Fowler's Twelve Guinea Ale

Wee Heavy. I've always been troubled by this supposed style. Partly because it seems to be based on a single commercial beer: Fowler's Wee Heavy. Or to give it it's proper name, Fowler's Twelve Guinea Ale.

The name "Wee Heavy", though poetic, is pretty rubbish. Wee = small, heavy = strong. "Small Strong" doesn't sound quite so cool, does it? The more I look into Scottish brewing, the more obvious it is how broadly the word "Heavy" was used. There's Heavy Export Ale, Heavy Stout and, of course, Wee Heavy.

Let's use the real name for Fowler's Wee Heavy: Twelve Guinea Ale. What does that mean? Nothing more than that a hogshead of the beer sold for 12 guineas (£12 12/-, £12.60 in new money). It's like the shilling system, just posher. Guineas weren't used for any old sums. No, they were reserved for the price of racehourses and that sort of thing. And for the very top-end Scottish beers.

Just a few days ago we heard that ten and twelve guinea ales were "rarely brewed". William Younger didn't make one. They didn't go higher than 160/- (£8). There was one brewer who did regulalry brew a Twelve Guinea Ale. You guessed it, Fowler of Prestonpans. It must have been quite famous, given the number of analyses of it that I've found.

In the 19th century, Twelve Guinea Ale had a ludicrous OG: 1159º. I think that's the highest I've seen. It's so high that even though the FG is 1068º, it's still 12% ABV. You can see that between the wars, it was still a real beast, with a gravity of over 1100º. The second war put an end to that and, by the time we reach 1955, the OG is the same as the FG had been a century earlier. Sort of sums up the decline in British beer strengths.

The colour, well that's brown A darkish brown. I wish I knew the colour of the 1862 sample. I suspect it would have been very different. Basically much paler. That's what happened to Edinburgh Ales like William Younger's No. 1 Ale. That mysteriously darkened - like many Stock and Strong Ales - sometime around 1900.

Here's a table with all the facts (at least the ones I know):

Fowler's Twelve Guinea Ale 1862 - 1955
Year	Beer	Style	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Attenuation
1862	Twelve-Guinea Ale	Strong Ale					1068	1159		11.99	57.23%
1921	Prestonpans Ale	Strong Ale			bottled		1042	1118		9.92	64.41%
1925	Twelve-Guinea Ale	Strong Ale			bottled		1038	1117.7	100	10.44	67.71%
1926	Strong Ale	Strong Ale			bottled		1031	1117	140	11.33	73.50%
1926	Twelve Guinea Beer	Strong Ale			bottled		1040	1115		9.79	65.22%
1928	Strong Ale	Strong Ale			bottled		1043	1114	130	9.24	62.28%
1929	Twelve Guinea Ale (carbonated)	Strong Ale			bottled		1030	1114	No. 15	11.06	73.68%
1929	Twelve Guinea Ale (carbonated)	Strong Ale			bottled		1030	1115	No. 15	11.19	73.91%
1931	Strong Ale	Strong Ale			bottled		1024	1098		9.71	75.51%
1933	Strong Ale	Strong Ale			bottled		1034	1108		9.68	68.52%
1940	Twelve Guinea Cream Ale	Strong Ale	7d	nip	bottled	0.06	1028	1094.3	14 + 40	8.66	70.31%
1940	Twelve Guinea Cream Ale	Strong Ale	7d	nip	bottled	0.07	1028.2	1095.3	14 + 40	8.76	70.41%
1947	Heavy Ale	Strong Ale			bottled		1025.5	1081.4		7.27	68.67%
1948	Strong Ale	Strong Ale			bottled		1019.5	1079.5		7.84	75.47%
1948	Prestonpans Twelve Guinea Ale	Strong Ale			bottled		1021.5	1080		7.63	73.13%
1949	Prestonpans Twelve Guinea Ale	Strong Ale	1/3d	nip	bottled	0.06	1030.3	1077.7	15 + 40	6.13	61.00%
1955	Twelve Guinea Ale	Strong Ale	1/3d	nip	bottled	0.04	1016.9	1068.1	120	6.67	75.18%
Sources:
"The lancet 1853, Volume 2", 1853, page 631.
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Whitbread Gravity Book document LMA/4453/D/02/002 held at the London Metropolitan Archives

Classic Horst

"They've let Horst Dornbusch write the articles on Scottish beer." How my heart sank when I read those words. Ace fantasist Horst being allowed to write about Scottish beer in the "Oxford Companion to Beer".

