"People like their refreshment to be gaily dressed, and the suppliers, who are acutely aware of this, must satisfy the contemporary feelings." he said. "I think the time is coming when all beer will be bottled."

Mr. Gordon humorously pointed out that, should many more different types of alcoholic drink invented, the publican would need more space behind the bar than in front! Price adjustments had been a much-debated subject for some time, but he was confident it would eventually sort itself out.

He advised retailers to sell some alternative refreshment to beer, being certain that this would aid the sale the latter. as did television. Laughter accompanied the conclusion Mr. Gordon's address, when, perhaps as a solace to the retailers, said: "Probably in 100 years’ time our drinks will be produced automatically, and the products of our age unearthed from the museum!"”
Grantham Journal - Friday 17 December 1954, page 3.

With the rise of keg beer in the early 1960’s, bottled beer began to fall out of favour again and drinkers returned to drinking mostly draught beer, at least in the pub. Though with the degree of automation now occurring, he’s probably not so wrong about drinks eventually being made automatically.

I don’t understand this last bit. Why would you want to open at 10:30 rather than 11:00? Surely there would be little custom that early in the morning. I’d expect trade to be better between 14:30 and 15:00 than 10:30 and 11:00. 

“LICENSING HOURS
The committee's annual report recorded that during the past, year effort had been made to change morning opening hours to 10.30 a.m. until 2.30 p.m. instead of 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., but in view of the fact that all members did not return their postal ballot papers to give 100 per cent in favour, the licensing justices declined to make any change. They were also against a market-day extension to houses in the vicinity of the football ground. However, Sunday music had been allowed from 8 p.m. to closing time.”
Grantham Journal - Friday 17 December 1954, page 3.

Nice of them to allow music on Sunday evening. I remember Sundays when I lived in the East End in the late 1970’s. I found it a nightmare because almost every pub had horrible cockney music in the Sunday lunchtime session. I used to hunt out the rare quiet pubs.

Newark airport

I much prefer Newark airport on the leaving side. No will-they-let-me-in angst. And the chance to indulge in a few final Americaney beers. Before I finally fuck off.

An 11-day geek fest. That’s the only way I describe this trip. Non-stop geeking of the best beery kind.

I’m sitting at a bar in Newark airport with a giant Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in front of me. A fitting way to cap any trip.

“What’s the beer with the dwarf on the tap handle?” a woman two seats down asks. My god – they’ve got Chouffe on tap. How times change.

I’ve just rattled along the NE corridor from D.C., with a landscape of rust and collapse, neat lawns around idealised US homes, soaring city centres and even the occasional countryside.

They’ve just shown an advert – on the inevitable TV – for a video doorbell that lets you answer your door remotely. I’d be happy with a doorbell that just fucking rang every time.

This the longest I’ve been in the US – other than for work – for decades. Williamsburg the last couple of days was amazing. Loads of my fave beer people in the same place. And the thrill of standing on stage not once, but twice. They say applause is  addictive. For me that’s far outweighed by getting laughs. I’m exhausted. Totally Donald Ducked. But happy.

Got Lexxie his sweets and Andrew his bourbon. I’m all set.

It’s not just about meeting old friends. Met loads of firm new ones. And discovered why I was black balled for the NHC. Looks like the Papazian Cup may return after all.

One of the best bits – being able to give Mitch Steele confirmation of Brettanomyces in Bass Pale Ale. Must remember to send him the reference.

I’ve not been taking notes. Who know which beers I’ve had? A few Devil’s Backbone IPAs. A couple at Right Proper in DC. A lot of IPA, if I’m honest. I am in the US, after all.

I hope they have a conference at Williamsburg again next year. I know even more people to geek out with now.

They’ve an intriguing set of beers in the fridge: Reissdorf Kölsch, Schneider Weisse, quite a few Belgians.

A couple of double bourbons in, and the edge of the day is not so much blunted as hammered into submission.

They bloke sat next to me is writing in a notebook. His handwriting is even worse than mine. Why Have I written so few notes this trip? I’ve rarely been alone. I’m too polite to write in the company of friends.

Time to drink up and get on the plane.

Hull Gets Stronger Beer

What rejoicing there must have been when restrictions on beer strength started to be loosened up in the early 1950’s. And the tax rate reduced.

