PDA

View Full Version : Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Barclay Perkins Lagers 1940 - 1942



Blog Tracker
26-06-2013, 08:40
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/06/barclay-perkins-lagers-1940-1942.html)

You didn't think I was going to let you off with just two posts about Barclay Perkins Lagers did you? I'm happy to report that we've still a way to go.

This time we're looking at Barclay's Lagers in the first half of the war. I would have done the whole war, but I haven't photographed the one covering the second half yet. It's as simple as that.




Barclay Perkins Lagers 1940 - 1942


Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
boil time (hours)
Pitch temp
max. fermentation temp
length of fermentation (days)
colour


9th Oct
1940
Dark
Dunkles
1055.5
1015.6
5.28
71.89%
4.68
1.12
1.5
48.5º
58º
14
82


20th Oct
1941
Dark
Dunkles
1055.5
1017.0
5.09
69.37%
3.77
0.91
1.5
46º
56º
13
80


18th Feb
1942
Dark
Dunkles
1048.5
1015.4
4.38
68.25%
3.77
0.79
1.5
45.5º
56º
14
96


9th Aug
1940
Draught
Lager
1041.4
1009.2
4.26
77.78%
5.32
0.87
2
49º
58.5º
13
13


18th Oct
1940
Draught
Lager
1041.2
1009.1
4.25
77.91%
5.50
0.92
2
49º
58º
12
13


16th Jul
1941
Draught
Lager
1040.0
1010.8
3.86
73.00%
4.03
0.65
2
45º
56º
14
11


9th Feb
1942
Draught
Lager
1035.5
1008.2
3.61
76.90%
4.03
0.54
2
45.5º
56º
15
10.5


21st Aug
1942
Draught
Lager
1035.6
1009.5
3.45
73.31%
4.42
0.65
1.75
48.5º
59º
12
11.5


17th Jun
1942
Draught
Lager
1035.5
1008.4
3.59
76.34%
4.42
0.63
1.75
45.5º
55.5º
13
13


5th Aug
1940
Export
Export
1047.4
1010.2
4.92
78.48%
6.00
1.08
2
48.5º
57º
13
10.5


9th Sep
1940
Export
Export
1047.3
1010.7
4.84
77.38%
6.00
1.08
2
º
º
19
10


19th Jul
1941
Export
Export
1047.5
1015.2
4.27
68.00%
4.62
0.87
2
47.5º
56º
13
8.5


11th Feb
1942
Export
Export
1042.0
1009.1
4.35
78.33%
4.62
0.81
2
46º
55.5º
14
10


26th Aug
1942
Export
Export
1042.5
1009.2
4.41
78.35%
4.81
0.82
2
41.5º
60º
10
11


12th Aug
1940
Sparkling Beer
Lager
1045.5
1009.1
4.82
80.00%
5.00
0.92
1.5
48º
59º
12
35


14th Jul
1941
Sparkling Beer
Lager
1045.0
1012.3
4.33
72.67%
3.79
0.70
1.5
46º
56º
13
34


7th Aug
1941
Sparkling Beer
Lager
1045.0
1010.3
4.59
77.11%
3.79
0.70
1.5
45.5º
56º
14
29


31st Jul
1942
Sparkling Beer
Lager
1040.5
1009.2
4.14
77.28%
4.00
0.70
1.5
48.5º
56.5º
14
34


Source:


Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/643.



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0deTrWTVGO4/UchLPZjYu_I/AAAAAAAARSw/32zXBYbpJDE/s320/Barclay_Perkins_Lagers_1940_1942.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0deTrWTVGO4/UchLPZjYu_I/AAAAAAAARSw/32zXBYbpJDE/s1600/Barclay_Perkins_Lagers_1940_1942.jpg)

You'll see in the table that Barclays had introduced a fourth Lager to their portfolio: Sparkling Beer. It's a bit of a puzzle to me. What style is it? The colour is a little darker than their PA (Best Bitter) and XLK (Ordinary Bitter) which were both 26. And its a little lighter than the amber version of X (Mild) and XX (Best Mild), which were both 42. In Lager terms, I guess it's in the range of a Vienna. Though I doubt that's what it claimed to be.

One of the few things I do know, is that it was an early canned beer. Whether or not that the only format it was packaged in, I'm not sure. However, the absence of it in Barclay's pub price lists suggests that it was purely and export beer.