There have been volumes of rubbish written about Scottish beer. Fantasies have become established as fact. Articles like this one aren't going to help:

"shilling system is not only a traditional, pre-decimal, British currency denomination but also an old-style, uniquely Scottish measure for a beers strength. In the 19th century, it referred to the pre-tax price of a British barrel (36 UK gal, about 43-2 US gal or 164 1) or a hogshead (54 UK gal, about 64.8 US gal) of ale. In those days, Scottish ales were brewed to a wide range of differing strengths, from a very weak gravity of perhaps 7.5 P (OG 1.030) to a whopping gravity of perhaps 32.5 P (OG 1.130). The stronger the brew, the more it cost, from roughly 60 to 160 shillings. The classic way of making Scottish ales is by the parti-gyle method, which involves boiling and fermenting the early, heavier runnings and the later, weaker runnings of the same mash separately. See parti-gyle. Parti-gyle beers are often blended from two consecutive batches and sometimes from different-strength runnings. The strongest finished ales were often called Scotch ales or Wee Heavy ales; the mid-range brews were called Export ales and the weaker ones Scottish ales or Two-Penny ales. This nomenclature, however, was never applied consistently, and the technical dividing lines that separate the various shillings ratings have always been somewhat fluid. A typical 60-shilling Two-Penny may have a gravity of 7.5°Plato 8.75 Plato (1.030 1.035); a 70-shilling Export 8.75 P-10°P (1.035-1.040); an 80-shilling Export 10°P-13.75°P (1.040-1.055); a 90-shilling Wee Heavy 13-75°P-19-25ºP (1.055-1.075); and a 140-shilling outlier 23.75°P 32.5°P (1.095 1.130). Shilling ratings are sometimes denoted by the old currency symbol "/-," with "80-shilling" becoming"80/-."The modern drinker, when these antiquated terms are used, simply knows to expect a beer of "normal" strength (4.5% to 5-5% alcohol by volume) to be designated "80 shillings" and something lighter below this number and something heavier above it."

Let's attack it point by point. His biggest mistake: confusing the shilling Ales of the 19th century with the shilling Pale Ales of the 20th. Yes they were 60/- to 140/- or even 160/- Ales. But these were the thick sweet type of Ales than resembled Burton Ale.

The number of shillings refers to the price per hogshead, not a barrel. And apparently Scottish hogsheads were generally larger than English ones, typical holding 63 gallons. It wasn't the pre-tax price, it was the wholesale price. 1830 to 1880, it couldn't have been the pre-tax price because there was no tax on beer. The tax was on malt and hops.

The weakest shilling Ale (60/- according to Horst) only 1030º.? No it wasn't. The Table Beer brewed in Scotland was stronger than that. These are William Younger's shilling Ales from 1868:

50/- Ale 1040
60/- Ale 1047
80/- Ale 1068
100/- Ale 1076
120/- Ale 1088
140/- Ale 1102
160/- Ale 1116

Parti-gyling. Why does everyone get it so wrong? Younger's brewed most of their beers entire gyle, including the really strong ones. They didn't just use the first runnings. And they certainly didn't blend after fermentation. Blending beer from two different mashes? Nope, didn't do that either.

The strongest beers called Scotch Ale or Wee Heavy? Wee Heavy doesn't appear until the 20th century. The original - Fowler's Wee Heavy - was actually called 12 Guinea Ale. That still appeared on the labels in the 1960's. Wee just refers to the bottle size, a nip. Heavy just means strong. The strongest may have been called Scotch Ale in England, in Scotland they were sold as Strong Ale. Or 6, 8, 10 or 12 Guinea Ale.

The mid-range beers called "Export"? No, totally wrong. It's the Pale Ales that were called that, totally, totally different type of beer. Export does appear in the 19th century, but only really came into common use in the 20th. 70/- has never been called Export. In the second half of the 20th century it was called Heavy.

Twopenny? Does he have any idea what twopenny is? It's a very old Scottish type that was give a special status by the act of Union. It existed as a separate tax category until 1802. In its final days the tax was 3s 4d per barrel, while Strong Ale was 10/- and small Beer 1s 4d. So it was probably about 1045º. The name comes from the price per Scottish pint, which was about 4 English pints. Nothing to do with 60/-. It's easy enough to work out the retail price:

2d for a Scottish pint = 4d per gallon (or a third of a shilling)
54 (the number of gallons in a hogshead) / 3 = 18 shillings retail per hogshead

How could a hogshead that retailed for 18 shillings have a wholesale price of 60 shillings?

That last lot of shilling ales, which period are they supposed to come from? It isn't clear. I think he means now. It which case he got 80/- right. Then again, he doesn't say that it's a type of Pale Ale. And the top of the gravity range is too high. He calls Twopenny, a  type of beer that hasn't existed for 200 years, 60/-. It's Light. Even the BJCP gets that right. Calling Strong Ale 90/- only dates to post-WW II. Between the wars 90/- was a relatively low-gravity (about 1035º), bottled Pale Ale. As I said before, Wee Heavy was a 12 Guinea Ale.

Distinguishing different strengths by a shilling designation wasn't uniquely Scottish. Some English brewers - Brakspear is an example - used it in the early 19th century, too.

