Maclay PA 6d 1939 - 1992

More Maclay stuff, this time focusing on PA 6d. A beer that was, for a long time in the 1930's and 1940's Maclay's bread and butter beer. But it hides a strange secret behind its name.

I twigged what that secret was when I got to about 1951 in my log trawl. It's made me do some rethinking about Scottish beer. Particularly about the nature of 60/-, 70/- and 80/-. But before we get onto such philosophical questions, let's take a look at the beer itself:

Maclay PA 6d 1939 - 1992
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)	pale malt	crystal malt	no. 1 sugar	no. 2 sugar	caramel	DCS sugar	oats	flaked maize	flaked rice	wheat malt	flaked barley	malted oats	torrefied wheat	malt extract
21st Feb	1939	1038	1017	2.78	55.26%	4.00	0.65	60º	67.5º	8	78.57%			14.29%				7.14%
15th Aug	1939	1038	1011	3.57	71.05%	6.00	1.00	59º	68º	9	75.00%			16.67%				8.33%
6th Feb	1940	1036	1014	2.91	61.11%	5.00	0.78	60º	66º	8	85.71%			14.29%
29th Jun	1943	1032	1014	2.38	56.25%	4.00	0.56	60º	67.5º	7	76.98%		9.06%		0.38%		4.53%					9.06%
6th Jul	1943	1032	1011	2.78	65.63%	4.00	0.55	60º	65º	8	76.34%		8.14%		0.25%		6.11%					9.16%
6th Jul	1943	1032	1011	2.78	65.63%	4.00	0.55	60º	65º	8	76.34%		8.14%		0.25%		6.11%					9.16%
4th Aug	1943	1032	1014	2.38	56.25%	4.00	0.55	60º	67º	6	76.98%		9.06%		0.38%		4.53%					9.06%
10th Mar	1944	1032	1011	2.78	65.63%	3.53	0.48	60º	67º	8	79.39%		8.14%		0.25%						6.11%	6.11%
13th Jun	1944	1032	1014	2.38	56.25%	4.00	0.57	60º	68º	7	79.39%		8.14%		0.25%							12.21%
21st Jun	1951	1030	1013	2.25	56.67%	5.26	0.70	61.5º	66º	7	94.12%		5.88%		0.00%
25th Jul	1951	1030	1010	2.65	66.67%	5.25	0.65	61º	68º	8	87.26%		5.13%		0.76%	1.71%			5.13%
20th May	1952	1030	1012	2.38	60.00%	5.33	0.67	61º	68º	8	86.80%		5.79%		0.18%	2.89%			4.34%
24th Jul	1952	1030	1009	2.78	70.00%	5.33	0.68	61º	69º	8	86.80%		5.79%		0.18%	2.89%						4.34%
5th Sep	1956	1030	1010	2.65	66.67%	6.00	0.77	62º	70.5º	8	74.82%		7.67%		0.24%	3.84%		11.51%						1.92%
10th May	1957	1030	1013	2.25	56.67%	5.62	0.69	62.5º	68º	7	74.82%		7.67%		0.24%	3.84%		11.51%						1.92%
29th Jul	1957	1030	1009	2.78	70.00%	6.32	0.81	62º	72º	8	73.24%		9.39%		0.47%	3.76%		11.27%						1.88%
1st Sep	1965	1030	1012	2.38	60.00%	6.05	0.75	61.5º	69.5º	7	74.82%		7.67%		0.24%	3.84%		11.51%						1.92%
9th Mar	1966	1030	1012	2.38	60.00%	6.05	0.74	61.5º	69º	7	74.91%		7.68%		0.12%	3.84%		11.52%						1.92%
7th Jan	1971	1030	1008	2.91	73.33%	5.08	0.64	62º	71º	7	79.18%		5.66%		0.08%	1.89%		11.31%						1.89%
27th Jun	1971	1030	1011	2.51	63.33%	4.86	0.61	61.5º	69.5º	7	79.06%		3.76%		0.24%	3.76%		11.29%						1.88%
19th Apr	1972	1030	1009	2.78	70.00%	5.19	0.64	62.5º	72º	7	79.15%		5.65%		0.12%	1.88%		11.31%						1.88%
2nd Apr	1975	1030	1008	2.91	73.33%	5.30	0.67	61.5º	70º	7	79.15%		5.65%		0.12%	1.88%		11.31%						1.88%
6th Mar	1980	1030	1008	2.91	73.33%	5.30	0.65	61º	69º	7	79.06%		5.65%		0.24%	1.88%		11.29%						1.88%
18th Mar	1984	1030	1007	3.04	76.67%	5.30	0.65	61º	66º	8	90.35%		5.65%		0.24%	1.88%								1.88%
8th Jul	1992	1034	1011	3.04	67.65%	4.17	0.62	º	70º	7	87.18%	5.13%								2.56%			5.13%	0.00%
Sources:
Maclay brewing records, document numbers M/6/1/1/3, M/6/1/1/4, M/6/1/1/13, M/6/1/1/28, M/6/1/1/35, M/6/1/1/44, M/6/1/1/46, M/6/1/1/49, M/6/1/1/56, M/6/1/1/61, M/6/1/1/64 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive.