Talking of which, I've handily got a price list from 1942. Which means I can check up on something dear to all CAMRA members' hearts: how good value for money was Lager in comparison to the top-fermenting beers? Or rather, how poor value for money was it? Turns out not to have been such poor value as I expected.


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B03On_aq7XY/UchMJwqrWzI/AAAAAAAARS4/KttOX3n-T-o/s640/Barclay_Perkins_price_list_1_1942.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B03On_aq7XY/UchMJwqrWzI/AAAAAAAARS4/KttOX3n-T-o/s1600/Barclay_Perkins_price_list_1_1942.jpg)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4x_EXWpfJek/UchMJ5uGA5I/AAAAAAAARS8/s6rSbIyGY5k/s640/Barclay_Perkins_price_list_2_1942.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4x_EXWpfJek/UchMJ5uGA5I/AAAAAAAARS8/s6rSbIyGY5k/s1600/Barclay_Perkins_price_list_2_1942.jpg)


The first table is of bottled beer:




Barclay Perkins bottled beer prices in 1942



OG
price per dozen small bottles retail (shillings)
pence per gravity point


BS
1041.4
8.5
2.46


IPA
1031.3
7
2.68


Light Lager
1042.5
10.5
2.96


Dark Lager
1048.5
11.5
2.85


Sources:


Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/621, ACC/2305/01/623, ACC/2305/01/624, ACC/2305/01/521/1 and ACC/2305/1/643.



BS was 15% cheaper per gravity point than Dark Lager and 20% cheaper than Light Lager. IPA was 5% cheaper than Dark and 10% cheaper than Light. That's not too bad. But wait until you see the draught beers:




Barclay Perkins draught beer prices in 1942



OG
Wholesale price per gallon (shillings)
pence per gravity point


A
1027.3
5.17
2.27


X
1028.6
5.67
2.38


XX
1031.4
6.89
2.63


KK
1043.3
8.56
2.37


Export
1042.5
8.50
2.40


Home Light
1035.5
7.42
2.51


Dark
1048.5
9.25
2.29


Sources:


Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/621, ACC/2305/01/623, ACC/2305/01/624, ACC/2305/01/521/1 and ACC/2305/1/643.



Now that is a surprise. Only the A, the weakest Mild, cost less per gravity point than Dark. But there is a caveat. The price list gives the public bar price per pint of the top-fermenting beers but not of the Lagers. It looks as if they didn't have a recommended price. So for the draught beers the comparisons are made on the wholesale price. Presumably landlords had the freedom to boost their profit margin on draught Lager by charging what they fwelt like for it. Or maybe it just wasn't sold in public bars. Lager was still quite posh, so that is a possibility.

Getting back to the beers themselves, you can see that the hopping rate per quarter declined along with the gravity. The per quarter rate eliminates gravity from the equation, so this was a real fall in hopping, not one just keeping pace with the fall in gravity.

Interestingly, the gravities of Barclay's Lagers fell less, in percentage terms, than those of most top-fermenting beers:




Barclay Perkins fall in gravities 1939 - 1942


Beer
Style
pre-war
summer 1942
% change


Dark
Dunkles
1057.6
1048.5
15.80%


Draught
Lager
1043.5
1035.5
18.39%


Export
Export
1049.4
1040.5
18.02%


IPA (bottling)
IPA
1043.9
1031.3
28.75%


XX
Mild
1042.5
1031.4
26.14%


X
Mild
1034.9
1028.6
17.96%


A
Mild
1030.8
1027.3
11.36%


KK (trade)
Strong Ale
1055.8
1043.3
22.40%


BS
Stout
1051.5
1041.4
19.61%


LS
Stout
1046.6
1033.5
28.11%


Source:


Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/621, ACC/2305/01/623, ACC/2305/01/624 and ACC/2305/1/643.



Only A, a wishy-washy Mild with not much to go any further gravity-wise, fell less.

One other point before I finish about fermentation temperatures. In the 1930's, the maximum temperature hit during fermentation was mostly around 53º F, with 56º F the highest. By 1942, it had risen to 56-58º F and the highest was 60º F. I would assume this was connected with the cost of keeping the wort refrigerated. It can't have been a voluntary decision, because after the war fermentation temperatures dropped back to their pre-war level.

Wondering if the brewing techniques and recipes changed? We'll be looking at that next time.

More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/06/barclay-perkins-lagers-1940-1942.html)