London Ordinary Mild Ale 1955 – 1959

We’re closing in on the end of this series. Which I’m sure comes as much as a surprise as a relief. Or should that be the other way around?

Sadly, I’ve far fewer analyses for the second half of the 1950’s. And quite a few only have the FG, which is pretty effing useless.

Getting on to this set, you can see that the price for Ordinary Mild has crept up from around 13d to 14.5d. While the average price for Best Mild has gone up by about 2.5d. It still looks dirt cheap compared to modern prices. On a happier note, average OG and ABV for Ordinary Mild have increased slightly. Only two examples are under 3% ABV. Which is good news for pissheads.

All the veers, both Ordinary and Best Mild, are pretty dark, with the lowest colour value 70. None are even vaguely close to being pale.

Whitbread’s Best Mild, XXX, didn’t last long, only being brewed in 1954 and 1955. That’s despite being pushed by Whitbread in print adverts. Obviously, it was parti-gyled with their deceptively named Ordinary Mild, Best Ale.

Not much more else to say. Other than that these look very much like the Mild Ales of my youth: around 3% ABV and dark brown. It wasn’t until the last ten years that I came to realise that this type of Mild was only about as old as me.

It’s a sobering thought. And an indication of a common way of thinking. We assume that things which were common when we were young had been around forever.

London Ordinary Mild Ale 1955 - 1959
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1955	Truman	X			1033.6				82
1955	Whitbread	Best Ale			1030.4	1009.5	2.76	68.75%	95
1957	Barclay Perkins	XX	15	0.06	1031.4	1005.8	3.33	81.53%	100
1957	Charrington	Mild Ale	14	0.04	1032.6	1007.4	3.27	77.30%	110
1957	Courage	Mild Ale	15	0.06	1032.5	1006.4	3.39	80.31%	115
1957	Ind Coope	Mild Ale	15	0.08	1032	1006.6	3.30	79.37%	70
1957	Mann	Mild Ale	15	0.05	1033	1004.7	3.68	85.76%	105
1957	Truman	Mild Ale	15	0.07	1032.4	1008.2	3.14	74.69%	95
1957	Watney	Mild Ale	15	0.05	1032	1007.6	3.16	76.25%	100
1957	Wenlock	Mild Ale	15	0.08	1031.8	1006.4	3.30	79.87%	95
1957	Whitbread	Mild Ale	14	0.04	1032.4	1011.4	2.71	64.81%	95
1958	Whitbread	Best Ale	15		1033.1
1958	Young & Co	Mild Ale	14	0.04	1031.6	1005.8	3.35	81.65%	75
1959	Fullers	Mild Ale	12	0.05	1032.2	1006.6	3.32	79.50%	90
	Average		14.5	0.06	1032.2	1007.2	3.23	77.48%	93.9
1955	Taylor Walker	Main Line	27	0.05	1044	1014.5	3.82	67.05%	115
1955	Whitbread	XXX			1034.8	1010.0	3.28	71.26%	115
1957	Ind Coope	Mild Ale	15	0.06	1034.9	1008.4	3.44	75.93%	95
1957	Taylor Walker	Mainline	16	0.05	1037.4	1010.4	3.50	72.19%	100
	Average		19.3	0.05	1037.8	1010.8	3.51	71.61%	106.3
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Provincial Milds of the late fifties next. And then we’re done.

Light Ale vs. Pale Ale

I’ve said many times that British brewers were rather inconsistent in their naming of beers. Especially when it came to Pale Ales.

IPA, Pale Ale and Bitter could all be used to describe exactly the same beer. After seeing this advert, I realise that I can add Light Ale to that list.

"Lots of people ask for 'light ale’ but you’d be surprised how many say Whitbread’s.

Still, that's a taste That I've no quarrel with. Whitbread's make a fine Pale Ale; they do all their own bottling and their beers keep in top condition

It stands out— the best of the light ales is a WHITBREAD.
Hastings and St Leonards Observer - Saturday 16 August 1952, page 2.

So a beer with Whitbread Pale Ale on the label was what you got if you asked for a Light Ale in a Whitbread pub. Whitbread Pale Ale is a great example of the confusion of terms. But you need to look at its history to comprehend the full horror.

Before WW II, Whitbread brewed two Pale Ales: PA at 1048.5º which was their draught Bitter and IPA at 1037.4º which was a bottled beer. Both beers continued through the war and into the 1950’s albeit with reduced gravities. And their roles, one as a bottled and the other as a draught beer, continued. But I can see that though it retained the name IPA in the Brewhouse, the bottle was labelled “Whitbread Pale Ale”. It wasn’t until 1958 that it was called WPA in the Brewhouse.

