Monday 20 January 2014

London 4d and 5d Mild Ales in the 1920's

As promised, here are the two weaker classes of Mild Ales, 4d and 5d.

The 4d and 5d refer to the price, though as you see, there are some Milds that cost 6d a pint in the 5d table. I've really grouped them by gravity, as there are also quite a few I don't have a price for.

Some strange things happened to Mild in the first decades of the 20th century. Especially in London. Some of it seems to be the result of the price controls introduced in WW I. The usual trend is that when a style becomes popular, it begets multiple sub-styles. Pale Ale is a good example. First there was IPA, out of which PA and AK developed. But with Mild, the opposite happened. As Mild increased in popularity in the second half of the 19th century, the stronger varieties (XX, XXX and XXXX) gradually withered away. By 1914 the London brewers I have brewing records from were all down to just one Mild, X Ale.

Don't ask me why that happened. Possibly because, as the favourite of the  working classes, Mild Ale was expected to be cheap. Which, at 2d a pint, it certainly was. As its popularity rose, so its gravity fell. Eventually Mild and Porter ended up with the same gravity, unsurprising since they cost the same price.

Here's an illustration of that in table form:


Whitbread Mild and Porter gravities
Year Porter X Ale
1837 1060 1074
1840 1062 1076
1850 1061 1070
1860 1054 1067
1870 1050 1061
1880 1056 1061
1890 1057 1060
1900 1056 1056
1914 1053 1053
Source:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives


In the latter years of WW I and the immediate post-war years, there was strict government control of brewing. Beers had controlled prices, based on their OG. Brewers, presumably trying to appeal to as broad a public as possible, started brewing Milds in several different price categories. It was simple enough, they just needed to parti-gyle beers of different gravities from the same worts.

When controls were lifted in 1921, brewers continued to make two or three Milds. Whitbread kept two, LA and X Ale. Though the sales of LA were much smaller than of X Ale and declined every year. It was the next war that killed off the weakest class of Mild. Restrictions on brewing materials and government controls forced down gravities so much, that there was barely a difference between Ale (the name usually given top the weakest type of Mild) and X Ale.

You can see that there were considerable differences in value for money amongst the 5d Ales. A few are only about 1030, while others are as high as 1037. Note that the 5d Ales mostly have a higher degree of attenuation than the 4d Ales. You might expect that brewers would have done the opposite, to try to get the highest possible ABV for the gravity. But I think they kept the FG relatively high to stop the beer tasting too thin. The FG's of the 4d Ales are very similar to those of the 5d Ales. And you have to remember that no-one knew the ABV of the beer they were drinking back then because brewers kept it secret.

None of the beers in the tables are particularly dark, but the darker ones (40 + something) are all 4d Ales. Camden XX is very pale. Mid-20's is a typical Bitter colour.

That's me done. Nothing left but the tables.

London 4d Mild Ales
Year Brewer Beer Price per pint (pence) FG OG colour ABV App. Atten-uation
1922 Camden XX 1030.2 25
1923 Camden XX 1029.9 25
1924 Camden XX 1006.1 1029.9 27 3.15 79.63%
1925 Whitbread LA 1004.0 1027.3 40 + 2 3.08 85.32%
1926 Buddon Bigg Ale 4 1030
1926 Isherwood Ale 4 1026.7
1926 Meux Ale 4 1032.1
1926 Whitbread LA 1005.5 1027.2 40 + 3 2.87 79.80%
1927 Buddon Bigg Ale 4 1028.8
1927 Fuller Ale 4 1036.5
1927 Isleworth Ale 4 1033.1
1927 Meux Ale 4 1028.7
1927 Truman Ale 4 1029.7
1927 Whitbread LA 1005.5 1027.2 40 + 4.5 2.87 79.76%
1927 Young & Co Ale 4 1029.6
1928 Barclay Perkins Ale 4d 4 1006.5 1028.8 34 2.95 77.43%
1929 Barclay Perkins A 1007.5 1028.7 38 2.80 73.83%
1929 Whitbread LA 1007.5 1027.1 40 + 1.5 2.59 72.29%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records
Camden Brewery brewing records document number ACC/2305/9/5 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001
Whitbread brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/090, LMA/4453/D/01/091, LMA/4453/D/01/092 and LMA/4453/D/01/095 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.

London 5d Mild Ales
Year Brewer Beer Price per pint (pence) FG OG colour ABV App. Atten-uation
1922 Barclay Perkins 5d 5 1006 1030 3.12 80.00%
1922 Beasley MA 5 1010.4 1034 3.05 69.41%
1922 Camden XXX 1008.9 1036.8 32 3.70 75.94%
1922 Cannon Brewery X 6 1007.4 1036.4 3.77 79.67%
1922 City of London X 6 1005.2 1034.2 3.77 84.80%
1922 Courage 6d 6 1007 1034 38 3.51 79.41%
1922 Hoare X 6 1008.8 1034.3 3.31 74.34%
1922 Huggins X 6 1006.5 1038 4.10 82.89%
1922 Truman MA 5 1007.6 1029.6 2.85 74.32%
1922 Wenlock X 6 1005.8 1037.2 4.09 84.41%
1922 Whitbread MA 5 1004 1030.7 3.47 86.97%
1923 Camden XXX 1036.6 32
1923 Cannon Brewery X 6 1007.4 1034.9 3.57 78.80%
1923 City of London X 5 1007.3 1033.3 3.37 78.08%
1923 City of London X 6 1006.6 1035.6 3.77 81.46%
1923 Courage X 5 1007.5 1034.5 3.51 78.26%
1923 Forest Hill Brewery XX 1008.6 1037.1 3.70 76.82%
1923 Hoare X 6 1011.8 1034.3 2.91 65.60%
1923 Huggins X 6 1007.6 1037.6 3.90 79.79%
1923 Meux MA 5 1006.4 1028.9 2.92 77.85%
1923 Truman MA 5 1007.8 1030.8 2.98 74.68%
1923 Wenlock X 5 1007.6 1034.1 3.44 77.71%
1923 Wenlock X 6 1006.8 1037.3 3.97 81.77%
1924 Camden XXX 1008.9 1036.6 33 3.66 75.76%
1924 Cannon Brewery X 5 1031.7
1924 Courage X 5 1007.9 1036.9 3.77 78.59%
1925 Courage X 5 1007 1035.6 3.72 80.34%
1926 Cannon Ale 5 1031.6
1926 Commercial Brewery M.A. 1036.2
1926 Courage Ale 5 1037
1926 Wenlock Ale 5 1027.7
1928 Courage X 5 1006.5 1035 3.70 81.43%
1929 Courage X 5 1006.4 1037 3.98 82.70%
1929 Friary Ale 1010.6 1039 3.68 72.82%
1929 Hoare LA 5 1007.5 1034.1 3.45 78.01%
1929 Wenlock Ale 5 1037.2
Sources:
Camden Brewery brewing records document number ACC/2305/9/5 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001
Whitbread brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/090, LMA/4453/D/01/091, LMA/4453/D/01/092 and LMA/4453/D/01/095 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.


xxxx

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