They certainly seem to have been pleased in Hull.

“Hull Gets Stronger Beer
STRONGER BEER authorised by the Cripps Budget is already on sale in one Hull public-house, one at Beverley and in several Hull clubs. Other brewers expect to get draught beer on the market by the middle of next week, but bottled beer generally will be another few weeks before it is any stronger.

One Hull brewery said. "Just when the stronger beer goes on sale depends partly on what stocks of the old beer licensees have in their cellars."

LUCKY CUSTOMERS
A Hull spokesman for a Midland firm of brewers said. We do not expect our matured beers will be on sale before May 18. It takes something like 21 days to mature. It goes into store for two or three days, and then into customers' cellars. According to what stocks they have, it may take two or three more days before it is on the market. Our stronger bottled beer will not be available for another six weeks."

Another firm of Midland brewers in Hull said, "We have been able to get the stronger beer into one Hull public-house, one at Beverley and several Hull clubs."

LONGER FOR BOTTLED
A Hull bottling firm who handle Danish beers exclusively said, "It will be two or three weeks yet before we get the stronger beer."

The Hull office of a London firm who specialise in bottled beers and stouts said, "Draught beer can be processed and put straight into casks for sale to the licensees. But the procedure with bottled beer is much more complicated and it may be another three weeks or a month before we have it on the market."
Hull Daily Mail - Thursday 27 April 1950, page 3.

You can tell that appeared in a local paper, with its total disregard of everywhere outside the Hull area. From the title of the article you might have thought that it was only Hull lucky enough to be getting stronger beer and everywhere else would have to put up with the weak stuff.

Some interesting nuggets there about the production methods for bottled beer. Namely that they matured ordinary strength bottled beer for three weeks and the strong stuff for 6 weeks.

Who might that London brewer specialising in bottled beer and Stout? My money would be on Whitbread or Watney.

This is how the tax and gravity changed:

Year	tax per standard barrel	average OG
1949	343s 4.5d	1033.88
1950	321s	1036.99

And here’s an example of how one London brewer’s beers changed:

Mann bottled beers 1949 - 1950
Year	Beer	Style	Price	size	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1949	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	16d	pint	1030.3	1004.4	3.37	85.48%
1949	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	17d	pint	1032.9	1010.2	2.94	69.00%
1949	London Stout	Stout	17d	pint	1033.5	1012	2.78	64.18%
1949	Rustic Ale	Pale Ale	22d	pint	1043.3	1007	4.73	83.83%
1950	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	8.5d	half pint	1032.6	1007.6	3.24	76.69%
1950	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	9d	half pint	1035.8	1013.3	2.91	62.85%
1950	London Stout	Stout	8.5d	half pint	1036.8	1013.9	2.96	62.23%
1950	Rustic Ale	Pale Ale	12d	half pint	1045.1	1011.5	4.36	74.50%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

You can see that on average the gravities increased by around 2º.

Let's Brew - 1879 William Younger No. 1

Someone commented the other day that they were disappointed Scotland! contained no recipes. He has a point. One which I’ve been addressing.

You may have noticed the odd Scottish recipe appearing in amongst those for Mild or from the 1950’s. That’s because I’ve been working on three books simultaneously: the new edition of Mild!,  Victory! and Scotland! vol. II.

So far I’ve written 60 new Scottish recipes. Nothing nearly like enough. I’m aiming for at least 200. I hope that they’ll open people’s eyes to the real nature of Scottish beer. No long boils, normal fermentation temperatures and roast barley nowhere to be seen. And plenty of hops.

Younger’s No. 1 is a good example. With its three imperial shitloads of hops and ridiculously low degree of attenuation, it’s typical of strong Scottish beers of the 19th century. William Younger brewed a crazy number of crazily high-gravity beers. They had two parallel ranges of Strong Ales, one with shilling designations, the other numbered. The numbered range seem to have been inspired by the Strong Ales of Burton-on-Trent.

These are the two sets:

William Youngers Strong Ales in 1879
beer	OG
100/-	1070
120/-	1083
140/-	1096
160/-	1109
1	1098
2	1084
3	1074
Source:
William Younger's brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/2/28.

I love the simplicity of Younger’s recipes from this period: pale malt and loads of hops. The majority from the US, but some Kent hops, too. Not much more I can say, really.

