Watney, Combe Reid (part one)

I’m going a little Watney crazy at the moment. Though it fits in nicely with my 1950’s theme, as that decade could be seen as the company’s heyday.

Watney, Combe, Reid was the first big merger in British brewing. Until then breweries had mostly grown organically, expanding their premises as their trade grew. Guinness, Bass and Allsopp are good examples of this kind of growth. The Watney model was to be followed by all the big players of the 20th century: expansion by takeovers and mergers.

“Messrs. Watney, Combe, Reid & Co. Ltd., have completed 50 years of business since the combined company came into being, though of course the three main constituent concerns as well as some others which now form part of the Watney organisation were far older.

. . . .

Watney's of London
The history of an important brewing firm like Messrs. Watney, Combe, Reid & Co. Ltd., is in several ways the history of many great industrial undertakings. It has its sources in family businesses which were thriving even before the Industrial Revolution. The Stag Brewery at Pimlico, for instance, was "the finest Brewhouse in Europe" in 1722. The Long Acre brewery in which Harvey Christian Combe, a Lord Mayor of London, bought an interest in 1787 was founded in 1740. Reid & Co. of Clerkenwell was a firm in which the Meux family partnered the Reids until 1809, when after a quarrel they called two hackney coaches and went off with the deeds of the public houses as their share of the business—or so the legend runs.”
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", page 42.

The Meuxs set up their brewery behind the Horseshoe, a pub at the junction of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. This was the brewery where a giant vat burst in 1814, destroying houses and killing several people.

Having recently watched Wolf Hall, this next paragraph grabbed my attention by the throat:

“Of all the establishments acquired by "Watney's," however, none has had a longer history than the Mortlake brewery, founded in 1487, and perhaps the brewery which was the source from which the Cromwells, first Thomas, and later and indirectly, Oliver, drew their wealth.”
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", page 42.

Is that true? I can’t recall hearing this story before. So I did a quick search of the web and found this on the Barnes History website. It gives a rather different account of the Cromwell connection with Mortlake:

"Old Cromwell House stood on a site presently occupied by the Stag brewery and facing onto what is now Williams Lane. The stone and ironwork gates still exist in Williams Lane although they have been moved from their original site some 40 meters to the west. Old Cromwell House was a two-winged, brick-built mansion with high surrounding walls whose land stretched north from the Lower Richmond Road to the tow path on what is now Thames Bank.

There is much evidence that Thomas Cromwell sometime resided in Cromwell House from whom it gained its name. Raymond Gill, in his archives, states that in “1493 John King gave the brewer John Williams half an acre of land in Mortlake on the north side of the wide part of a thoroughfare east of Williams Lane and north to the Thames, nearly opposite the end of the boat race today. On this piece of land, John Williams built a large house.”

Cromwell’s sister Katherine lived in Mortlake in the early 16th century with her brewer husband Morgan Williams, nephew and heir of John, and there is evidence that the couple lived in old Cromwell House in their later years at least. Thomas, who had been born in Putney, also had another local connection in that he was given the manor of Mortlake by Henry VIII in 1536, the manor house of which stood by the river on the eastern side of Ship Lane."
http://www.barnes-history.org.uk/BandMmap/Cromwell.html

It doesn’t sound to me like Thomas Cromwell had a direct connection with brewing. Only indirectly, through his sister. I can’t imagine he would have been getting money from his sister.

Here’s a little background to the merger:

“Economic causes, the growth of London's population, improved methods of transport, the advantages of centralised production must all have helped to bring about the amalgamation. Yet even the City of 50 years ago, then the heart and brain of the world's financial system and rich as no other capital had ever been in ability and experience, might have held no one able to undertake the difficult work of constructing the great new business. The firm, however, had never lacked leaders before. The redoubtable Alderman Combe, for example, has found his way into history on the strength of his crushing rejoinder to Charles James Fox, after that politician, wit and gamester, having won largely from him at hazard, triumphantly promised: "Bravo, old Mash tubs, I will never drink any other porter than yours." "Sir," flashed back the brewer, "I wish every other scoundrel in London would say the same." Nor has the firm lacked for vigorous leadership since. At the critical time, as at a similar stage in every great firm, an architect for the new structure was found. He was the late Sir Cosmo (then Mr.) Bonsor, a director of Combe & Co. A deed of amalgamation between Combe & Co., and Reid's Brewery Co., was entered into in 1898, but at the desire of Mr. Vernon Watney was torn up in favour of the inclusion of his own company. Sir Cosmo was, however, "the moving spirit in overcoming and com (swing the difficulties which inevitably occurred " and became the first Chairman of Watney, Combe, Reid & Co. Ltd.”