Whitbread Pale Ale, IPA, Bitter Light Ale 1951 - 1955
Year	Beer	Style	package	Price	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1951	Pale Ale	IPA	bottled	21	1034.5
1951	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	draught	16	1038.4				30
1951	PA	Pale Ale			1039.8	1007.0	4.34	82.41%	30
1952	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	draught	17	1038.12				28
1953	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	draught	16	1035.05				22
1953	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	draught	17	1036.97				24
1954	Pale Ale	IPA	bottled	21	1034	1005.2	3.75	84.71%	22
1954	PA	Pale Ale	draught	17	1039.5
1955	Pale Ale	IPA	bottled	22	1034.5
1955	IPA	IPA			1034.5	1004.5	3.97	86.96%	20
1955	PA	Pale Ale			1039.3	1010.5	3.81	73.28%	22
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Whitbread brewing records

Around the same time PA was rebadged as Tankard. Which Whitbread pushed heavily in keg form. But there was yet another name change is store for IPA. It started being sold on draught, sometime around 1960. Under the name of Trophy. Meaning Whitbread Trophy started life as an IPA.

I did promise to reveal this a while ago. But I sort of forgot. Sorry about that. Quite an impressive history for Whitbread IPA. It managed to be IPA, Pale Ale, Light Ale and Bitter. If only it had lasted long enough to become a Double IPA.

1899 William Younger S1

Let me take you back to a simpler time. One before William Younger had discovered they could brew pretty much from corn grits. And when they produced a bewildering array of Stouts.

One of the main differences amongst their Stouts was the degree of attenuation. Ones they’d brewed for a while, like DBS, tended to have a more normal attenuation. While some of the ones introduced towards the end of the 1900’s, er, didn’t. These ones seem to be the ancestors of 20th-century Scottish Sweet Stout, a style with incredibly low attenuation and minimal alcohol.

This one still manages to come out at 4.5% ABV, but that’s only because it has quite a high OG. With that FG and getting on for 20% roasted malt, this must have been a pretty thick and gloopy beer. I wonder who the drinkers were of this stuff? Was it invalids looking to restore their vitality? Or just people with a sweet tooth?

For William Younger, the recipe is just packed with different ingredients. A whole three different types of malt, plus glucose and the inevitable grits.

The trickiest aspect of this range of Stouts is the hopping. Which was minimal. Apart from the large quantities of spent hops also used. What do spent hops bring to the party? A Watneys Seven? I’ve no idea, if I’m honest. I’ve been assuming 10% of their value fresh. But that could be wildly wrong.

To add to the fun, some examples of S1 – not this one – included 3 or 4 gallons of ullage beer barrel. That’s 10-12.5% returned beer. Must have added a lovely extra tang.

1899 William Younger S1
pale malt	10.00 lb	62.50%
black malt	2.00 lb	12.50%
amber malt	0.75 lb	4.69%
grits	1.75 lb	10.94%
glucose	1.50 lb	9.38%
Cluster 120 min (spent)	0.50 oz
Cluster 90 min	0.75 oz
OG	1069
FG	1035
ABV	4.50
Apparent attenuation	49.28%
IBU	25
SRM	46
Mash at	155º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	180 minutes
pitching temp	59.5º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

Went a bit crazy in the offie

Just noticed - well Dolores did - a Getraenkemarkt around the corner from our hotel.

It has a huge selection of German beers. I was trying to restrain myself. But it didn't work out too well.

Dolores spotted the dead cool Berliner Weisse glass.

Still, I do have three more nights here.

Southwestern and Welsh Mild Ale 1950 – 1951

We’re just about done with early 1950’s Mild. Don’t worry, that just means we’ll be moving on to late 1950’s Mild soon.

It’s a bit of a small set. Shouldn’t take too long.

I’m not totally sure Flowers belong here. It’s before their merger with J.W. Green, so I know the beer didn’t come from Luton. It’s probably from Stratford-upon-Avon, which I suppose really counts as the West Midlands.

Which immediately highlights something surprising: how strong the remaining Southwestern Milds are, averaging almost 4% ABV. I’d have expected the opposite. Especially remembering St. Austell and Devenish beers from the 1970’s which were pretty weak. Though you paid a price. Literally. Rather than 13d or 14d a pint, these were 17d or 18d. Other than the Starkey, Knight & Ford beer which looks excellent value.

You’ll note that the real Southwestern beers are quite pale and fairly highly, but not ridiculously so, attenuated. Odd thing is, I remember Plymouth Heavy, which is what Plymouth Breweries Mild was called when I drank it. I recall it being very dark. And very nice. It was a real shame when Courage closed the brewery and it disappeared.

It’s hard to draw many conclusions based on just two beer. So I don’t really know what to say about the Welsh Milds. Other than that I would have expected them to be darker.