One final point.The shilling system was used for all different types of beer. There are 54/- Stouts, 54/- and 60/- Milds,

"a traditional, pre-decimal, British currency denomination" that's the only true statement I can find in that article. Oh, and that /- is a way of denoting a shilling. Utter, utter drivel.

Scottish breweries in 2011

Maps. They're so fun to make. That's why Ive been going Scottish brewery map crazy. Because I can and it's fun.

My copy of the Good Beer Guide 2011 came yesterday. It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. Just extract the Scottish breweries and hey presto, I can bring Scottish brewery maps right up to date.

It's not just idle vanity compiling this map. There's a purpose, too. Showing how much the geography of Scottish brewing has changed. Now, bearing in mind the earlier maps, take a look and see if you can spot what has changed:


View Scottish breweries in 2011 in a larger map

Quite a change, isn't it? While there's still some clustering around the population centres of central Scotland, the breweries are spread much more evenly across the country. In particular, the white spots in the Highlands and Islands have largely disappeared. It's very significant. Areas where there had never been commercial brewing are now populated with microbreweries.

What does it tell us about beer in modern Scotland that the major cities of Aberdeen and Dundee have no breweries, but the Orkney Islands and Isle of Skye both have two? In the 19th century, brewing clustured close to centres of industry and population. The reverse now seems true.

Glasgow is the only town with more than one brewery. But poor old Edinburgh. Once of international importance, now down to just a single brewery. How sad. All the great names are gone. In fact, only one large brewery remains: Tennent in Glasgow. I wonder what the second largest is?

Courage Russian Stout

Great news that Courage Russian Stout has been brewed again. "Why did it take so long?" seems a reasonable question to ask. But at least it's back.

I'd wondered where the rights to the name had gone. When Wells & Young bought the rights to Courage brands, a list of them was published - Courage Best, Courage Directors, Courage Light Ale, etc. But no mention of Russian Stout. I even contemplated trying to buy the name myself, but, as you're probablyy aware, I'm a lazy git. I never got any further than thinking,

It turns out Wells & Young did own the name. And eventually got around to brewing it. A reason to rejoice. But they should try getting somehow who knows what they're talking about to write their advertising copy:

"The birth of a style: In early 1700s the river porters of London developed a new style of beer that was dark, with intricate roasted brown malts and hints of caramel... the porter. During a long stay in England, Peter the Great fell captive to the power of the porter and requested the beer be sent to the Russian Imperial Courts. When the first batch spoiled on the long journey the London brewers quickly altered their recipe, brewing the beer with extra hops and increased the alcohol content to make a richer, hearty brew that is complex enough for royalty. By 1787 brewer, John Courage, had perfected the style that captivated Catherine the Great. It wasn't long before she demanded regular shipments of what was now known as Courage Russian Imperial Stout...


The resurrection for the masses: in October of 1977, Jim Robertson brewed some of the last batches of Courage, Russian Imperial Stout in London where it originated. Today, Jim has taken the original recipe and brought it to the Wells & Young's Brewery. The same complexity, fit for an Empress and brewed for the rest of us."

Peter the Great was clearly even greater than we imagined. Because he must have had a time machine to drink London Porter. He visited England in 1689. The first Porter was brewed several decades later, around 1720. He died in 1725, when Porter was still barely known, even in London.

God, these extra hops and extra strength for the long voyage stories. Did the writer look at a map? Standard Porter was regularly shipped to the American colonies, a journey more than double that to St. Petersburg. And in the 19th century normal strength Porter was shipped all the way to India. Why was Russian Stout so strong? Because it was made for the rich pissheads of the Russian court.

John Courage perfected the recipe by 1787? What? That date is almost 200 years wrong. Courage only brewed Russian Stout after the closure of Barclay Perkins Park Street brewery in 1969. The last brew in Horsleydown was in 1982, at the very latest. So it only made there for around a dozen years.

The last batches in 1977? No, the last batch was in 1993. Only 16 years out. Better than the 182 years out for Courage's involvement, but still pretty inaccurate.

Original recipe. What do they mean by that? The recipe from 1787 or 1977? Russian Stout had many incarnations over the years. The first version was probably 100% brown malt. In the 1850's, the grist was pale, amber, brown and black malt. In the 1920's it was SA, amber, brown and black malt plus No. 2 invert sugar. In 1940 it was mild, crystal and brown malt, roast barley, oats, flaked rice and several different sugars.

I suspect they mean the 1970's recipe, which was white, amber and black malt plus C.P.C. sugar (no idea what that is).

The history of Russian Stout is pretty well documented. Yet crap like this still gets written. I really do despair sometimes.

Cleansing in Edinburgh and Alloa

Edinburgh and Alloa. Scotland's two great brewing centres. Comparisons are often made between their Ales and Pale Ales. But it seems brewing methods in the two towns weren't identical.

