Brewery Profits

Here's a real shock - breweries were doing well during the war. Who would have thought it?

Barclay Perkins were doing nicely, at least according to the newspaper.

"Brewery Profits
Annual reports now being issued by various brewery companies confirm market views that the industry is thriving. Brewery stocks and shares have been extensively bought in markets for some time and the section is maintaining a good tone while other industrials are inclined to slip back. A report for the year to March 31 last is issued by Barclay Perkins & Company, the London brewery, which has already announced a 6 per cent. Ordinary dividend for the year against 5 per cent for 1942 and 3.5% per cent for 1941. The profit last year was £125,002, after making provision for depreciation, Government taxation, Debenture interest and providing for deferred repairs. A comparative figure for the previous year was £116,739. The tax provision was £231,448 against £230,007 while deferred repairs received £100,000 against £60,000. After providing for dividend and again transferring £30,000 for contingency, the carry forward is £105,109 against £104,360 brought in. The chairman, Lt-Col. Robert W. Barclay, states that brewing materials during The year were costly but the maximum price for  barley was controlled, which prevented the abnormal prices paid in the previous year. He adds that nearly everything purchased for the brewing and distribution of beer was at a high price. Despite this, the past year was more normal than some since 1939. Difficulty was experienced in keeping plant and machinery in an efficient state, particularly bottling machinery, owing to the difficulty of obtaining spare parts. The balance-sheet shows stocks of beer, malt hops, &c, at £612,016, against £387,035 the previous year. The increase is due to higher duties and a reflection is seen in the cash position at £199,026, against £208,450. The £1 Ordinary stand at 28s 9d."
The Scotsman - Friday 13 August 1943, page 2.

A net profit of £125,002 might sound impressive, but in 1939 the figure was £317,788. So why did the newspaper say how well they were doing?

Here are the fixed prices for barley which was mentioned in the article.

Controlled prices for barley
Year	Price on Farm	Merchants' Comm.
1942	140/-	2/6d. limit 5/-
1943	110/-	2/6d. limit 5/-
1944	100/-	2/- limit 5/-
1945	100/-	2/- limit 5/-
1946	101-	2/- limit 4/-
1947	105/10d.	2/6d. limit 5/-
1948	120/-	2/6d. limit 5/-
Source:
Brewing notebook A-H held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/711/1.

 

 

Holyrood Brewery beers before WW II

William Younger’s second brewery, Holyrood, was built in the 1860s.  Intended to be a Pale Ale brewery, it was fitted with union sets.  

On the eve of WW II, Holyrood was, indeed, almost exclusively churning out Pale Ales of various descriptions. The only exception being an occasional batch of No. 3.

Only three Pale Ales were produced at both breweries: XP Btlg, XXP Btlg and XXPS. LAE, XXPS Btlg and Pale XXPS were exclusive to the Abbey Brewery. While P, P Btlg, Pale 3 (IPA Pale), XP and XXP only emanated from Holyrood. Simple, isn’t it?

Once again, the OGs fit quite well into the 4d, 5d, 6d, 7d and 8d per pint gravity bands. Ext – which I assume stands for “Export – was about as strong as UK Pale Ales got in the 1930s. At least ones intended for domestic consumption.

Don’t be fooled by the apparently poor degree of attenuation. That’s a cleansing gravity rather than a real FG or even a racking gravity. I know from analyses of beers as sold that the rate of attenuation was really higher.
At under 5lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, the hopping rate is feeble. In London Pale Ales were hopped at a rate 7.25 - 10 lbs per quarter by Whitbread  and 7.5 lbs by Barclay Perkins.

Dry hopping is on the low side, too, just 2-3 ozs per barrel. In 1939, Barclay Perkins Pale Ales received 3-6 ozs.

There weren’t a lot of ingredients involved. Every beer had pretty much the same grist: 64% pale malt, 36% grits. And they all contained exactly the same types of hops. It’s ludicrously simple.