Cosmo Bonsor – what a great name. I hadn’t realised that the original plan didn’t include Watney. AS the senior partner in the merged business, I assumed they had been the instigators. And theirs was the only one of the breweries to remain open. Combe’s Long Acre brewery and Reid’s in Clerkenwell were closed almost immediately and production concentrated at Watney’s Stag Brewery in Pimlico.

The Combe and Reid names did live on. Combe for Brown Ale and Reid for Stout. Reid’s Stout was still around in the 1950’s. As this table of Watney’s bottled beers shows:

Watney bottled beers 1950 - 1951
Year	Beer	Style	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1950	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	15	0.08	1029.4	1007.8	2.80	73.47%	10 + 40
1950	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	15	0.04	1030.4	1007.9	2.92	74.01%	15 + 40
1950	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	17	0.06	1032.6	1010.8	2.82	66.87%	16 + 40
1951	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	17	0.05	1031.1	1010.3	2.69	66.88%	40 + 17
1950	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	15	0.07	1029.3	1006.9	2.90	76.45%	21B
1950	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	15	0.05	1029.3	1005	3.16	82.94%	25B
1950	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		0.07	1059.9	1017.2	5.55	71.29%	B18.5
1950	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	17	0.05	1032.6	1009.2	3.03	71.78%	25 B
1951	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	17	0.04	1030	1009.5	2.65	68.33%	27
1950	Red Barrel Pale Ale	Pale Ale	28	0.07	1047.4	1015.2	4.17	67.93%
1950	Red Barrel Pale Ale	Pale Ale	28	0.06	1047.1	1015	4.16	68.15%	23B
1950	Red Barrel Pale Ale	Pale Ale	30	0.06	1047.6	1014.5	4.29	69.54%	22B
1950	Red Barrel Pale Ale	Pale Ale	28	0.05	1050.9	1014.2	4.76	72.10%	19 B
1951	Red Barrel Pale Ale	Pale Ale	28	0.05	1049	1015.9	4.28	67.55%	25
1951	Dairymaid Sweet Stout	Stout	18	0.05	1032.7	1015.1	2.27	53.82%
1951	Family Stout	Stout	10	0.06	1036.4	1012	3.16	67.03%	1 + 12
1950	Glasgow Special Stout	Stout	26	0.05	1032.1	1013.7	2.37	57.32%	1 + 16
1950	Reids Family Stout	Stout	21	0.06	1037	1012.2	3.21	67.03%	1 + 13
1950	Reids Special Stout	Stout	24	0.06	1045.9	1009.6	4.72	79.08%	1 + 11
1950	Reids Stout	Stout	17	0.06	1042.9	1009.1	4.39	78.79%	1 + 10
1950	Reids Stout	Stout		0.10	1072.9	1021	6.75	71.19%	1 + 14.5
1951	Special Stout	Stout	24	0.06	1045.3	1009.1	4.71	79.91%	1 + 12
1950	Strong Ale	Strong Ale	36	0.10	1061.1	1014.5	6.07	76.27%	40 + 16
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

The strong Pale Ale and Stout with no price I’m guessing were export beers, not ones for the UK market. Bottled Red Barrel was about as strong as Pale Ales got in the early 1950’s. It was clearly a premium beer, as indicated by the price. You’ll see from the next table that it cost almost double the price of their draught Bitter.

I've already told you about the nasty stuff  put into Dairymaid Stout and Brown Ale. Lots of lovely ullage, stuff from the bottom of fermenters and pipes and all sorts of other rubbish.