How do I know that? Easy. I learned it from this passage:

"With the Edinburgh brewers, little or no fermentation takes place, and ale is never racked into other casks; but in Alloa, Stirling, and Perth, which are the best districts for brewing ale next to Edinburgh, they run the finished ale into butts, and afterward rack into barrels, as orders are executed. Those two methods of cleansing the gyle, in the Scotch system of brewing, are particularly worthy of the notice of the reader: both methods are the best suitable to the respective localities. The Edinburgh brewers pursue their method because their ale is sent out at once to the customers' cellars. The Alloa district brew large quantities which are sent to Glasgow, and other parts, generally for immediate use. In racking, the Alloa brewers prepare what they term fillings, which are worts of the same brewing, set at the quick fermentation heat, 60° or 62°, and use part of this store in racking, putting an English pint into each barrel. The Edinburgh brewers rely on the fine condition of their ale, and add nothing whatever before sending out the stock. It has been necessary to be particular, that brewers may understand precisely the two methods of finishing the gyle by the Scotch system.

Sometimes brewers overturn it into a clean tun or square, to check too rapid fermentation and cool the whole brewing, or to prepare for keeping a length of time; but for immediate consumption, the two methods above described are adopted."
"The complete practical brewer" by Marcus Lafayette Byrn, 1860, pages 75 - 76.

This confirms one of the points made by Muspratt in yesterday's text: Edinburgh brewers didn't cleanse in separate vessels like most English brewers. Brewers from other Scottish towns, however, operated differently, putting beer into butts between fermentation and racking.

Those "fillings" are worth noting. They are described elsewhere in the book as half-fermented wort. The practice is a type of kräuseing, similar to the way Guinness added unfermented gyle as primings.

It sounds as if the brewers Alloa were sending out running Ales, i.e. beers to consumed immediately while Edinburgh brewers shipped beers meant to be cellared. I know there was a tradition of not fining beer in Scotland. The father of one of my brother's classmates ran a pub that sold S & N beer. He had trouble with the clarity of one barrel and the brewery suggested that he tried adding finings. They sent the beer out unfined.

There's that throwaway remark about Alloa breweries sending lots of beer to Glasgow. Not other Scottish towns, but specifically Glasgow. Could this be another cause of the lack of brewing in Glasgow?

After a slow start, my research has left heaped files of material all around me. I'm not sure how long it will take me to get through. I may have to make autumn Scottish season.

Scotch guinea Ales

The Scottish are their penchant for naming beers after obsolete units of currency. The one time it's guineas, the other it's shillings. Why don't they just use pounds like everyone else?

Chemistry publications are a surprisingly rich source of brewing information. They often contain analyses of commercial beer. And sometimes, as in this case, they even have descriptions of brewing techniques.

You don't to listen to me rabbit on about where I find all this rubbish. Let's get on with the quote:

Scotch Ales.—These ales were at one time in considerable repute, possessing a peculiar sweetness not noticed in other beverages. This—especially as regards the Alloa ales—was owing to the addition of Russian honey to the liquor, a practice which has now been abandoned for many years. It is customary with the Scotch brewers to distinguish the quality of their ales by the price; thus, there are three guinea, four guinea, six guinea, and so on to ten and twelve guinea ales, but the latter are rarely brewed. The routine of mashing is mostly the same in Scotland as that usually followed by English brewers. The principal points of difference will appear from the annexed particulars gleaned from one of the most intelligent, expert, and extensive brewers in Scotland.

The density of the wort depends, of course, upon the quality of the ale to be produced. The following are the densities adapted to the different qualities, reckoning by Allan's saccharometer:—

For 3 guinea ale the density is about.. 65º
For 4 guinea ale the density is about.. 80º
For 5 guinea ale the density is about.. 95º
For 6 guinea ale the density is about.. 108º
For 8 guinea ale the density is about.. 115º
For 10 guinea ale the density is about.. 125º

In preparing the worts of four guinea ale, two barrels of water at 175º Fahr. are generally taken per quarter of malt and mashed; this is then sparged over with two and a half barrels of water at 190º. For the other varieties the same amount of water is taken for the mash, but the quantity used in the sparging is less in proportion to the density which the product has to indicate; thus, for five guinea ale, the sparging is made with two barrels, and with one and a half for six guinea ale, whilst the spargings are not added at all in preparing the richer ales. Properly speaking, only one wort is drawn in Scotland, but the lengths of sparging, as just shown, make up for the after worts of the English brewer.

The hopping and tailing of the worts likewise vary but little from the practice already pointed out:—

4 to 5 pounds of hops per quarter are used for 4 guinea ale;
5 to 6 pounds of hops per quarter are used for 5 guinea ale;
6 to 7 pounds of hops per quarter are used for 6 guinea ale

and so on; the period of boiling is from one to one hour and a half with the better class of ales, but is prolonged to two hours, or longer, when the product is poor. The criterion in this, as well as in those instances already alluded to, is the breaking of the flocculent matter, which the attendant carefully watches, and tests occasionally by taking samples in a small vessel, and observing if the flocks readily precipitate. The cooling is performed in the usual way. The pitching heat is about 57°, though sometimes it is reduced to 56° or even 54°; and the period of attenuation extends from eight to twelve days, according to the weather, during which the heat rises to about 70° or more, but never higher if possible than 72°. The extent of the attenuation varies from half to two-thirds of the original gravity. The cleansing of Scotch ales differs in nothing important from the usual system. It may be stated, however, that in Scotland the attenuation is finished in the fermenting tun.