Southwestern and Welsh Mild Ale 1950 - 1951
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1950	Plymouth Breweries	Mild Ale	17	0.10	1038.1	1006.9	4.06	81.89%	43
1950	Starkey, Knight & Ford	Mild Ale	14	0.08	1037.8	1008.5	3.80	77.51%	50
1951	Flowers	Mild Ale	15	0.07	1030.7	1003.9	3.49	87.30%	120
1951	Plymouth Breweries	Mild Ale	18	0.07	1040.3	1009.5	4.00	76.43%	42
	Average		16	0.08	1036.7	1007.2	3.84	80.78%	63.8
1950	Clubs Brewery Ltd	Mild Ale	13	0.05	1030	1007.5	2.92	75.00%	55
1951	Brains	Mild Ale	15	0.11	1033.9	1004.3	3.85	87.32%	85
	Average		14	0.08	1032.0	1005.9	3.39	81.16%	70
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Late 1950’s Milds next.

1933 William Younger No. 1

In the first half of the 20th century, William Younger bashed out two Scotch Ales, No. 3 and the more powerful No. 1.

Both had been around since the 1850’s at least and managed to survive two world wars. Unlike the other Ales completing the set, No. 2 and No. 4. While No.3 was often sold on draught and filled a similar niche to Burton, No. 1 was more in the tradition of Scotch Ales sold in Belgium. It was dark and pretty powerful. I believe it was discontinued in the 1950’s or early 1960’s.

This is so exciting. Because here’s a Younger’s beer that has more ingredients than just pale malt and grits. It has that super-secret exciting ingredient you wouldn’t expect in a Scotch Ale: lactose. It’s about the only example of the use of lactose in a beer other than a Stout that I can recall. I assume it was a way of simulating the high FG beers of this type had in the 19th century.

It has one of the highest percentages of malt for a Younger’s beer of this period: almost 60%. That shows how special it was. The hopping is more heavy than style Nazis would have you believe was normal in Scotland. But compared to earlier version, it looks positively restrained at just 50 IBUs.

Once again, this would have been coloured up with caramel at racking time. Just pick your shade, as I’m sure it came in several, depending on where it was being sold.

1933 William Younger No. 1
pale malt	11.25 lb	58.44%
grits	7.25 lb	37.66%
lactose	0.75 lb	3.90%
Cluster 90 min	1.75 oz
Fuggles 30 min	1.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1085
FG	1033
ABV	6.88
Apparent attenuation	61.18%
IBU	50
SRM	5
Mash at	156º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	57º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

Southeastern Mild Ale 1950 – 1953

I’m finding our stroll through the country lanes of Mild Ale fascinating. Why didn’t I ever do this before?

One reason is the colour numbers. Whitbread used a really annoying way of recording colour, using both a red and a brown filter. Up to 40 they’re fine, being the same as the old Lovibond/EBC numbers (double the current EBC numbers). After that, they’re in an irritating 12 + 40 format. Numbers you can’t do bugger all with, in terms of comparison of for averaging.

Luckily there are a couple of places where Whitbread recorded both the red brown and EBC values. And I’ve used it to create a full conversion table. Which means I can start to seriously look at differences in the colour of Mild across the UK. It’s been very revealing.

Using London Milds as my baseline, this lot have a slightly lower average gravity. Buy a higher rate of attenuation leaving the ABV a little higher. There’s very little variation in gravity, all the beers lying 1 or 2 points above or below 1030º. London Milds, with their higher FGs, probably tasted sweeter and fuller.

There are two out-and-out pale examples, from Shepherd Neame and Fremlins. But both also brewed a dark version. As the two beers have very similar gravities in both cases, I assume they are versions of the same basic beer. Those aside, everything else is reasonably dark, though a bit paler than in London.

Southeastern Mild Ale 1950 - 1953
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1950	Cobb & Co.	X			1030.7				72
1950	Daniells	X	11		1031.2				56
1950	Gardner	X	12		1030.0				96
1950	Shepherd Neame	X			1030.1				63
1950	Simonds	Ale	12		1030.4				56
1950	Tomson & Wotton	X			1026.8				76
1950	Wells	X	12		1030.4				104
1951	Cobb & Co.	X	12		1028.4				88
1951	Daniells	Mild Ale	14	0.10	1029.9	1003.9	3.38	86.96%	110
1951	Daniells	X	12		1032.1				72
1951	Daniels	Ale	13		1032.9				86
1951	Fremlin	XXL	12		1029.4				22
1951	Fremlin	XX	12		1030.6				60
1951	JJ Young	Mild Ale	14	0.06	1030.6	1004.8	3.35	84.31%	65
1951	Morrell	Mild Ale	14	0.12	1029.7	1003.7	3.38	87.54%	80
1951	Portsmouth United	Mild Ale	14	0.04	1029.3	1005.1	3.14	82.59%	75
1951	Shepherd Neame	X	12		1031.4				24
1951	Simonds	Mild Ale	14	0.05	1032.0	1005.5	3.44	82.81%	80
1951	Simonds	Mild Dark Sweet	14	0.06	1031.5	1005.7	3.35	81.90%	80
1951	Tamplin	Mild Ale	14	0.05	1029.9	1005.2	3.21	82.61%	70
1951	Tomson & Wotton	X	12		1029.2				80
1951	Wells	Mild Ale	14	0.04	1028.6	1005	3.07	82.52%	75
1953	Benskins	X	13		1031.5				84
	Average		12.9	0.07	1030.3	1004.9	3.29	83.9%	72.8
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