For completeness here are their draught beers:

Watney draught beers 1950 - 1951
Year	Beer	Style	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1950	Best Ale	Mild	13	0.06	1031.2	1006.3	3.23	79.81%	16 + 40
1951	Ale	Mild	13	0.08	1032.7	1006	3.47	81.65%	17 + 40
1951	Ale	Mild	14	0.08	1032.8	1007.4	3.30	77.44%	16 + 40
1951	Best	Mild	20	0.07	1043.1	1008	4.57	81.44%	17 + 40
1950	Bitter	Pale Ale	16	0.08	1035.1	1007	3.65	80.06%	26 B
1951	PA	Pale Ale	16	0.07	1037.7	1006.8	4.02	81.96%	27 B
1951	Bitter	Pale Ale	17	0.08	1036.8	1007.5	3.81	79.62%	27 B
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

The beer described as Bitter and Pale Ale looks like th draught version of Red Barrel to me. The 1951 Best Mild is exceptionally strong for 1951. In fact it looks very much like a 1920's London Mild, or 1930's Best Mild.

More Watney history to follow.

Atlanta day two

Good news is that breakfast is included in the room price. Bad news is that it’s another disposable plate/cutlery/cups affair. Weird in quite a nice hotel where I have a suite.

I go back to my room for a lie down after I’ve eaten. No rush today. My event isn’t until the evening.

Around noon I take a wander down the main drag. I hadn’t realized just how downtown I was. American cities can be hard to work out from maps. Where exactly is the city centre? It’s not always easy to spot.

I’m vaguely headed towards Max Lager's brewery. Though I’m not totally committed to reaching it. It’s a bit of a walk and I’m a lazy git.

Atlanta isn’t like I expected. Downtown is far livelier than Birmingham. It reminds me a bit of Manhattan. Tall buildings, lots of people milling about. Sort of like a city. No half wrecked buildings, either. I quite like the place. They’ve even got trams.

I spot an Irish pub, walk past, than go back and peer through the window. Looks like they have a few beers as well as the usual Guinness and Kilkenny crap. And, as I used to tell the kids, it is unlucky to walk past a pub that’s open.

I take a seat at the bar, as I usually do when I’m alone. What to try first? Something local.  I opt for

Sweetwater Imperial Stout
It’s black as night on the dark side of the moon.  Nice looking head. Imperial Stout – the perfect lunchtime drink. Bit odd getting it in a Newkie Brown glass. A pleasant enough balance of citrus and roast. Not too crazy and pretty drinkable.

US pricing structures are weird. My 9% Imperial Stout costs the same as 5% Guinness Blonde, $7. What a strange place the US is. No wonder session beer has such a hard time.

Time for another beer.

Sweetwater PA
Not too murky, but little head. Bit bland, if I’m honest. Little aroma, bit of bitterness, but not much going on. Won’t be having another.

They have homemade salt and vinegar crisps on the menu. Ineed to eat something, but not too much as breakfast wasn’t long ago. I just get a starter, Devils on Horseback. It fills my food hole perfectly.

Just noticed that they have both Smithwicks and Kilkenny. Aren’t they the same beer?

I stray outside Georgia for my next beer

Goose Island IPA
Crystal clear, thin head. Not much aroma again. But some citrus peel in the gob.

On the way to the bog I notice a Tetley pub sign. That’s not very Irish, is it? Though some of the best Irish pubs in Leeds were Tetley houses.

Brings a tear to my eye. The house style of Tetley's houses from the 1970's. So many memories of Leeds flood back like the beer over a glass the economiser way. Black Dog, Cardigan Arms, Rising Sun.  Sheepscar, Roscoe, Regent, Brasmoulders Arms, Garden Gate and many other wonderful Tetley's pubs, where the Mild was spot on pint after pint.

We won't see those days again.

I don’t stay too late. This evening’s event is at 6 PM. And it’s miles out Acworth.

My taxi takes quite a while to turn up. When we hit the motorway, I realise that it’s rush hour. We aren’t going as fast as I’d hoped, due to the heavy traffic. I’m supposed to be meeting, who’s organizing the event, at 5 PM in Freight Kitchen & Tap in Woodstock for a bite to eat. I’m not going to make it. Not even vaguely.

By the time the taxi pulls up there, it’s almost 6 PM. I bump into David, who’s just about to leave, in the parking lot. No time to eat, so we head directly to Dogwood Growlers, site of the event.

I’m not sure what they have planned. Seems they want me to do some talking. No problem. I do half an hour or so on historic beer. I’ve spoken on the topic so often that I could do it in my sleep. Come to think of it I do sometimes in my dreams. I get some good questions from the audience. That always livens things up.