The first thing that strikes me is how little this beer changed between 1951 and 1984. The OG was rock solid at 1030, though the FG did decline a point or two. I don't think I've come across a beer whose specs were so stable for so long.

The stability doesn't end there. The hopping rate stayed at around 0.65 lbs per barrel for the whole period. As did the fermentation temperature, with pitching at 61º F, rising to 69º F. Fermentation took 7 or 8 days.

I'm shocked at how little the recipe changed as well. 75-80% pale malt, 5-7% No. 2 invert, 3% DCS sugar, 11% flaked maize, 2% malt extract and a touch of caramel. Between 1956 and 1980 the recipe is basically identical. That's very unusual.

That's quite odd, but not as odd as what comes next.

Matching up brewhouse names with product names can be a nightmare. Especially when you don't have a price list. That's not a problem with Maclay. At least not from the 1970's onwards, because I can remember their beers and they're listed in the Good Beer Guide.

This is the entry for Maclay in the 1982 Good Beer Guide:

I can match these up nae probs with the beers in the brewing records. There's only one thing 60/- could possibly be: PA 6d. Which causes me quite a degree of consternation.

Because I always considered 60/-, and Maclay 60/- in particular, to be Dark Mild. Not only was it called a Pale Ale in the brewery, it was brewed to exactly the same recipe as the 70/- (SPA in the brewhouse) and 80/- (Export). Presumably it was primed with caramel at racking time to get the dark colour.

This in itself isn't that unusual. There were plenty of breweries who made Mild by adding caramel to their Bitter. It still goes on today. What makes me feel weird is this: in way, the BJCP are right in their description of 60/-, 70/- and 80/-. They say that they are different strength versions of the same thing. Which in the case of Maclay is certainly true. Where the BJCP falls down is in not recognising that they are the Scottish versions of Pale Ale rather than mythical "Scottish Ales". And all that bollocks about cool fermentation temperatures, roast barley for colouring, etc.


There's one question unanswered: when did Maclay PA 6d get darker and turn into a pretend Mild?

Thefts of Liquor

Here's another happy combination of obsessions. Not even sure how I found it. Was I searched for Lager or WW II? Or was it both?

This is an example of the type of dodgy dealing that went on in wartime Britain. With everything in short supply, there was plenty scope for the unscrupulous to earn cash. Bottled beer, which is what was stolen here, was in particularly short supply, due to shortages of bottles and crates, plus the extra energy and manpower needed to produce and sell it.

"THEFTS OF LIQUOR
Brewery Clerk Sent To Prison
THEFTS of large quantities of beer from the St. Anne's Well Brewery Company, Ltd, by middle-aged clerk who had been in their employ since May of this, year were described at Exeter Police Court on Tuesday, when Alfred Wm. Sweeney, of 77, Victoria-road, Exmouth, was sentenced to four months' imprisonment in the second division for the offences.

Sweeney pleaded guilty to having stolen on October 28 three cases containing 6 dozen half pint bottles of Lager beer, value £2 18s 6d, and to having stolen during August, September and October of this year 4 dozen half pint bottles of Bass, 4 dozen half pint bottles Worthington, 92 dozen half pint bottles Lager beer, and 30 dozen pint bottles Guinness, together with cases, to the total value of £72 15s.

CONSIDERABLE CUNNING.
The Chief Constable (Mr. A. E. Rowsell) said part of Sweeney's job was to make out orders and arrange for the despatch of beer to public houses belonging to the company. He had exercised considerable cunning in his defalcations. All but one of the frauds were connected with supplies sent to the South Western Hotel at Exmouth. Sweeney made out documents for the despatch of the goods by the firm's lorries, and then called at the hotel in the evenings with another invoice on which lesser quantities were shown; he would explain that some mistake had been made and would remove or arrange for the removal of the balance of the goods. This balance went to another hotel in Exmouth where Sweeney was paid cash for the goods at their full trade value. In connection with the October 28th charge, Sweeney arranged for a firm of carriers to call at the brewery for the goods, which were taken to his house at Exmouth, and on that occasion no entry at all was made in the firm's books.