The practice of adding flavorings in the shape of berries, et cetera, is now entirely discontinued in Scotland, at least among the more respectable brewers.
"Chemistry, theoretical, practical, and analytical, Volume 1" By Sheridan Muspratt, 1860, page 279.

What a fascinating text. One that mention two practices that are new to me: adding Russian honey to Alloa Ale; adding berries as flavouring. Funny, isn't it? In all the fantastical (in the sense of based on fantasy rather than fact)  descriptions of the weird and wonderful practices of Scottish brewers, these never get a mention.

The account of Scottish brewing comes from the horse's mouth. Well, a "most intelligent, expert, and extensive" brewer at any rate. Who could that have been? I'd be tempted to guess at William Younger. He was certainly the most extensive at this time. But Younger used shillings, not guineas, as we'll see in a moment.

It's compare and contrast time. I've William Younger brewing records from exactly the right period: 1858. How do their beers compare with those in the Muspratt's (great name that) text? Let's see in a handy table format how they match up:

Muspratt			William Younger
Beer	OG	lbs hops/qtr	Beer	OG	lbs hops/qtr	lbs hops barrel
3 guinea ale	1065		60/-	1064	9.00	2.25
4 guinea ale	1080	4 - 5	80/-	1075	9.00	2.69
5 guinea ale	1095	5 - 6	100/-	1088	6.34	3.51
6 guinea ale	1108	6 - 7	120/-	1108	6.76	3.89
8 guinea ale	1115		140/-	1114	6.83	3.64
10 guinea ale	1125
Source:
William Younger brewing record document WY/6/1/2/14 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive

For those of you not totally conversant with obsolete currency units, 1 guinea = 21 shillings.So 3, 4, 5 and 6 guineas are pretty close to 60, 80, 100 and 120 shillings.

The gravities are a pretty good match. The hopping not quite so. In particular the weaker Younger Ales had considerably more hops that Muspratt suggests.

Now it's time to check the mashing details. Here's a comparison of Muspratt's 4 guinea Ale with Younger's 80/-:

	mash water (barrels)	mash water temp.	sparge water (barrels)	sparge water temp.
4 guinea ale	2	170	2.5	190
Younger's 80/-	1.5	162, 182, 152	3	190
Source:
William Younger brewing record document WY/6/1/2/14 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive

I'm not quite sure what the three mashing temperatures in the Younger's records represent. Could be strike heat, underlet heat and tap heat. Difficult t make any comparison, being unsure as to what they mean. There is a difference in the amount of water used. The total is about the same, but Younger used less in the mash and more in sparging. The initial sparge temperature is identical. And quite high. English brewers generally aprged at 165º to 170º.

Now boiling. Muspratt says 1 to 1.5 hours duration, possibly two hours with weaker Ales. Again, that's pretty much in line with what Younger was up to. The first wort was boiled for between 1.25 and 1.75 hours, the second wort for around 2 hours. The boiling times for their strongest Ale, 140/-, were the shortest at 75 minutes and 64 minutes.

Much has been said about the cool fermentation temperatures favoured in Scotland. Not really based on any real evidence, as far as I can tell. Muspratt says the pitching temperature is 57° F and that the temperature rises to a maximum of 70º F during the fermentation. Younger pitched at 57° F and the fermentation temperature peaked at 68 - 72º F.

Finally there's the attenuation. 50% to 66% Muspratt says. The attenuation of Younger's shilling Ales is 59% to 64%. Interestingly, Muspratt says the "attenuation is finished in the fermenting tun". What I think he means with is that the wort wasn't moved from the fermenting tun to a cleansing vessel such as a ponto or a  union set. That was certainly true at Younger. For the shilling Ales. They did have union sets for cleansing their Pale Ales.

That was fun. Note that there was not a trace of the icy fermentaion temperatures, minimal use of hops and extended caramelising boils so beloved of Scotch Ale fantasists.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1868 William Younger 140/-

Scotland. Sick of it yet? There's still lots, lots, lots more to come. Including more Younger's recipes. We're going through their shilling Ales in descending order, kicking off with the modest 140 bob.

Funny things, the Younger's shilling Ales. They're in the earliest of their logs I've seen, 1831. And they were brewed right up until WW I. So they were around for more than a lifetime. But I haven't the faintest idea what they were sold as. Or in what form, for that matter. They could have been bottled beers (in the 18th century a large percentage of Scottish beer was sold in bottled form).