After drinking some beer and flogging a few books, we go for a bite to eat. When it starts getting late, I get a limo back to my hotel. It’s quite late by then. And I need to be up fairly early. I’ve a Greyhound bus to catch. Riding a Greyhound is always an   . . . experience, let’s just say that.





Max Lager's Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery
320 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 30308


Meehan's Public House
200 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 30303
http://www.meehansdowntown.com/


Freight Kitchen & Tap
251 E Main St
Woodstock, GA 30188
http://www.freightkitchen.com/


Dogwood Growlers
6215 Bells Ferry Rd
Acworth, GA 30102
404-981-BREW (2739)
http://dogwoodgrowlers.com



Buy my book:





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

Jopen Dark Gerste No.1 launch

I seem to be announcing a lot of events recently.  For once, this one is within a tramride of my home.

On Tuesday12th May at 18:00 in In de Wildeman it's the launch of a collaboration beer between Jopen and me, Dark Gerste No. 1. It's a cheap and cheerful Dark Lager from 1911, originally brewed in Rotterdam by a rather large Dutch firm.

I'll be saying a few words about the beer. Hopefully not too many, as that would cut into my drinking time.

As usual, I'll be trying to shift copies of my wonderful book:







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






In De Wildeman
Kolksteeg 3,
1012 PT Amsterdam
Tel: 020 638 2348
http://www.indewildeman.nl

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1913 Adnams XX Mild

Yes, Kristen has finally returned with his first recipe in yonks.  Welcome back.

We're celebrating his return with a series of Mild recipes for May. Kicking off with Adnams XX.

In many ways, this is a typical early 20th-century Mild Ale: pale malt, flaked maize a bit of crystal malt and lots of sugar. With the colour coming from caramel. I always have to laugh when I see homebrew Mild recipes with loads of dark malts. That's not really the way Dark Mild was brewed in the vast majority of cases.

What is unusual about this beer is it's strength. It's very low. At least compared to London Milds:

London Milds on the eve of WW I
Brewery	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Whitbread	X	1055.1	1015.0	5.31	72.79%
Barclay Perkins	X	1051.3	1013.6	4.99	73.54%
Fullers	X	1049.6	1011.1	5.09	77.65%
Truman	X Ale	1056.8
Courage	X	1054.6	1019.4	4.65	64.47%
Russell	X	1048.1
Source:
Brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/603, LMA/4453/D/01/078, B/THB/C/190, ACC/2305/08/247 and B/THB/RUS/8.

Though I must remark that London beers were well-known for being generally stronger than those brewed elsewhere. They reason was that they were brewing on a larger scale than most provincial breweries. Especially litttle country breweries like Adnams.

Surprisingly, this wasn't even Adnam's entry-level Mild. There was an X Mild at just 1033º. So pretty much like a modern Mild. To put this into context, average gravity was 1052.6 in 1913*. The beers look more like 1930's Mild and Best Mild in terms of gravity.





* Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2005, p. 7.





That's me done, over to Kristen . . . . .

Kristen’s Version:
Notes: We’ve done a ton of milds but this one is probably the most simple and least ‘complex’ of all of them. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean that its just pretty damn straight forward. Really no hops. No dark malts. Caramel. Something to be drank and not thought about…which come to think of it, there aren’t enough of those types of beers around anymore.

Malt: The malt was actually Indian, so use whatever you’d like. Really. Since the vast majority of the flavor comes from it, you might as well choose your favorite. Or actually, why not try something new or different. I’d steer clear from most pilsy type malts though. In sugar is actually glucose so you can use invert no1 or even white sugar. If you want to fancy this up, use something darker. Would bring more fun to the party for sure. 

Hops: Not a hop centric beer. Empty out that freezer. Mix N match. Just make sure they are decent and not old and cheesy.  Just get our IBUs and be done.

Yeast: London III. Yeah, I’m being lazy (again). What do you want from me? This yeast is really good for milds so use it for milds! Will dry this out but leave a nice little fruity and malt character.

Cask: Standard procedure:
1) let the beer ferment until finished and then give it another day or so. For me right around 5-7 days.
2) Rack the beer to your vessel of choice (firkin, polypin, cornie, whatever).
3) Add primings at ~3.5g/L
4) Add prepared isinglass at 1ml/L
5) ONLY add dry hops at 0.25g/l – 1g/L.
6) Bung it up and roll it around to mix. Condition at 55F or so for 4-5 days and its ready to go. Spile/vent. Tap. Settle. Serve at 55F.