William Younger Holyrood Beers in 1938
Date	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	dry hops (oz / barrel)
17th Oct	P	1033.5	1011	2.98	67.16%	3.00	0.38	1.93
5th Jul	XP	1037	1012	3.31	67.57%	3.00	0.42	2.14
19th Oct	XP Btlg	1037	1012	3.31	67.57%	4.81	0.67	1.99
20th Oct	P Btlg	1042	1010	4.23	76.19%	4.83	0.75	1.98
18th Oct	XXP	1043	1013	3.97	69.77%	3.18	0.52	1.99
20th Oct	XXP Btlg	1043	1011	4.23	74.42%	4.83	0.77	2.03
17th Oct	XXPS	1048	1015	4.37	68.75%	3.29	0.69	2.31
5th Jul	Pale 3 (IPA Pale)	1055	1017	5.03	69.09%	4.25	0.89	3.03
6th Jul	Ext	1055	1017	5.03	69.09%	4.84	1.00	2.55
8th Jul	3	1055	1018	4.89	67.27%	3.25	0.69	2.05
Source:
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/3/77.

William Younger Holyrood ingredients in 1938
Date	Beer	OG	pale malt	grits	hops
17th Oct	P	1033.5	64.00%	36.00%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
5th Jul	XP	1037	64.00%	36.00%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
19th Oct	XP Btlg	1037	62.96%	37.04%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
20th Oct	P Btlg	1042	63.33%	36.67%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
18th Oct	XXP	1043	63.24%	36.76%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
20th Oct	XXP Btlg	1043	63.33%	36.67%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
17th Oct	XXPS	1048	63.64%	36.36%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
5th Jul	Pale 3 (IPA Pale)	1055	65.00%	35.00%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
6th Jul	Ext	1055	61.29%	38.71%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
8th Jul	3	1055	65.00%	35.00%	Kent (1936), Oregon (1937)
Source:
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/3/77.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1915 Courage Porter

Like all London Porter breweries, Courage brewed a range of Porter and Stout. We’re going to step through the set from 1915.

Don’t expect hugely differing recipes. That’s not the way breweries worked. They operated in a much simpler way. Through parti-gyling they’d spin several different-strength beers from a single recipe.

In addition to the classic pale, brown, black malt bend, there’s also some sugar. I’ve guessed No. 4 invert, as that was the type usually intended for Stout. In the brewing record what it says is Sacc. SM. My money is on that standing for “Stout Mix”. Which would definitely imply something along the lines of No. 4.

The gravity of 1050º is about typical for a pre-WW I London Porter. Early in the war, not much changed.  And this was brewed in March 1915, less than one year in.

1915 Courage Porter
pale malt	6.75 lb	60.00%
brown malt	2.25 lb	20.00%
black malt	1.00 lb	8.89%
No. 4 invert	1.25 lb	11.11%
Fuggles 90 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.00 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1050
FG	1018
ABV	4.23
Apparent attenuation	64.00%
IBU	36
SRM	46
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	181º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	64º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

This recipe is in my wonderful book, Let's Brew!:

Barclay Perkins get off lightly

When searching for brewery names in newspaper archives, most of the articles you find fall into a couple of categories: horrible industrial accidents and fires.

Occasionally, you'll s description of a visit to the brewery. Though they often read like infomercials.

I suppose the following sort of falls into the industrial accident category. Well, it was an accident. And on premises owned by the brewery.

 "Trap" at Streatham
£l70 for Lady Who Fell
A lady customer who M 1 down some steps into a cellar at the Horse and Groom public-house, High-road, Streatham, was awarded £l70 agreed damages at Wandsworth County Court, on Thursday. She was Mrs. Alice Elizabeth Mills, Wavertree-road, Streatham, and she sued Barclay Perkins and Co. Ltd., Park street, Southwark, in respect of the accident, which was alleged to have been caused through negligence on the part of defendants in not sufficiently indicating to customers in the bar the door leading into the cloak room.