My guess would be that they were known as Edinburgh Ale or Scotch Ale. I know I don't need to tell you this, but just in case you haven't been listening: these beers are totally unrelated to the 60/-, 70/-, 80/- and 90/- that have been knocking around since WW II. Those are basically Pale Ales.

I stumbled upon a text the other day that explained the different brewing practices of Edinburgh and Alloa. Alloa brewers sent their beers out ready to be drunk. Edinburgh Ales were expected to be cellared after receipt from the brewery, during which time they would drop bright and come into condition. Stock Ales, basically.

Edinburgh Ales were renowned for being rich. Looking at the FG, they must have been pretty thick and sweet. This strikes me as a rather good description of this beer:

“The best Edinburgh ale is of a pale colour, mild, glutinous, and adhesive.”
"A Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce and Commercial Navigation" by John Ramsay McCulloch, 1844, page 9.

Adhesive. There's an adjective I've never seen used to describe beer anywhere else. Must remember that one next time I write tasting notes.

As we'll be doing a whole series of these shilling Ales I'll leave some of my bullshit/explanations for the later posts. Don't want to run out of words too soon.




Over to Kristen . . . . .

Kristen’s Version:

Same deal as the previous Younger logs. Very simple stuff.

Ingredients

Grist – Two malts. I wanted the happy, sexy, tasty time that Maris Otter gives but I thought it would be too heavy if I used another complex malt so I went with the Canadian pale I’ve talked about before.

Hops – Lots more Bohemian hops again. About half the hops are Bohemian. I used Saaz. They make me happy in my mouth. I used Fuggles because I have them and it’s a solid bittering option. The big hopping difference here is the amount that goes into dry hopping. Just a tiny bit. Enough to add a nice addition of aroma complexity but definitely not adding enough to give this baby elbows.

Yeast – This probably the only time I’ll suggest this but you really want to use a yeast that finishes high and fat. Probably under pitch is a good idea also. This is what Younger does. Under pitch by quite a bit. I used the Wyeast 1099 Whitbread b/c it doesn’t attenuate that well.

Scottish beer in Holland

We all know that Scottish brewers were big exporters in the 19th century. Here's proof - lest we forget - that they exported to continental Europe as well as the Empire.

Let's begin with a rather vague advert, touting just generic Scotch Ale:

 "Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant" 16th May 1869.

What surprised me about this was that they were selling Scotch Ale by the barrel. Mostly you only see bottled British beer in Dutch adverts.

You couldn't get much less generic than this one advertising what looks like close to the complete Tennent's range of beers:

"Het Nieuws van den Dag", 23rd May 1881.

As you can see, these are also on sale by the barrel.  And they're not just flogging their Scotch Ale  but IPA, Porter, Stout and Table Beer, too.

I told you there was much more to Scottish brewing than just Scotch Ale.

Scottish breweries in 1928

Maps. I love maps. You may have noticed from the frequency with which I post them. Unlike an egg, you can't beat a good map.

The previous maps had a few big white spaces. This one is almost nothing but white space:




View Scottisn breweries in 1928 in a larger map

Scottish brewing was almost completely concentrated in two towns: Edinburgh and Alloa. The only other towns with multiple breweries were Glasgow and Dundee. And the two in Dundee were both owned by the same company, Ballingall.


My source was the 1928 Brewers' Almanack, which lists all the retail brewers in the UK.

Brewing in Glasgow

I think I might have an explanation for the lack of much of a brewing industry in Glasgow in the late 19th century.

Glasgow was the second largest city in the United Kingdom but, unlike every other large centre of population, there was little brewing. It struck me as quite odd. I couldn't think of any reason why Glasgow should be different. I hate unsolved puzzles. Then just today a possible explanation dropped into my lap.

Trolling through Google Books, I happened upon a Port Office Directory for Glasgow from 1863. Old directories are great sources, being much like a modern Yellow Pages. When I looked under the heading "Brewers" I had a shock. At first glance, the list looked far too long. It had over 60 entries. My list from 1837 only included 20 entries. And I know from other sources that in 1849 there were only 7 breweries in Glasgow.

When I looked closer, I realised almost all the entries weren't for breweries but their Glasgow agents. Only 5 were for Glasgow-based breweries. The list of brewers with agents in Glasgow is like a roll-call of Britain's top breweries. With a few oddities thrown in. Burton, Dublin, Edinburgh and Alloa feature prominently, as you would expect.

Thorn Brothers and Furze & Co. (both of London) surprised me. I've not heard of either. Nor William Whitwell & Co. of Kendall. There are a few Edinburgh breweries, too, that are new to me.

What does this proliferation of brewers' agents tell us? That brewers from outside were selling lots of beer in Glasgow. I can imagine the attraction. A city with few brewers of its own, a large population and no tied house system. It must have been a happy hunting ground for ambitious brewers.

