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26-08-2013, 08:14
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Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, Saturday 06 June 1857, page 5.


I enjoyed our little look at bottled beer of the 1840's that I thought I'd extend the series. It saves me the trouble of doing any proper research or exerting any other effort. As I keep telling you, I'm a lazy bastard at heart.

Again, I've arbitrarily assigned styles to the beers. Not that there are many unclear ones in this set. About the only decision I had to make was to assign Strong Ale to the Burton Ales.

I'll mention now a difficulty that bottled beer presents when trying to guess the strength of a beer. With draught beers it's a piece of piss to work out relative strength. That's because the measures are known. A barrel is 36 gallons, a kilderkin is 18 gallons, etc. The capacity in gallons is often also specifically mentioned in advertisements. No such luck with bottles. Sometimes no size is indicated. Others it says "large" or "small". Even when it says "pint" or "quart" there's uncertainty. Because often that doesn't mean an imperial pint or quart but a "reputed" pint or quart. These were two-thirds of the imperial measure, or 378.85 ml and 757.7 ml, respectively.

In some entries in the table below, it can't possibly be an imperial pint. For example the Barnstaple Porter. 1s 9d for a dozen pints is 1.75d. per pint, which is below the draught price of 2d. per pint. That must be a reputed pint.

Do you see the biggest change in this list? Lower-gravity Pale Ales have appeared. Beers that definitely aren't IPA's and are considerably weaker. Or at least considerably cheaper. For example, Ind Coope's AKK Ale. The draught version cost 1s 2d per gallon, which implies a gravity of 1050-1055ยบ. You can see that a quart of it (probably a reputed quart) cost the same as an imperial pint of Allsopp's IPA.



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Alnwick Mercury, Monday 01 March 1858, page 1.



Note that there are still several examples of bottled Mild and Porter, though the latter is considerably outnumbered by bottled Stouts. As we progress through the decades of the 19th century you'll see how these become progressively rarer, with bottled Porter disappearing entirely. You can clearly see the most popular bottled styles emerging: IPA, Pale Ale, Stout and Strong Ale. Undoubtedly helped along by the most hyped beers of the day: Bass and Allsopp IPA, Guinness Extra Stout and Bass and Allsopp Strong Burton Ales.

I almost forgot the sad little Table Ale. A the advertisement was in a Northumberland newspaper, it's almost certainly of Scottish origin.

You know the score. I've still four decades of the 19th century to go. More to follow.



Bottled beers in the 1850's


Brewery
Place
year
beer
style
price per dozen
size
source


Wm. Younger
Edinburgh
1852
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
4s
pint
Medical times and gazette, Volume 5, 1852, page 155


Wm. Younger
Edinburgh
1852
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
4s 6d
pint
Medical times and gazette, Volume 5, 1852, page 155


Unknown
Edinburgh
1855
Edinburgh Ale
Edinburgh Ale
6s

"Food and its adulterations" by Arthur Hill Hassall, 1855, page 52.


Allsopp
Burton
1853
Pale Ale
IPA
5s
Imperial pint
"The lancet 1853, vol. 2", 1853, page 258


Allsopp
Burton
1855
East India Pale Ale
IPA
5s

"Food and its adulterations" by Arthur Hill Hassall, 1855, page 52.


Bass
Burton
1858
Pale India Ale
IPA
7s
quart
Alnwick Mercury - Monday 01 March 1858, page 1


Allsopp
Burton
1853
Mild Ale
Mild Ale
5s 6d
Imperial pint
"The lancet 1853, vol. 2", 1853, page 258


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
XX Ale
Mild Ale
3s
quart
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
XX Ale
Mild Ale
1s 9d
pint
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
XXXX Ale
Mild Ale
4s 3d
quart
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
XXXX Ale
Mild Ale
2s 4d
pint
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Unknown
Unknown
1858
Fine Mild XX Ale
Mild Ale
5s 6d
quart
Alnwick Mercury - Monday 01 March 1858, page 1


Wm. Younger
Edinburgh
1852
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
3s
pint
Medical times and gazette, Volume 5, 1852, page 155


John Lovibond
Greenwich
1852
Bitter Ale
Pale Ale
2s 6d
pint
"W. Archdeacon's Greenwich & Woolwich directory for 1852" page 2


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
4s 3d
quart
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
2s 4d
pint
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Ind Coope
Romford
1857
AKK Ale
Pale Ale
5s
quart
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Saturday 06 June 1857, page 5.


Ind Coope
Romford
1857
AKK Ale
Pale Ale
2s 9d
pint
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Saturday 06 June 1857, page 5.


Unknown
Unknown
1858
Fine Pale Ale
Pale Ale
5s 6d
quart
Alnwick Mercury - Monday 01 March 1858, page 1


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
Porter
Porter
3s
quart
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
Porter
Porter
1s 9d
pint
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Unknown
London
1858
Best London Porter
Porter
4s 6d
quart
Alnwick Mercury - Monday 01 March 1858, page 1


Wm. Younger
Edinburgh
1852
Stout
Stout
2s
pint
Medical times and gazette, Volume 5, 1852, page 155


Wm. Younger
Edinburgh
1852
Stout
Stout
3s
pint
Medical times and gazette, Volume 5, 1852, page 155


John Lovibond
Greenwich
1852
Double Stout
Stout
2s 6d
pint
"W. Archdeacon's Greenwich & Woolwich directory for 1852" page 2


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
Treble Stout
Stout
4s 3d
quart
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Barnstaple brewery
Barnstaple
1853
Treble Stout
Stout
2s 4d
pint
North Devon Journal - Thursday 14 April 1853, page 1.


Guinness
Dublin
1854
Extra Stout
Stout
3s 6d

Durham Directory & Almanack, 1854


Calvert & Co.
London
1855
Double Stout
Stout
5s

"Food and its adulterations" by Arthur Hill Hassall, 1855, page 52.


Guinness
Dublin
1857
Extra Stout
Stout
4s

Durham Directory & Almanack, 1857


Guinness
Dublin
1858
Dublin Stout
Stout
6s 6d
quart
Alnwick Mercury - Monday 01 March 1858, page 1


Unknown
London
1858
Best London Stout
Stout
5s 6d
quart
Alnwick Mercury - Monday 01 March 1858, page 1


Allsopp
Burton
1853
Strong (Old Burton) Ale
Strong Ale
6s 6d
Imperial pint
"The lancet 1853, vol. 2", 1853, page 258


Unknown
Burton
1855
Burton Ale
Strong Ale
6s

"Food and its adulterations" by Arthur Hill Hassall, 1855, page 52.


Unknown
Burton
1855
Burton Ale Extra Quality
Strong Ale
7s

"Food and its adulterations" by Arthur Hill Hassall, 1855, page 52.


Unknown
Unknown
1858
Table Ale
Table Ale
3s 6d
quart
Alnwick Mercury - Monday 01 March 1858, page 1




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