Only Wales and the Southwest to go.

"No" To Pubs' 10 P.M. Plea

I can remember being shocked when I discovered that pubs in Scotland shut at 10 PM and didn’t open at all on Sundays.

While I was used to English licensing laws, those in Scotland seemed baffling and ludicrously restrictive. It was all the sad result of temperance twats taking advantage of WW I.  They were lucky they still had puns at all in Scotland. With the Local Veto Act killjoy teetotallers had hoped to snuff out licences one area at a time.

Opening hours were the longest in London, but not much shorter in other English urban areas. But in Scotland they were the shortest. Early closing time was reckoned to be counter-productive as it encouraged people to go straight to the pub from work. If you went home, had your tea and then went for a pint, it would be too late. Instead, they just drank from opening to closing.

Doing away with that custom was one of the main arguments put forward for changing licensing hours in Scotland. Which was intended to harmonise the rules with those in England, but had the unforeseen consequence of allowing pubs to open much longer than south of the border. Pubs that stayed open all afternoon. It sounded like a dream to us poor sods in England.

Back in the 1950’s, closing times were even more ridiculously early:

“"No" To Pubs' 10 P.M. Plea
By a unanimous vote Aberdeen magistrates to-day rejected applications for longer licensing hours in the city during the summer months.

Before the magistrates at an adjourned sitting of the Licensing Court was an application from Aberdeen Excise Licenceholders’ Association for an extension from 9.30 p.m. to 10.0 p.m. during the inclusive period June-September.

Aberdeen and District Licensed Grocers' Association asked for an extension from eight hours to eight and a half hours, the extension taking effect in the second period making opening time 5.0 p.m.

Price Prohibitive
Mr. Norman J. Wilson, advocate, for the licence-holders, said that the application was not made simply for the interests of the trade. Spirits could not be purchased in large quantities these days. They were scarce and the price was prohibitive.

WATCH KEPT ON 10 CLUBS
The result was that the average citizen had to go to a hotel or public-house, but bottled beer could be ordered outwith the hours and delivered within them.

Saying that the extra half-hour could be staggered with the employees, Mr Wilson added that there were numerous clubs in the city which could not cater for the visitor. Reading a list of districts in Scotland with longer hours, he concluded; “In Aberdeen there are special circumstances making it desirable.”

Mr Farquhar McRitchie, advocate, for the licensed grocers, said that the grocer was cut to four and half hours if he was to close his shop at 6 p.m.

The Draught
“The general trend now is to get people away at a reasonable hour,” he said. "The licensed grocers have never really been considered in the adjustment licensing hours.”

“Instead of the poor artisan not getting his draught beer the poor publican is feeling the draught!” commented Rev. S. Ballantyne. objecting, for Aberdeen Presbytery Committee on Temperance. “You will notice that none of the four main cities of Scotland was mentioned on the list of longer hours. "Any extension of hours in our view can only lead to an extension of the drunken evils in our midst,” he added.

Impartial View
H. Ogston, advocate, appearing for four temperance bodies challenged points made the applicants. He thought that the Chief Constable’s report of people flocking from public houses to clubs after 9.30 was rather exaggerated.

Deputy Chief Constable Mathieson said that the police took an impartial view on the application. Answering Mr Ogston he said—“We had observations kept last Saturday night on ten clubs. Between 9.30 and 10.0 209 people entered.”

The inference was that people went there after closing time at the pubs.

The police did not favour an extension but an adjustment of hours. The maintenance of good order, in event of an extension being granted was. he added, the responsibility of the police.”
Aberdeen Evening Express - Thursday 29 March 1951, pages 1 and 4.

Interesting that clubs could stay open 30 minutes longer than pubs. Why would that be? And counting how many entered clubs for the last half hour of trading – doesn’t sound like a good use of police time to me.

As usual, some god-bothering Nazis had to object. Yeah, 30 minutes extra drinking time was going to turn Aberdeen into Sodom. Sadly, such twats are making a comeback in the UK.