I could be wrong. I've no real evidence of the quantity of beer brought into the city. But it is a possibility that, without the protection of tied houses, the relatively small brewers of Glasgow were swamped by outside competition. Except for Tennent, the only really substantial brewery in Glasgow. And, ironically, one of the few breweries mentioned to still exist. All the Scottish breweries have gone. Only Guinness really remains in the same form.

Here's the full table of agents:

 

Agents in Glasgow for outside brewers in 1863
Brewery	Town
Black & Co.	Aberdeen
Blair, Alex.	Alloa
Meiklejnohn. Robt. & Son	Alloa
Younger, Geo. & Sons	Alloa
Knox, B. & Son	Cambus (Alloa)
Ind Coope & Co.	Burton-on Trent
Ind, Coope, & Co.	Burton-on Trent
Ind, Coope, & Co.	Burton-on Trent
Allsopp, Samuel & Sons	Burton-on-Trent
Bass, Radcliffe, & Gretton	Burton-on-Trent
Burton Brewery Co.	Burton-on-Trent
Coope & Co.	Burton-on-Trent
Salt, Thomas, & Co.	Burton-on-Trent
Salt, Thomas, & Co.	Burton-on-Trent
Eadie, James	Burton-on-Trent
Worthington & Robinson	Burton-on-Trent
Mitchell, J. & W. Springbank	Campbelton
Arnott, Sir John, & Co.	Cork
Dalkeith Brewery Co	Dalkeith
Findlater & Co.	Dublin
Guinness, A. Son, & Co.	Dublin
Guinness, A. Son, & Co.	Dublin
Guinness, A. Son, & Co.	Dublin
Manders, R. & Co.	Dublin
Manders, R. & Co.	Dublin
Manders, R. & Co.	Dublin
Manders, R. & Co.	Dublin
Simes & Co.	Dublin
Sweetman, P. & E.	Dublin
Watkins, J. & Co.	Dublin
Watkins, J. & Co.	Dublin
D'Arcy, John, & Son	Dublin
Aitchison & Co.	Edinburgh
Beswick, Wm. & Co.	Edinburgh
Bernard, T. & J.	Edinburgh
Caltonhill Brewery	Edinburgh
Campbell, A & Co.	Edinburgh
McEwan, Wm. Fountain Brewery	Edinburgh
Melvin, Alex. Borough Loch	Edinburgh
Taylor, Anderson, & Co.,	Edinburgh
Usher, J as. & Thomas	Edinburgh
Younger, R.	Edinburgh
Younger, Wm. & Co.	Edinburgh
Dick, Chas. & Son	Edinburgh
Edinburgh & Leith Co.	Edinburgh
Fulton, John, & Co.	Edinburgh
Jeffrey, John, & Co.	Edinburgh
Aitken, James, & Co.	Falkirk
Laurie, Thos. Lidegate	Haddington
Whitwell, Wm. & Co.	Kendal
Combe, Dalefield, & Co.	London
Hoare & Co.	London
Meux, Sir Henry, & Co.	London
Reid & Co.	London
Thorn Brothers	London
Truman, Hanbury, Buxton, & Co.	London
Whitbread & Co.	London
Furze & Co.	London
Fowler, John, & Co.	Prestonpans
Argyle Brewery	St. Andrew's
Joul, John, & Sons	Stone
Steel, William	West Barns, Dunbar
Source:
"POST OFFICE GLASCOW DIRECTORY FOR 1863, 1864", pages 461 - 462.

Fowler's Wee Heavy

Who spotted the key words?

Alloa Table Beer

I'm always finding things I wasn't looking for. This is a great example. An advert for Alloa Table Beer.

I couldn't have been looking for it, being unaware of its existence. Alloa Ale and Alloa Apale Ale I've heard. Alloa Table Beer is a new one to me.

This is part of the price list of a Manchester wine merchant:

First point I'd like to make is that you can tell this was a high-class establishment by the beers on sale: Bass, Guinness, Edinburgh Ale, London Double Brown Stout. Which tells us that Alloa Table Beer was a class act. As does the price. It's 2 shillings for a dozen pints. Guinness - a relatively expensive beers, with a gravity of 1075º - is only 9d more. Alloa appears to be the Rolls Royce of Table Beers.

Scottish breweries in 1869

September has gone, but Scotland's still hanging around like a drunk who's forgotten the way home. I'm having too much fun with this theme to stop now. And I've just invested in a book about brewing in Alloa. May as well put it to use.

Time for another map. Just three decades later than the last one, but you'll notice a few changes. In particular, how the brewing industry was increasingly concentrated in a few towns in central Scotland and the East coast. Take a look:



View Scottish Breweries in 1869 in a larger map

Not all breweries are included, but those that are missing are extremely small - ones brewing fewer than 100 barrels a year.