Mr. Rowsell said the police were quite satisfied that Mr. Duly, licensee of the South Western Hotel, was an absolutely innocent party in the matter; he did not know his house was being used by Sweeney in the frauds, and, in fact, in the end the matter came to light through Mr. Duly's enquiries as to what was happening.

Kenneth Walter Duly, licensee of the South Western Hotel, Exmouth, said he thought Sweeney had a responsible position at the brewery, and asked him to split up the rationed supplies to the house as best he could. When the goods arrived. Sweeney called in the evenings, and, handing in an invoice for a lesser quantity, removed the excess, saying a mistake had been made, or something like that.

Francis Meekings, licensee of the Beach Hotel, Exmouth, said he bought liquor, the subject of the charges, from Sweeney paying full trade prices. Answering the Chief Constable, witness agreed his reason for having bought was the shortness of intoxicating liquor he was experiencing. Some of it he collected himself or arranged to have it collected from Mr. Duly's house. The empties went back to the South-Western Hotel.

BOTH INNOCENT.
Detective Constable Percy Noble said that Sweeney, in a statement concerning the offences, said both Duly and Meekings were innocent of any complicity in or knowledge of the frauds, which he had committed because he was living beyond his means and overindulgence in intoxicants. Before being interviewed by the police, Sweeney, having heard that enquiries were afoot, had written a confession and apology to the manager of the brewery, in which he said he wanted to make restitution.

The Mayor said the Bench took a serious view of the cases. In the ordinary course they would have sent Sweeney to prison for six months on each count, but in view of his previous good character the sentence would be four months' imprisonment in the second division, on each count, to run concurrently. "We should like to say," said the Mayor, "that there is no reflection at all on Mr. Duly; we think he did all he could."

The Mayor said the Bench thought if there had not been a ready market — or as one of his colleagues suggested to him, a "black market" — for the commodities this would never have happened.
Western Times - Friday 21 November 1941, page 8.

It looks like it was that last delivery that got him caught, presumably because there was no entry made in the brewery's books. But surely there must have been a discrepancy in the accounts from his earlier deliveries. Wasn't the brewery matching up the amount delivered with the amount the pub paid for it?

Were the two landlords totally innocent? Maybe. But you would have expected the one at the Beach Hotel to be a bit suspicious. Perhaps it was the fact that Sweeney worked for the brewery that convinced him everything was kosher.

But none of that is the main reason I'm writing about this article. It's one of the things that was stolen: 6 dozen half pint bottles of Lager beer. You may not remember this, but the St. Anne's Well Brewery was one of the first I found advertising a Lager, at the very early date of 1881. Its last appearance in newspaper ads was 1892. I wondered, was it a real bottom-fermented Lager and did they stop making it in the 1890's?

I've not answered those questions, but it does look as if St. Anne's was brewing a Lager in the 1940's. Hang on. A quick search has confirmed that they were still brewing Lager in 1914. That leads me to another question: were they brewing it right through from 1881 to 1941?

One last thing: the price of the Lager. £2 18s 6d for 6 dozen bottles is 9.75d per half pint. Which is pretty damn pricey. I wonder if that includes the deposit on the crate and bottles? Because in 1942 the wholesale price of Barclay Perkins bottled Lagers was 7.5d per half pint for Light Lager and 9d for De Luxe Dark Lager.

Boy Bought Beer

This article ticks several of my obession boxes. Easily enough to justify reproducing it here. Which obsessions? I'll let you guess.

"BOY BOUGHT BEER
A fifteen-year-old youth, who admitted at Dundee Police Juvenile Court to-day, having on Saturday in the bar premises at 30 Seagate bought for his own consumption one bottle of lager beer, was fined 7s 6d. Thomas Garrity Kelly (19), coal carrier, 9 Craighill Place, was fined 7s 6d for buying a bottle of beer for the youth.

Later at the Sheriff Court, Kelly was fined for having, with intent to deceive, allowed his fifteen-year-old companion to use his identity card. The case against the companion who made false representation in respect of the card was continued for a week.

It was stated that police officers interviewed the accused in a public house where they were consuming beer and that the younger accused had a knuckle duster in his possession."
Evening Telegraph - Monday 27 November 1944, page 4.