I imagine the biggest challenge for you will be getting an FG that high. Though in the case of the numbered beers, the FG in the log may not be the real FG. In the case of the Shilling Ales, which were shipped in hogsheads for immediate bottling and rapid consumption, the FG probably is about right. While the numbered Ales might have been aged before sale. I simply don’t know.

1879 William Younger No. 1
pale malt	22.75 lb	100.00%
Cluster 90 min	3.75 oz
Cluster 60 min	3.75 oz
Goldings 30 min	2.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.50 oz
OG	1098
FG	1040
ABV	7.67
Apparent attenuation	59.18%
IBU	136
SRM	7
Mash at	156º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	57º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

The first beer festival - the participants

I didn't realise that Boak & Bailey had already written about this event. It was a few years back, so I've a good excuse for forgetting. I can't remember everything I wrote last month, let alone what someone else wrote a few years ago.

They'd found other references to the event. Including one that gave a full list of the participating breweries. It's an odd list. Of the 30 breweries, only two still exist: Donnington and Dreher (now called Schwechat). And there's an oddity straight off. I can't think of many lists that would include the largest brewery in Continental Europe and a tiny rural brewery in the West Country.

You know how much time I spend with my head stuffed up the past's arse. But I only recognised six names in the list. Meaning most couldn't have made it into the 20th century. It also  implies that they weren't very big. Dreher aside, none of the participants was particularly well-known.

There are none of the big names in British brewing: Bass, Allsopp, Whitbread, Truman, Barclay Perkins, William Younger, Charrington, Mann, Watney, Beamish & Crawford, Guinness and Tetley.

Brewery	Town	County/Country
Anton Dreher	Vienna	Austria
Franz Erich		Bavaria
W. J. Green, Phoenix Brewery	Luton	Bedfordshire
Wm. Potts, Anchor Brewery		Cambridgeshire
Magor, Davey, and Co., Redruth Brewery	Redruth	Cornwall
Nicholl and Co.	Colchester	Essex
R. J. Arkell, Donnnington Brewery	Stow-on-the-Wold	Gloucestershire
E. Bowley and Son, Cotswold Brewery	Cirencester	Gloucestershire
J. Richings, London Brewery		Guernsey
Biden and Co.	Gosport	Hampshire
J. Lush, St, George's Brewery	Portsea	Hampshire
John Steal, Pale Ale Brewery	Baldock	Hertfordshire
Henry and Co.	Newry	Ireland
Hills and Son	Deal	Kent
Beer and Co., Original Brewery	Canterbury	Kent
Gillow and Wareham, East Kent Brewery	Sandwich	Kent
Jude and Co., Kent Brewery	Wateringbury	Kent
Stacey, Isherwood, and Foster	Maidstone	Kent
J. W.Crosby, Crown Brewery	West Derby, Liverpool	Lancashire
Hornby And Co.	Liverpool	Lancashire
Monro and Co.	Warrington	Lancashire
Sidgwick and Mottram, Sun Brewery	Salford, Manchester	Lancashire
Boddington and Co., Strangeways Brewery	Manchester	Lancashire, and Burton-on-Trent
Nunnelly and Eady, The Brewery	Market Harboro'	Leicestershire
Horton and Co., Dalston Brewery	Haggerstone	Middlesex
Byles and Co., Grey's Brewery	Henley-on-Thames	Oxfordshire
T. P. Adcock and I. J. Fast	Melton Mowbray	Rutland
E. A. Green, Western Brewery	Bath	Somerset
Phillips Bros.	Burton-on-Trent	Staffordshire, and Northampton
G. S. and H Sainsbury	Devizes	Wiltshire

The geographical spread is very uneven, too. No breweries from Scotland, nor from anywhere in North other than Lancashire. Unsurprisingly given the event's location, a majority are from the South - 17 of 30. Though none are from London.

Region	No. breweries
South	2
Southeast	10
Southwest	5
Midlands	4
North	5
Channel Islands	1
Ireland	1
Foreign	2
Total	30

Me in the UK soon

I've a couple of events coming up in the next few days back in blighty.

The Home Brew Festival
Market Bosworth Rugby Club
Cadeby Ln, Market Bosworth,
Warwickshire CV13 0BA
Saturday 11th June 13:30 to 15:00
http://www.thehomebrewfestival.co.uk/

Where I'll be talking about home brewing vintage beer.