Mrs. Mills was precipitated into a coal cellar, and her right shoulder was dislocated. A doctor said there was likely to be a permanent disability in the arm.

Judge Haydon. K.C., said he visited the Horse and Groom in circumstances as favourable to defendants as could be. It was evidently a place that did a good trade. He had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that there was a breach of implied warranty that the premises were in as safe a condition as they could reasonably be made.

"I considered it a trap." he added, "and can perfectly well understand this old lady falling into it without any negligence on her part."

Counsel then announced that the parties had come to terms.

The Judge: I think that Messrs. Barclay Perkins have got off lightly.
Norwood News - Friday 28 June 1940, page 2.

£l70 wasn't so bad. In 1940 that would have bought you almost 6,000 pints of Best Mild. Enough to keep you going for several months. Assuming your arm wasn't so knacked that you couldn't lift a pint glass. That would be annoying. Drinking Mild through a straw just wouldn't be the same.

The Horse and Groom is still trading:

Horse & Groom
60 Streatham High Rd,
Streatham,
London SW16 1DA,
United Kingdom.
Menu: greeneking-pubs.co.uk

A tough year for barclay Perkins

 The last full year of peace wasn't a great one for Barclay Perkins, with profits declining.

 Though the analysts weren't too pessimistic about the company's long-term prospects.

"Barclay Perkins
No surprise was occasioned by the decline in the profits of Barclay Perkins & Co., brewers, published overnight, for the year's dividend of 6 per cent., compared with 8 per cent., previously announced, had prepared shareholders for some decline in earnings. The gross profits for the year ended March 31st last amount to £400,622, in comparison with £431,959 twelve months ago. While the Company has probably continued to experience an increase in turnover, the higher cost of brewing materials have doubtless had some thing to do with the lower profits now returned. This applies especially to the purchase of the new barley crop last year at a very much higher price than in the previous accounting period, the full effects of which would be felt during this year just concluded. Moreover, the undertaking is expending large sums on rebuilding and improving licensed premises, which must have an effect on the cash resources, though at the same time the avoidance of fresh borrowing strengthens the financial structure. After providing for depreciation and other charges including £13,000 for tax and N.D.C., compared with £15,000, it is proposed to pay at this time a final of 4 per cent. on the Ordinary capital, making, as already stated, 6 per cent. for the year, against 8 per cent. The carry-forward is up from £70,525 to £74,580. The Company has an excellent record, and the present decline in profits may be regarded as only temporary."
The Scotsman - Thursday 22 June 1939, page 2.  

There was indeed a hike in the price of barley in 1939, as you can see here. But things didn't get any better in later years, as the war caused barley imports to dry up and the price skyrocketed. In 1941, barley was almost six times as expensive as in 1938.

The increase was so great that the government felt compelled to step in and control the price of barley. This intervention stabilised the cost in the latter war years. It must have helped that domestic barley production more than doubled over the course of the war.

Barley Home Production and imports 1934 - 1945
			Average Price per Cwt.
Year ended 31st Dec.	Acreage	Estimated Produce Cwts.	s.	d.	Imports Cwts.
1934	959,282	16,708,000	8	2	15,476,301
1935	871,272	14,700,000	8	1	17,097,486
1936	894,000	14,640,000	9	9.25	18,294,415
1937	906,000	13,160,000	11	8.5	18,176,124
1938	988,000	18,080,000	7	9.75	19,875,622
1939	1,013,000	17,840,000	14	7.75	13,739,923
1940	1,339,000	22,080,000	20	63	9,146,255
1941	1,475,000	22,880,000	43	7	1,276,772
1942	1,528,000	28,920,000	34	3.5	34
1943	1,786,000	32,900,000	27	6.75	-
1944	1,973,000	35,040,000	24	8.25	-
1945	1,984,000	37,660,000	24	6	2,036,552
Source:
"Brewers' Almanack 1955", page 66.