Copenhagen Saturday 9th May - me talking

This Saturday I'll be in Copenhagen to discuss my latest book, The Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer. I'll give one of my legendary informal talks which have been known to stretch for hours, depending on the patience of the audience and my need to visit the toilet. The theme will be historic British beers but will veer off into many tangents based on questions from the audience and whatever happens to pop into my head on the night.

The Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer will be available for purchase with disfigurement by my terrible handwriting in the form of a signature as a free extra. I may even explain the cryptic name of my blog, should you ask nicely.

Tap10
Østerbrogade 122
Saturday 9th May at 14:00



If you can't make it, why not buy my book, anyway:





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

Brewing in the 1950’s - English Hops (part two)

Continuing our look at hops in the 1950’s, we’re going to consider the properties of the different varieties.

The 1950’s was a great time for the British hop industry. Two world wars had removed Britain’s dependency on hop imports. Back in the late 19th century between 20% and 40% of the hops used in Britain had been imported. Many of them from the USA.

A lot of it was to do with the drop in gravity. Weaker beers require fewer hops. And the amount of beer consumed also fell during the 20th century, much reducing the demand for hops. So even though production of hops in the 1950’s was about half that in the 1890’s, there were still plenty to go around.

This is really obvious in brewing logs. In the 1890’s, it’s rare to find a beer with no foreign hops. In the 1950’s, apart from the odd fancy Continental hop like Saaz, everything is British. Before WW II, Whitbread used all English hops in their posher beers, but some North American or New Zealand hops in their Milds. In the 1950’s, they don’t seem to have used any foreign hops at all.

The huge increase in barley production during WW II to replace imports meant that for the first time (other than during the wars) Britain was self-sufficient in brewing materials. In reality, it also reflects a decline in the international importance of British brewing.

These numbers will explain why foreign hops were no longer needed. First the 1890’s:

Hop production, acreage and imports 1890 – 1900 (cwt)
year	acres	UK production	yield per acre	net imports the following year	available for consumption	% imports
1890	53,961	283,629	5.26	185,526	469,155	40%
1891	56,142	436,716	7.78	176,834	613,350	29%
1892	56,259	413,259	7.35	185,716	598,975	31%
1893	57,564	414,929	7.21	168,316	583,245	29%
1894	59,535	636,846	10.70	204,087	840,933	24%
1895	58,940	553,396	9.39	193,738	747,134	26%
1896	54,217	453,188	8.36	148,660	601,848	25%
1897	50,863	411,086	8.08	223,747	634,833	35%
1898	49,735	356,948	7.18	168,130	525,078	32%
1899	51,843	661,426	12.76	180,233	841,659	21%
1900	51,308	473,894	9.24	141,307	489,201	29%
Source:
“100 Years of Brewing” 1903, page 656.

Now the 1950’s:

Hops: home production and imports
Year ended 31st Dec.	Acreage	Estimated Produce	Yield per acre	Imports: Less Re-Exports	Exports: British Hops	Consumption Years ended 30th Sept. following	surplus British hops
		Cwts.	Cwts.	Cwts.	Cwts.	Cwts.	Cwts.
1935	18,251	248,300	13.6	35,186	16,223	258,300	-10,000
1936	18,317	252,000	13.7	31,953	19,987	270,692	-18,692
1937	18,093	235,000	13	40,406	16,130	277,846	-42,846
1938	18,460	257,000	13.9	45,287	12,580	286,716	-29,716
1939	18,812	288,000	15.3	7,840	16,050	265,512	22,488
1940	18,592	270,500	14.5	14,675	26,830	251,354	19,146
1941	18,158	262,800	14.5	31	17,209	223,007	39,793
1942	18,420	261,900	14.2	2,963	30,673	231,689	30,211
1943	19,131	285,200	14.9	198	24,941	243,900	41,300
1944	19,603	253,900	13	--	26,525	244,822	9,078
1945	19,957	282,900	14.1	574	32,337	226,197	56,703
1946	21,163	257,451	13.4	29,243	35,056	217,759	39,692
1947	22,142	289,908	13.2	7,716	31,661	231,470	58,438
1948	22,787	273,584	12	4,561	29,135	233,168	40,416
1949	22,196	250,406	11.3	900	42,301	232,979	17,427
1950	22,198	368,313	16.6	269	84,027	229,106	139,207
1951	22,460	321,824	14.3	626	107,738	228,512	93,312
1952	22,279	282,349	12.7	502	76,620	225,569	56,780
1953	21,932	272,593	12.3	1,015	64,762	216,841	55,752
1954	20,760	246,748	11.9	3,075	51,323	217,716	29,032
1955	20,453	256,821	12.1	5,836	49,049	218,820	38,001
1956	19,982	184,170	9.2	6,416	40,746	215,114	-30,944
1957	20,415	267,677	13.1	8,848	38,635	208,870	58,807
1958	21,130	302,640	14.9	5,441	42,352	226,371	76,269
1959	20,350	222,768	10.9	6,007	34,291	234,611	-11,843
1960	20,098	248,195	12.4	8,172	12,220	234,611	13,584
Sources:
1955 Brewers' Almanack, page 63.
1971 Brewers'Almanack, page 54

