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24-08-2013, 09:58
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Northern Liberator, Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.


I been done me some thinking again. It was that article of Lott about bottled beer. The types of Ale that he said were bottled. "I've got a spreadsheet of details taken form price lists. Let's see what bottled beers are in there." That was my thought. Nothing that's going to rewrite human history. But it's mine.

The spreadsheet has over 3,500 entries. Best I cut it down into more digestible chunks by limiting it by date. So we're going to start with the first bottled beers I have, from the 1840's. And what a fascinating bunch they are. That tell quite a story.

I don't have a huge number of examples, only 50-odd in total. And quite a lrge number of those are for a single brewery, Aitchison. Though that in itself tells a story. It's no coincidence that a Scottish brewery should feature so prominently in the table. Because Scotland was the part of Britain where bottled beer became common the earliest.

Surprisingly, much Scottish was already being packaged in bottled form in the 18th century. More than 100 years before the rise in popularity of bottled beer in England.

But my mean reason for putting together the table below was to see which styles were being bottled. It provides some confirmation of Lott's assertion that the only Ales bottled were IPA, Mild Ale and Strong Ale.

First, I need to explain a little about the styles I've assigned to the beers, in particular those of Aitchison. I've ended up calling most of them "Edinburgh Ale", though some could equally well be classified as Strong Ale and others as Mild Ale. The problem is that it's not always possible to tell which group a beer belongs in by the description. Is "Superior Ale" a Mild Ale or a Strong Ale? I've no idea. Of course, it could be both.



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Newcastle Courant, Friday 17 April 1840, page 1


You can see that there was still a certain fluidity in the name given to IPA, with Pale India Ale, Pale Export India Beer and India Ale being used as well as the later standard India Pale Ale and East India Pale Ale. There's an intrguing set of brewers for the IPA's - Bass and Allsopp from Burtin, Hodgson & Abbott of London, plus the Scottish brewers Aitchison and Tennent. It's an indication of just how quickly some Scottish brewers started brewing IPA.

There are, indeed, quite a few Strong Ales in the table. Especially when you consider many of the ones I've classified as Edinburgh Ales are also Strong Ales. Even more confusingly, the only beers identified as Mild Ales are also pretty strong, as shown by the prices of 5 and 7 guineas per hogshead. That makes them 105 shillings and 147 shillings respectively. In 1847, William Younger's 100/- had an OG of 1090º and their 140/- one of 1112º*. I assume Aitchison's Mild Ales were of a similar strength.

As I would have expected, there are several Stouts, including Guinness. Their beers were mostly sold in bottled form in England. By the 1840's, Guinness was already selling over 40,000 barrels of Stout annually in England. Sales grew exponentially in the second half of the 19th century, as this table shows.




Guinness Extra Stout sales 1840 - 1890 (barrels)



1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900


GB
42,209
44,410
82,690
178,556
207,695
352,109
458,630


Ireland
25,021
26,979
52,594
93,854
201,348
261,359
437,613


Total
67,230
71,389
135,284
272,410
409,043
613,468
896,243


Source:


A Bottle of Guinness, Please by David Hughes, pages 276-279.



The most unexpected beers are the Scottish Table Ale and Dinner Ale. These would have been very low gravity beers for the period. William Younger's Table Ale was between 1033º and 1037º in 1847*. I would be surprised if Aichison's were over 1040º. Scottish brewers had a good reputation for Table Ale and sold quite a lot of it in England. Part of the description probably explains why such a weak beer could be bottled successfully: "highly hopped."

I think that's me all explained out. There's nothing left for me but to leave you with the table:



Bottled beers in the 1840's


Brewery
Place
year
beer
style
price per dozen
size
source


S. Bloxsome & Company
Bristol
1849
Alloa Scotch Dinner Ale
Dinner Ale
2s 6d

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1840
Edinburgh Ale, strongest and best made
Edinburgh Ale
8s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 17 April 1840. page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1840
Strong Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
6s
reputed quart?
Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1840
Superior Ale
Edinburgh Ale
4s 6d
reputed quart?
Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1842
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
4s
quart
Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1842
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
6s
quart
Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1842
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
8s
quart
Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1843
Splendid Edinburgh Ale, Strongest
Edinburgh Ale
6s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Journal - Saturday 06 May 1843, page 2.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1843
Fine Pale Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
4s 6d
reputed quart?
Newcastle Journal - Saturday 06 May 1843, page 2.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1843
Splendid Ale
Edinburgh Ale
4s 6d
reputed quart?
Newcastle Journal - Saturday 05 August 1843, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1843
Strongest Ale
Edinburgh Ale
6s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Journal - Saturday 05 August 1843, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1843
Prime Strong Ale (Old Bottle 1)
Edinburgh Ale
6s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1843
Prime Strong Ale (Old Bottle 1)
Edinburgh Ale
4s 6d
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1844
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
3s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 10 May 1844, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1844
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
4s 6d
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 10 May 1844, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1844
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
6s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 10 May 1844, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1846
Rich Flavoured Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
4s 6d
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1846
Strongest and Best Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
6s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1848
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
3s 6d
pint
Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1848
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
6s
quart
Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1840
Highly hopped and attenuated India Ale
IPA
3s
reputed quart?
Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1842
Pale India Beer
IPA
4s
quart
Morning Post (London) - Monday 04 April 1842, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1843
India Pale Ale, much esteemed
IPA
3s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Journal - Saturday 06 May 1843, page 2.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1843
Superior India Pale Ale
IPA
3s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Journal - Saturday 05 August 1843, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1843
Pale India Ale
IPA
3s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 22 December 1843, page 1.


Allsopp
Burton
1845
India Pale Ale
IPA
5s
quart
Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.


Allsopp
Burton
1845
India Pale Ale
IPA
2s 6d
pint
Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1845
Pale Export India Beer
IPA
3s
quart
Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1846
Pale Export India Beer
IPA
3s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 June 1846, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1848
Pale India Ale
IPA
3s 6d
pint
Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1848
Pale India Ale
IPA
6s
quart
Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 25 November 1848, page 1.


S. Bloxsome & Company
Bristol
1849
East India Pale Ale
IPA
3s 6d

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Bass
Burton
1849
East India Pale Ale
IPA
4s

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Hodgson & Abbott
London
1849
India Ale
IPA
4s 6d

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Tennent
Glasgow
1849
India Pale Ale
IPA
4s
quart
Glasgow Herald - Friday 22 June 1849, page 3.


Tennent
Glasgow
1849
India Pale Ale
IPA
2s 6d
pint
Glasgow Herald - Friday 22 June 1849, page 3.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1845
Mild Ale (5 guineas a hogshead)
Mild Ale
4s 6d
quart
Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1845
Mild Ale (7 guineas a hogshead)
Mild Ale
6s
quart
Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 May 1845, page 1.


S. Bloxsome & Company
Bristol
1849
Dursley Pale Ale
Pale Ale
2s 6d

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Unknown
Dublin
1845
XX Dublin Porter
Porter
4s
quart
Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.


Unknown
Dublin
1845
XX Dublin Porter
Porter
2s
pint
Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.


Unknown
London
1849
Brown Stout Porter
Porter
2s 9d

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Georges
Bristol
1849
Strong Old Porter
Porter
4s

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Guinness
Dublin
1845
Extra Stout
Stout
5s
quart
Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.


Guinness
Dublin
1845
Extra Stout
Stout
2s 6d
pint
Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.


Unknown
London
1849
Extra Brown Stout
Stout
4s

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Unknown
Dublin
1849
Extra Stout
Stout
3s 4d

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Allsopp
Burton
1845
Burton Strong Ale
Strong Ale
6s
quart
Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.


Allsopp
Burton
1845
Burton Strong Ale
Strong Ale
3s
pint
Glasgow Herald - Monday 20 October 1845, page 2.


S. Bloxsome & Company
Bristol
1849
Strong October Beer
Strong Ale
4s 6d

"Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol", by John Chilcott, 1849


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1840
Edinburgh Table Ale, highly Hopped, an excellent Stomachic
Table Ale
3s
reputed quart?
Newcastle Courant - Friday 17 April 1840. page 1.


Aitchison
Edinburgh
1840
High hopped Table Ale
Table Ale
3s
reputed quart?
Northern Liberator - Saturday 12 December 1840, page 8.



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* William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/2/3.

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