This is very topical. At least if you have teenage sons and live in the Netherlands. Our new government has decided to raise the drinking age for beer and wine from the current sensible level of 16 to 18. For no good reason. Just a stupid, tabloid-driven, publicity-seeking attempt to find a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. One that won't even work, in fact is far more likely to have the opposite effect to that intended.

Drinking amongst teenagers is declining in Holland. So why this move? I've no effing idea. Making both beer and spirits illegal for under 18's will, I suspect, encourage spirit-drinking in teenagers. Well done government. The bastards are also going to make me work until I'm 67. Yesterday I was due to pack in at 66. Who knows what age it will be by the time I get to 67. Bastards.

Using a dodgy id to get served sounds so modern. WW II is one of the few times when it was easy for pubs to check the age of customers. Everyone had to carry an id card. It's something recent British governments had contemplated re-introducing. Until they saw how much it would cost.

I'm surprised that there's no mention of the landlord being prosecuted. Maybe the id card fiddle got him off the hook. Not sure that would have helped him today.

Finally, there's the beer the boy drank: Lager. Teenage yobs (he was carrying a knuckle duster) and Lager. They seem to go together.

There's still a pub at 30 Seagate. It's called the Bush Bar. You can see it in the picture above.

Let's brew Wednesday - 1833 Vassar Pale Double Ale

It's been a while since the last recipe. A slight miscommunication between Kristen and me is the reason.

Publishing American Ale recipes is so much fun. Maybe we'll go for something from Amsdell next. That would allow you to see how much brewing in the Hudson Valley changed during the 19th century. You'll have to excuse my excitement. This American stuff is still very new to me.

One word up front: this is not a Pale Ale in the Hodgson, Burton, India sense. No, this is a Pale Ale in the 18th-century meaning of the term. That is, a relatively lightly-hopped beer brewed from pale malt. More like a Light Mild, really.

Vassar's Pale Ale is a funny beast. Much about it is counterintuitive. Like, for example, the level of attenuation. You'd expect beer made from pale malt to attenuate better than that made from amber malt. The opposite was true at Vassar. Their Amber Ale was more highly attenuated than their Pale Ale.

Though there was quite a lot of variation in attenuation at Vassar. There were two Pale Ales on the image I sent to Kristen and he's picked the one with the worst attenuation. It was so poorly attenuated that the batch was mixed with a previous brew of Double Ale, presumably to remedy the effect of the dodgy fermentation. The Double Ale had a more respectable FG of 1036. Most of Vassar's Pale Ales had an FG in the range 1042-1047º, so don't worry if your attenuation is better than in the recipe.

Even with the lower FG, I can't think of a modern beer that is even vaguely like Vassar's Pale Ale. Sure, there are similar beers from the past. Like William Younger's 120/- or 140/- from the mid-19th century. They have a similar combination of modest hopping and high finishing gravity. I keep trying to get someone to brew one of those babies commercially, so far with no success.







That's me done for now. I think I see Kristen in the distance . . . . yes, that's him . . . . .

Vassar  - 1833 - Pale ale

General info:

Holy buckets this thing is obese! Such a big beer to finish so high…higher than the vast majority of the world's beers start is really unique. This is a malt bomb to be sure. Please care to pack your insulin.

Beer Specifics

Recipe by percentages

Gravity (OG)

1.100

100% American pale malt

0% 0

Gravity (FG)

1.053

0% 0

0% 0

ABV

6.29%

0% 0

0% 0

Apparent attenuation

47.19%

0% 0

0% 0

Real attenuation

38.66%

0% 0

0% 0

IBU

90

0% 0

00

SRM

4

EBC

9

Mash

120min@154°F

1.42qt/lb

120min@67.8°C

2.97L/kg

Caramel to add

0srm

Boil

1.25 hours

Homebrew @ 70%

Craft @ 90%

Grist

5gal

23L

20bbl

20hl

American pale malt

19.28 lb

10.628 kg

1859.92 lb

718.61 kg

1859.92

Hops

Cluster 7% 90min (69bu)

3.30 oz

93.5 g

409.02 oz

9.882 kg

Cluster 7% 30min (21bu)

1.41 oz

40.1 g

175.29 oz

4.235 kg

Fermentation

68°F /20°C

Yeast

US05

1332 Northwest Ale Yeast  -

Tasting Notes:

Big, sweet malt. Tons of bread dough and honeyed biscuits. Spicy, piney and dank. Green tea resin really dries up the middle…as well as can be anyway. Thick and sweet well into the finish.

Kristen’s Version:

Notes:
Follow the guidelines I wrote for the Vassar 1884 Double Ale.