That’s quite a turnaround.

Back to hop varieties. We’ll start with the classic English hop, the Golding.

“English Goldings. The genuine Golding is of very delicate aroma and flavour. It is usually a small and compact hop, of what might be called buttony appearance. When ripe and well managed the cones are unbroken. As a result, when a sample is cut from a pocket the formation of each cone is clearly outlined, with its resins in clusters of gold. The strig is short and angular, with the joints close together. The bracts have the ends rounded off and lie closely packed to the strig. If ripe and in good condition, Goldings should break up in an even and regular texture when rubbed down between the hands. They should not feel stringy, and the deposit on the hands reveals a wealth of resin. As a rule there is not a large amount of seed. For that reason the hop is most suitable for dry hopping, especially as it retains its wholeness in the cask and obviates floaters.

The Golding is an ideal hop for stock pale ales, as the preservative properties are high. It is at all times suitable for any pale ale, especially bottling beers.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 173.

This confirms what I thought about Goldings: good flavour, perfect for Pale Ales, an excellent dry hop. It’s no wonder that it’s hung around for so long. Despite its lower yield per acre, it had many qualities brewers desired.

Now for related varieties:

“Golding Types. Under this heading we can include Bramlings, Worcester Mathons, Cobbs, and Tutshams, all of which vary from Goldings, perhaps in some cases only a little. The difference, however, is just enough to be noticeable.

Bramlings, for instance, ripen earlier than Goldings, and have neither the delicate flavour nor the amount of resin. They are not quite so compact in formation. At the same time, they are very useful pale ale hops. Mathons are claimed to be every bit the equal of Kent Goldings, and with the vast improvement effected in the production of hops in the Worcester district in recent years we are almost inclined to agree. Some, produced by a well-known grower whose name it is inadvisable to mention, are certainly equal to any Goldings ever produced, and they only differ in so far as they are a little brighter and yellower in appearance. This difference in colour is rather a characteristic of the Worcester growth. Cobbs have slightly larger cones, and the bracts do not lie so closely together as is the case with Goldings proper. The flavour is a little coarser. We have seen some with a large amount of resins, but others are rather deficient in this respect. It appears therefore that they vary according to management. They, too, are useful hops for pale ales if blended with some other hop which is rather more delicate in flavour. Tutshams are larger hops, and of still heavier flavour. We advise them for use as a blend with coarse Fuggles in order to tone down the latter for mild ales. The strig of all hops of this type is short, and with joints set closely together at angles.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 173 - 174.

Strange that Mathons – really the Farnham variety – were grown in Worcester, but not in Surrey. I’d noticed that Worcester hops were sometimes used in quite classy beers. I assume these hops would have been Mathons.

What’s left of Worcester hop growing today? I suspect very little.