On the upside, Barclay Perkins production was on the increase:

Barclay Perkins output 1936 - 1040
Year ending 31st March	malt used Qrs	flaked & maize used Qrs	Sugar used Qrs	hops used cwts	Bulk barrels brewed
1936	45,028.625	6,203	15,984	3,948	378,084
1937	45,278.0	5,735	16,810.75	3,936	386,700
1938	46,856.75	7,491	16,521.25	4,091	406,310
1939	46,421.125	7,881	16,079	4,064	404,777
1940	46,108.25	4,878	15,397	3,853	388,144
Source:
Brewing notebook A-H held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/711/1.

Though the war would seriously disrupt the company's business. Sometimes in a very direct way. For example, when the brew house was hit by bombs.

Barclay Perkins Gravities in November 1922

When visiting archives, I mostly concentrate on brewing records. But there's all sorts of other material, some of it packed with goodies.

I got into a routine of always photographing one document which wasn't a brewing book on every visit. Which is why I have pictures of something called "Brewing notebook A-H", A.H. presumably being the initials of a brewer.

It's packed with all sorts of handy stuff: the control prices of barley in WW II, Bass wholesale prices in 1920, the cost price of BBS Export from 1912 to 1919, barrels brewed 1913 to 1955, coal usage 1905 to 1955, brewing materials used 1920 to 1945, quantity of finings per beer in 1921, the price paid for spent grains 1902 to 1952 and much more.

I was having a look through it yesterday in the hope of finding details of the configuration of the brew house. To be specific, the number of mash tuns and coppers they had. I wanted to see how bad the bomb damage was in September 1940, when the brew house took a couple of hits.

 I didn't find that, buy I did come across this very useful table , which shows the gravities of all their beers, plus details of the primings and their effect.

Barclay Perkins Gravities in November 1922
Price	minimum Regulation Gravity	Mark	Brewed Gravity	Sweet added	Original Gravity Actual	Declared Gravity	Original Gravity according to Declared Gravities
5d	1027	Ale 5d	1030.2	1 qrt @ 1130	1030.8	1029	1029.6
6d	1033	XLK(C)	1034.2	NIL	1034.2	1033	1033
6d	1033	TT	1034.2	6 qrts @ 1130	1038.1	1033	1037
7d	1039	XLK(B)	1040.2	NIL	1040.2	1039	1039
7d	1039	X	1041.4	3 qrts @ 1130	1044	1041	1042.83
8d	1046	Lager Home	1045.2	NIL	1045.2	1044	1044
8d	1046	XLK(T)	1047.2	NIL	1047.2	1046	1046
8d	1046	L.S.	1047.2	3 qrts @ 1130	1048	1046	1047.7
8d	1046	O.M.S.	1051.2	3 qrts @ 1130	1052.8	1050	1051.6
9d	1054	B.S. (T)	1055.2	4 qrts @ 1130	1957.2	1054	1056
9d	1054	R.N.S.	1055.2	3 qrts @ 1130	1056.7	1054	1055.5
9d	1054	K.K.	1055.2	1 qrt @ 1130	1044.7	1054	1054.5
9d	1054	IBS	1061.2	3 qrts @ 1130	1062.6	1060	1061.4
9d	1054	K.K.K.	1082.2	NIL	1082.2	1081	1081
9d	1054	K.K. Bottling	1070.2	NIL	1070.2	1069	1069
9d	1054	Lager Sp Dark	1058.2	NIL	1058.2	1057	1057
Export		Lager Export	1050.3	NIL	1050.3	1050	1050
Export		XLK EX	1049.2	NIL	1049.2	1048	1048
Export		P.A.	1059.2	NIL	1059.2	1058	1058
Export		B.S.c	1066.2	3 qrts @ 1150	1067.9	1065	1066.7
Export		XMAS B.S.c	1076.2	3 qrts @ 1150	1077.5	1075	1976.5
Export		B.B.S. EX	1080.2	NIL	1080.2	1079	1079
Export		I.B.S. EX	1103.2	NIL	1103.2	1102	1102
Source:
Brewing notebook A-H held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/711/1.