Want all those breweries in handy table form? Here you go:

Scottish brewers in 1869
Brewery	Town
Elsmie, Geo. & Co	Aberdeen
James, Wm. & Co	Aberdeen
McAdam, Wm. &Co	Aberdeen
Marshall, T. & Co.	Aberdeen
Black, Wm. & Co	Aberdeen
Cowie, Alex. & Co.	Aberdeen
McNellan, John & Co.	Alloa
Maclay, James	Alloa
Meiklejohn, R & Son	Alloa
Younger, George & Son	Alloa
Arrol, Archibald	Alloa
Blair, Alexander	Alloa
Wilson, J.C.& Co.	Annan
Key, John M,	Anstruther
Richardson, J.	Athelstaneford
Cunningham	Athelstaneford
Watson, James	Ayr
Banff Brewery Company	Banff
Pudgeon, Elizabeth	Belhaven
Milne, W	Biffie, Old Deer
Eadie, W.	Blackford, Auchterarder
Sharp, B & D	Blackford, Auchterarder
Eadie, R. and Sons	Blackford, Auchterarder
Ogilvy, James	Blairgowrie
Durie, Alexr	Brechin
Gallaway & Knox	Cambus
Knox, B.& Son	Cambus, Alloa
McDonald, W	Castle DougIas
Barclay, James	Catrine
Renton, Thomas	Chirnside
Davidson, Andrew	Coldstream
Howe, Henry	Cullen
Mitchell, R & J	Cupar
Dalkeith Brewery Company	Dalkeith
Gilliespie, Alex	Dumbarton
Rennie, James	Dumfries
Turner, William	Dumfries
Corsen, Wm, & Co	Dumfries
Gray, William	Dundee
Ure, William	Dundee
Whitten, George	Dundee
Ballinghall & Son	Dundee
Wilson, R.	Dunfermline
Brown, Wm	Dunfermline
Berwick, W. & Co	Edinburgh
Dick, Chas. & Son	Edinburgh
Drybrough & Co	Edinburgh
Edin, & Leith Brew. Compy	Edinburgh
Fulton & Paxton	Edinburgh
Jeffery, J. & Co	Edinburgh
McMillan, R & Co.	Edinburgh
Mackay, Geo & Co.	Edinburgh
Melvin, Alex	Edinburgh
Muir, James & Son	Edinburgh
Pendrigh, J. & G.	Edinburgh
Raeburn, W. & J.	Edinburgh
Ritchie, George	Edinburgh
Simson, James	Edinburgh
Steel, Coulson & Co.	Edinburgh
Taylor, Anderson & Co.	Edinburgh
Usher, J & T	Edinburgh
Younger, William & Co.	Edinburgh
Younger, Robert	Edinburgh
Aitchison, J.& Co	Edinburgh
Bernard, T	Edinburgh
Campbell, Arch	Edinburgh
Carmichael, T	Edinburgh
McEwan, Wm	Edinburgh
Stenhouse, J.	Edman, Kelso
Young, A & J	Elgin
Arnott, Henry & Co	Elgin
Aitken, Jas. & Co	Falkirk
Bonthrone, Alex	Falkland
Lyall, Lawrence	Fisherrow
Whitelaw, William	Fisherrow
Hossack. John	Forres
Haldane, Wm.	Galashields
Hunter, David	Gatehouse
Lynch, Owen	Glasgow
Scott, William	Glasgow
Steel, Coulson & Co.	Glasgow
Tennent, J. & R.	Glasgow
Wordie, Peter	Glasgow
Baird, Hugh & Co	Glasgow
Black, P. & A.	Greenock
Buchanan,J,	Haugh, Inverness
Spence, Alexander	Huntly
Black,G,Thornbush	Inverness
Murray, Wm.	Jedburgh
Summer, John W	Jedburgh
Fraser, John	Keith
Moyes & Gowans	Kilmarnock
Stocks, John	Kircaldy
Gilroy, Thos. & Co	Lanark
Paterson, W & Co.	Langholm
Nelson, John	Lawrencekirk
McNair, John	Leith
Brown, J. & Geo	Leven
Simson, James	Melrose
Ross, Wm. & Co.	Montrose
Davidson, John	Montrose
Cunningham, C	N. Berwick
Smith, J	Newton, Ayr
Young, D.B.	Newton, Ayr
Solomon, W.T.	Newton-Stewart
Sacell Brewery Co.	Paisley
Muir and Martin	Perth
Stewart, James	Perth
Wright, John & Co.	Perth
McGlashan, Geo	Peterhead
Wallace, James	Peterhead
Brothers, P	Portelphinstone
Fowler, J. & Co	Prestonpans
Paxton, G. & Sons	Richardland, Kilmarnock
Haig, Wm.	St. Andrews
Ireland, D. S	St. Andrews
Burden, Ann	Stirling
McNicholl, Robert	Stirling
Campbell, John	Stranrear
McCaig, John	Thornhill
Steel, W.	West Barns, Dunbar
Doig and Martin	Wigtown
Source:
LOFTUS'S ALMANACK FOR Brewers, Distillers, AND THE Wine and Spirit Trades, 1869, pages 38 - 39,