Now the other classic English hop:

“Fuggles. Fuggles proper are unfortunately placed upon the market in varying stages of growth. We have seen some samples in which the cones were so small and under-developed as might easily deceive an unpractised eye into thinking the hops were Golding type. There is no mistaking fully grown Fuggles, which sometimes attain a very large size. In colour they are much greener than hops of the Golding type, and this feature is particularly noticeable at the junction of the stalk and strig. So much so that some growers resort to the undesirable practice of bleaching by the use of undue amounts of sulphur in the curing kilns. This bleaching can only be detected by an experienced eye. The strigs are long and fairly thick, and of a greenish hue. The bract joints are some distance apart, and the angles at which they are set are wider. The bracts are long and taper to a point. They are more open, and in fact the whole hop might almost be called 'untidy'. As regards flavour, Fuggles vary very much according to the district where they are grown. Those grown on the rich soil of the Weald of Kent give very heavy crops of coarse flavour. We have met with Fuggles produced from gardens in East and Mid Kent and also Worcester which are of sufficiently delicate flavour to warrant their use in running pale ales. Generally speaking, however, Fuggles are best reserved for mild ales and stout. The amount of resins present varies considerably. In some cases, when a sample is cut cleanly through, the side looks quite golden. In other cases the hops look like useless straw and nothing else.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 174 - 175.

Sounds as if Fuggles varied greatly in quality and flavour. Classiness in hops could be described as their suitability for use in Pale Ales. Note, though, that Jeffery only considers the best Fuggle’s as good for running Pale Ales, the lowest order of the style. Mostly he recommends it for Mild and Stout, beers with either little hop character or where other strong flavours were present.

Here’s another venerable type of hop. Sort of.

“Farnham and Country Farnhams. Grown in Surrey and Hampshire, these hops are mostly of the Golding type. The first named especially is small and compact, but is a little more pointed in formation. They are very delicate in flavour, and it would be almost wasteful to use these hops in anything but pale ales. The colour is a very pale primrose. Samples of these hops are easily distinguishable from those grown in Kent and Worcester districts, as they weigh nearly half as much again, although of similar size. This feature is due to very close packing and pressing in pockets of much stronger texture. In consequence the pockets are much heavier in weight than the average pocket of just over 1.5 cwt.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 175.

Back in the 1800’s Farnham hops were the most valued by brewers, being considered superior even to East Kent Goldings. Though these aren’t the real Farnham type. The last of those was grubbed up before WW II. Though the region was still producing top-quality hops.

A rare piece of good news for British hops was the announcement in 2014 by the Hogs Back brewery that they were planting a hop garden. And even better, some of the hops were the renowned variety from nearby Farnham, the Farnham White Bine. For the first time in almost 100 years genuine Farnham variety hops are being grown in the region. I wonder what they’re going to do with them?

“Sussex Fuggles. These hops are mentioned separately as they are now sold as a distinct growth. The cones are fairly large and rather open in texture, and, if picked when over-ripe, have a tendency to break up and look ragged. Formerly of decidedly coarse flavour, a definite improvement has been noticed in this respect recently. In fact, better management all round has made Sussex Fuggles quite suitable for mild ales and stout. In colour they are yellower when ripe than the Fuggles from the adjoining county.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 175.

So Sussex Fuggle’s weren’t good enough for Pale Ale, only Mild and Stout. Given that the former was the most popular style back then, it means there was a considerable market for this type of hop.

I’ll finish with a review of the English hop growing districts and their varieties. First before the war:

Hop varieties by region in the 1930’s
Region	main varieties
East Kent (Canterbury, Faversham)	Goldings, Bramling, Cobb and Tutsham
Mid Kent (Medway valley, Maidstone to Tonbridge)	Fuggle's, Bramling, Tutsham, Cobb, Goldings, Tolhurst
Weald of Kent (Tonbridge to Sussex)	Fuggle's
Sussex	Fuggle's
Hampshire, Surrey	Fuggle's, Farnham Whitebine.
Hereford and Worcester	Mathon, Bramling, Fuggle's
Berkshire and Shropshire	Fuggle's, Goldings
Source:
"Brewing Science & Practice" H. Lloyd Hind, 1943, page 391

Then after it:

Hop varieties by region in the 1950’s
Region	main varieties
East Kent (Canterbury, Faversham)	Goldings
Mid Kent (Medway valley, Maidstone to Tonbridge)	Fuggle's, Goldings
Weald of Kent (Tonbridge to Sussex)	Fuggle's, Colegate
Sussex	Fuggle's, Colegate
Hampshire, Surrey	Fuggle's, Farnhams
Hereford and Worcester	Mathon, Cobb, Mayfield Grape, Fuggle's
Source:
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 172 - 175.

Foreign hops next.