In case you're wondering, "minimum Regulation Gravity" refers to the last set if price controls, where beer retailing for a certain price had to fit into a gravity band. For some beers, the primings significantly increased the OG, For example, TT (Porter), which by almost 4º.

The table also told me that Barclay Perkins breed a Christmas version of Best Stout. Never stumbled across that in the brewing records.

Let's Brew - 1928 Barclay Perkins KKKK

At some point in the late 1920s, KKK seems to have become KKKK. Not sure the reasoning behind the name change. Perhaps it was intended to distract from the fall in gravity. It had been more than 50 years – since 1871 – that Barclay Perkins had brewed a KKKK.

I know for certain that KKKK was a winter-only beer. If adverts are to be trusted, it looks like it was served from a pin on the bar counter. It was also aged – this version was brewed in May. Which would have made it around 6 months old when served.

The name may have changed, but the recipe is mostly unchanged. The balance between SA (for which I’ve substituted mild) and pale malt has shifted a little in the latter’s favour. Everything else is about the same. Except No.3 invert has replaced No. 2.

A combination of Mid-Kent Goldings from the 1927 crop and Mid-Kent Tutshams from 1926 make up the copper hops. While the dry hops are East Kent Goldings from 1927. All the hops were cold stored.

1928 Barclay Perkins KKKK
pale malt	4.75 lb	28.57%
mild malt	8.75 lb	52.63%
crystal malt 60 L	1.25 lb	7.52%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.75 lb	10.53%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.125 lb	0.75%
Goldings 150 mins	2.50 oz
Goldings 60 mins	2.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	2.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1079
FG	1027
ABV	6.88
Apparent attenuation	65.82%
IBU	85
SRM	23
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	164º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

This recipe is in my two new books, Strong! vols. 1 & 2 and Strong! vol.2.

Barclay Perkins Porter and Stout adjuncts before WW II

More excruciating detail about Barclay Perkins beers around the time of WW II. I'm still pondering whether to turn all of this into a standalone book or not.

In the first half of the 20th century, the use of adjuncts was very widespread. Usually in the form of flaked maize, though a few breweries, such as William Younger, used grits. So, it’s no shock to see that most of the Stouts contain some. 10-15% was typical, considerably less than the 5% here.

I think that it’s explained by the presence of another unmalted grain, roast barley. The two combined come to around 15%, about the typical adjunct percentage. Nowadays many associate roast barley with Stout but that wasn’t true in the UK. The vast majority of breweries used black malt instead. I can only recall two which used roast barley: Barclay Perkins and Guinness. The latter is doubtless the cause of the association.

Over 11% of the grist seems an awful lot of roast barley. Especially when there were another 15% of roasted grains in the grist. These beers must have been very roasty. Like drinking an ashtray.

I’m not sure if the oats were malted or flaked as the brewing records aren’t specific. The quantity is tiny, in any case so it doesn’t really matter. A token quantity so some could be sold as Oatmeal Stout. Oddly enough, it turns up in parti-gyles where I’m pretty sure none were going to be marketed as oatmeal. For example, IBS and RNS.

There’s a huge contrast with the two Export Stout, which contain no unmalted grains of any kind.

Barclay Perkins Porter and Stout adjuncts before WW II
Year	Beer	roast barley	flaked maize	oats	total
1936	TT	11.07%	4.92%	0.61%	16.60%
1936	LS	9.25%	4.62%	0.29%	14.16%
1936	BS	11.07%	4.92%	0.61%	16.60%
1936	OMS	11.07%	4.92%	0.61%	16.60%
1936	RNS	11.63%	4.43%	0.28%	16.34%
1936	IBS	11.63%	4.43%	0.28%	16.34%
1936	BBS Export				0.00%
1937	IBS Export				0.00%
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/01/621.