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16-04-2013, 08:14
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/04/ansells-beers.html)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L2pnRGSF2o0/UWka33zh8CI/AAAAAAAAQ00/_18hWNIKd8M/s400/Ansells_Spotlight_Light_Bitter_1952.JPG (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L2pnRGSF2o0/UWka33zh8CI/AAAAAAAAQ00/_18hWNIKd8M/s1600/Ansells_Spotlight_Light_Bitter_1952.JPG)A post by Boak and Bailey (http://boakandbailey.com/2013/04/the-decent-pint/) got me thinking about Ansell's. Especially their Mild. And I've not done a table of analyses of a random brewery for a while. This post has almost written itself.

I drank a fair bit of Ansell's Mild, back in the 1970's. Mostly when we went to visit my Mum's family in Birmingham. Allied were a funny bunch. In the Midlands and North (Tetley and Ansells) their beers were pretty decent. In Yorkshi
re most of their pubs sold cask Bitter and Mild.

In Birmingham it was a differnt matter. It was common to find handpulled Mild and keg Bitter in Ansell's pubs. Which always seemed an odd combination, until you realsied that Mild was still wildly popular in Brum.

The city was a virtual duopoly, with almost all the pubs tied to either Ansell's Mitchell and Butler. I was never that keen on M & B's beers. Their Mild was bland and their Bitter, Brew XI was sweet and dull. So Ansell's Mild was my preferred drink, when in Birmingham. Obviously, once you went west from the city, the choice dramatically improved. Out in the Black Country with Batham's, Simpkiss and Holden, the Milds were good. Very good. But I digress.

On with Ansell's beers. I'll start with the Mild, for obvious reasons. I'm a bit surprised by the gravity of the 1951 and 1960 examples. They're both above the average strength of all beer for those dates, and 3 or 4 degrees above typical Mild gravities.

As you can see, in the 1970's and 1980's there wasn't a big difference between their Bitter and Mild gravities. Just 1.5ยบ. Their bottled Pale Ale had a decent gravity in the 1950's, in the mid 1040's.

The Stouts are possibly the most revealing beers. Why? because they show that English Stout didn't all turn sweet in the 20th century. The lowest level of attenuation is 68%. Even the 1930's Milk Stouts, which you might expect to be sweet, asre over 70% attenuation. Note also the high gravity. That wasn't unusual before WW II. It's only after the war Milk Stout became a punily weak.

Those 1950's Brown Ales look very much like bottled Mild Ales. Or, at most, tweaked versions of Mild Ale. It would have been nice to have some pre-war examples for comparison purposes.

I'd expected to find more analyses from Ansell in the Whitbread Gravity Book. Considering the size and importance of the brewery, there are rather few. But Whitbread never were that strong in the West Midlands. Maybe that explains it. I've noticed there are lots of analyses of breweries they later took over.



Ansell beers 1931 - 1986


Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation


1947
MM Ale
Ale
1/4d
pint
bottled
0.06
1007.4
1032.7
42
3.3
77.37%


1952
Nut Brown Ale
Brown Ale
8d
half
bottled
0.05
1005.8
1036.2
2 + 40
4.0
83.98%


1955
Nut Brown
Brown Ale
9.5d
half
bottled
0.05
1004.3
1036
35
4.1
88.06%


1959
Bruno Sweet Brown Ale
Brown Ale
11.5d
half
bottled
0.04
1013.6
1034.4
90
2.7
60.47%


1960
Triple Gold Light Ale
Light Ale
11d
half
bottled
0.02
1008.1
1039.1
24
3.9
79.28%


1935
Ale
Mild
6d
pint
draught
0.06
1009.7
1047

4.9
79.36%


1949
Mild Ale
Mild
1/1d
pint
draught
0.05
1007.4
1035.4
2.5 + 40
3.6
79.10%


1950
Mild Ale
Mild
1/1d
pint
draught
0.04
1005.2
1034.8
40 + 2
3.9
85.06%


1951
Mild Ale
Mild
1/3d
pint
draught
0.07
1005.7
1038.3
45
4.2
85.12%


1960
Mild Ale
Mild
13d
pint
draught


1038





1961
King Pin Mild
Mild
19d
pint
draught
0.04
1006.7
1037.6
45
3.9
82.18%


1962
King Pin Mild
Mild
22d
pint
draught
0.04
1007.4
1035.9
50
3.6
79.39%


1972
Mild
Mild
11p
pint
draught

1010.7
1033.9

3.0
68.44%


1977
Mild
Mild

pint
draught


1035.5





1979
Mild
Mild

pint
draught


1035.5





1981
Mild
Mild

pint
draught


1035.5





1986
Mild
Mild

pint
draught


1035.5





1939
Pale Ale
Pale Ale

pint
draught
0.07
1007.5
1046.4
17.5
5.1
83.84%


1952
Spotlight
Pale Ale
10d
half
bottled
0.07
1006.7
1038.3
19 B
4.1
82.51%


1955
Special Pale Ale
Pale Ale
1/1.5d
half
bottled
0.05
1009
1046.3
18
4.9
80.56%


1959
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
13.5d
half
bottled
0.03
1009.6
1046.1
18
4.6
79.18%


1961
King Pin Bitter
Pale Ale
23d
pint
draught
0.05
1004.4
1044.8
17
5.1
90.18%


1966
Pioneer Bitter
Pale Ale
28d
pint
bottled
0.04
1006.2
1036.6
23
3.8
83.06%


1977
Bitter
Pale Ale

pint
draught


1037





1979
Aston Ale
Pale Ale

pint
draught


1045





1979
Bitter
Pale Ale

pint
draught


1037





1981
Bitter
Pale Ale

pint
draught


1037





1986
Bitter
Pale Ale

pint
draught


1037





1931
Tonic Stout
Stout
8d
half
bottled
0.08
1010.2
1048.3

5.0
78.88%


1932
Tonic Stout
Stout

pint
bottled
0.08
1010.4
1050

5.2
79.20%


1935
Tonic Stout
Stout
8d
pint
bottled
0.07
1011
1050.5

5.1
78.22%


1935
Milk Stout
Stout
5.5d
half
bottled
0.07
1018.1
1060.7

5.5
70.18%


1937
Milk Stout
Stout
6d
half
bottled
0.05
1018.1
1060.8

5.5
70.23%


1944
Strong Stout
Stout
1/7d
pint
bottled
0.11
1015.5
1053.7
1 + ?
5.0
71.14%


1953
New Forest Stout
Stout
1/2d
half
bottled
0.05
1015
1049.3
1 R + 8 B
4.4
69.57%


1954
New Best Stout
Stout
1/2d
half
bottled
0.05
1015.7
1049.7
1 + 9
4.4
68.41%


1959
Newcrest Stout
Stout
14d
half
bottled

1014
1046
190
4.1
69.57%


1961
Tonic Stout
Stout
12d
pint
bottled
0.05
1012.7
1045.1
210
4.0
71.84%


Sources:


Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001


Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002


Daily Mirror July 10th 1972, page 15


Good Beer Guide 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1987.






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