A taste of Manchester's brewing past
Smithfield Market Tavern
37 Swan Street,
Manchester M4 5JZ
Monday 13th June, 18:00
http://www.mcrbeerweek.co.uk/events/2016/6/13/a-taste-of-manchesters-brewing-past

Where there will be four recreated historical recipes:

• Blackjack Brewery 1951 Lees C Ale
• Squawk Brewing Lees 1952 Stout
• Beer Nouveau 1903 Lees XXX strong ale.
• Tickety Brew Heginbotham’s Invalid Stout

and I will give an informal talk. Just me standing up and spouting crap, really.

For those of you who still haven't bought it, I'll have copies of my book for sale.






The Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer
http://www.amazon.com/Home-Brewers-Guide-Vintage-Beer/dp/1592538827

Charles Wells beers in 1952

I’ve been on a price list binge recently. I blame the newspaper archive. And the fact that that adverts are about the only place Mild Ale ever gets mentioned.

Today’s is from a brewery that’s still very much around: Charles Wells. This is the price list in question:

Bedfordshire Times and Independent - Friday 13 June 1952, page 8.

You might well ask what the point of publishing this is. It’s quite simple: to show how slimmed down breweries’ product ranges became as a result of WW II. London brewers dropped many of their less popular beers in the early years of the war. That’s what finally did for Porter.

The advert shows about the minimum range a pub could get away with. Draught Mild and Bitter; bottled Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Stout, Strong Ale and Guinness. Not even Bass or Worthington, which were available in lots of pubs, just like Guinness.

I suppose you’d like to know more about these beers. So would I. Wonder if they have any brewing records preserved? Be interesting to take a look at them. Failing that, I do have a few analyses of their beers.

Charles Wells beers 1950 - 1979
Year	Beer	Style	Price per pint d	package	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour	price per gravity point
1950	X	Mild	12	draught	1030.4				104	0.3947
1951	Mild Ale	Mild	14	draught	1028.6	1005	3.07	82.52%	75	0.4895
1960	Stout	Stout	24	bottled	1040.9	1015.3	3.20	62.59%	200	0.5868
1960	Bitter	Pale Ale	18	draught	1034.4	1006.6	3.48	80.81%	18	0.5233
1966	Charter Ale	Pale Ale	38	bottled	1055.4	1009	5.80	83.75%	27	0.6859
1968	Mild XX	Mild	19	draught	1029.8	1003.6	3.27	87.92%	70	0.6376
1968	Nogger (Keg)	Pale Ale	28	draught	1040.4	1004	4.55	90.10%	25	0.6931
1968	IPA Bitter	IPA	22	draught	1036.3	1003	4.16	91.74%	20	0.6061
1979	Fargo	Pale Ale		draught	1050
1979	Bombardier	Pale Ale		draught	1042
1979	IPA or Eagle Bitter	IPA		draught	1035
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252
1980 Good Beer Guide

You can see that their IPA didn’t change a great deal between 1950 and 1979, nor their Mild between 1950 and 1968. Though by 1979 their Mild no longer existed in cask form.

For comparison purposes, here’s Guinness from the same period:

Guinness Extra Stout 1951 - 1960
Year	Beer	Style	Price per pint d	package	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour	price per gravity point
1951	Extra Stout	Stout	30	bottled	1049.1	1007.5	5.43	84.73%	1 + 8	0.611
1951	Extra Stout	Stout	31	bottled	1047.7	1008.1	5.16	83.02%	1 + 8.5	0.6499
1952	Extra Stout	Stout	28	bottled	1047.4	1007.5	5.20	84.18%	1 + 8	0.5907
1953	Extra Stout	Stout	31	bottled	1047.4	1008.7	5.04	81.65%	1 + 11	0.654
1953	Extra Stout	Stout	36	bottled	1046.3	1002.8	5.70	93.95%	1 + 8	0.7775
1960	Extra Stout	Stout	29	Bottled	1046.0	1007.7	5.00	83.37%		0.6304
1960	Extra Stout	Stout	36	Canned	1046.1	1007	5.10	84.82%		0.7809
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Which Beer Report, 1960, pages 171 - 173.