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04-10-2013, 07:13
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/10/bottling-at-eldridge-pope-in-1934-beers.html)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vZ81pzmmZ_E/UkrGztWmlsI/AAAAAAAASDc/U06t5Fc6D74/s400/Eldridge_Pope_Oat_Malt_Stout.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vZ81pzmmZ_E/UkrGztWmlsI/AAAAAAAASDc/U06t5Fc6D74/s1600/Eldridge_Pope_Oat_Malt_Stout.jpg)
And here we finally are. After all that messing about with whirry bits of machinery and shiny things we've finally arrived at the business end of the process, the beers themselves.
Remember me saying I think I could guess which beer wasn't pasteurised? Not really that challenging when you look at their price list. That "matured in bottle" really gives it away. It's worth reminding you that at one time in the 1970's Eldridge Pope was one of only a handful of breweries that brewed a bottle-conditioned beer. (I was going to say "produced a bottle-conditioned beer" until I remembered that virtually every bottling operation in the country produced one: Guinness Extra Stout.) And, unusually, it wasn't a legacy brand but a relatively new beer: Hardy Ale, which was first brewed in 1967.
"HUNTSMAN BRAND" BOTTLE BEERS (Abridged) PRICE LIST
PER DOZEN
HALF PINTS
PINTS
PER 4-QT. CRATE
"Huntsman Brand" Crystal Ale
4/-
7/-
4/4
"Huntsman Brand" Oat Malt Stout
4/-
7/-
4/4
"Huntsman Brand" Dorset Brown Ale
4/-
7/-
4/4
"Huntsman Brand" Strong Old Ale
5/6
9/6
-
"Huntsman Brand" India Pale Ale
5/6
9/-
-
Bitter Ale, matured in Bottle
4/6
8/-
-
Source:
"A Modern West Country Brewery" by H.C. Vickery, 1934, page 16.
Peter Symons has very usefully sent me a snap of a log for BAK (known to the public as "Crystal Ale") so I know what OG that was: 1037.5ยบ. I think it's safe to assume that the Oat Malt Stout and Brown Ale, which retailed for the same price, were a similar strength. Through some earlier records Peter sent me, I know all the gravities of these beers for 1964. And I can see how much Crystal Ale cost per gravity point (in lbs per barrel) - about 3.5d. Using these pieces of information I've come up with some gravity guesstimates for the other beers in 1934.
Also included are the real gravities for 1912 and 1964, again taken from Eldridge Pope's brewing records. Oddly, The gravity of Crystal Ale in 1934 was almost exactly midway between the 1912 and 1964 figures.
Estimated Eldridge Pope gravities in 1934
1912
1934
1964
"Huntsman Brand" Crystal Ale
1044.5
1037.5
1030.3
"Huntsman Brand" Oat Malt Stout
1037.5
1030.3
"Huntsman Brand" Dorset Brown Ale
1037.5
1025.6
"Huntsman Brand" Strong Old Ale
1076.5
1052.8
1051.4
"Huntsman Brand" India Pale Ale
1052.8
1043.4
Bitter Ale, matured in Bottle
1051.2
1043.1
1042.3
Sources:
Eldridge Pope brewing records
"A Modern West Country Brewery" by H.C. Vickery, 1934, page 16.
Mmmm. I just bothered to check and found that I have details of a few Eldridge Pope beers from the 1930's. Courtesy, as usual, of the Whitbread Gravity Book. Sadly the only beers matching thos on the price list are Crystal Ale, which I already had the gravity for, and Dorset Brown Ale, one wher I could make a pretty informed guess.
Eldridge Pope bottled beers in the 1930's
Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation
1934
Crystal Ale
Pale Ale
7d
pint
1007.3
1037
3.86
80.27%
1935
Double Stout
Stout
pint
1013.5
1044.2
3.98
69.46%
1938
Crystal Ale
Pale Ale
4d
half
1005.9
1036.7
26
4.01
83.92%
1938
Dorset Brown Ale
Brown Ale
4d
half
1009.5
1038.2
40 + 13
3.72
75.13%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001
Not quite sure what I'm trying to prove with this, other than that I'm hopelessly enamoured of numbers.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/10/bottling-at-eldridge-pope-in-1934-beers.html)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vZ81pzmmZ_E/UkrGztWmlsI/AAAAAAAASDc/U06t5Fc6D74/s400/Eldridge_Pope_Oat_Malt_Stout.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vZ81pzmmZ_E/UkrGztWmlsI/AAAAAAAASDc/U06t5Fc6D74/s1600/Eldridge_Pope_Oat_Malt_Stout.jpg)
And here we finally are. After all that messing about with whirry bits of machinery and shiny things we've finally arrived at the business end of the process, the beers themselves.
Remember me saying I think I could guess which beer wasn't pasteurised? Not really that challenging when you look at their price list. That "matured in bottle" really gives it away. It's worth reminding you that at one time in the 1970's Eldridge Pope was one of only a handful of breweries that brewed a bottle-conditioned beer. (I was going to say "produced a bottle-conditioned beer" until I remembered that virtually every bottling operation in the country produced one: Guinness Extra Stout.) And, unusually, it wasn't a legacy brand but a relatively new beer: Hardy Ale, which was first brewed in 1967.
"HUNTSMAN BRAND" BOTTLE BEERS (Abridged) PRICE LIST
PER DOZEN
HALF PINTS
PINTS
PER 4-QT. CRATE
"Huntsman Brand" Crystal Ale
4/-
7/-
4/4
"Huntsman Brand" Oat Malt Stout
4/-
7/-
4/4
"Huntsman Brand" Dorset Brown Ale
4/-
7/-
4/4
"Huntsman Brand" Strong Old Ale
5/6
9/6
-
"Huntsman Brand" India Pale Ale
5/6
9/-
-
Bitter Ale, matured in Bottle
4/6
8/-
-
Source:
"A Modern West Country Brewery" by H.C. Vickery, 1934, page 16.
Peter Symons has very usefully sent me a snap of a log for BAK (known to the public as "Crystal Ale") so I know what OG that was: 1037.5ยบ. I think it's safe to assume that the Oat Malt Stout and Brown Ale, which retailed for the same price, were a similar strength. Through some earlier records Peter sent me, I know all the gravities of these beers for 1964. And I can see how much Crystal Ale cost per gravity point (in lbs per barrel) - about 3.5d. Using these pieces of information I've come up with some gravity guesstimates for the other beers in 1934.
Also included are the real gravities for 1912 and 1964, again taken from Eldridge Pope's brewing records. Oddly, The gravity of Crystal Ale in 1934 was almost exactly midway between the 1912 and 1964 figures.
Estimated Eldridge Pope gravities in 1934
1912
1934
1964
"Huntsman Brand" Crystal Ale
1044.5
1037.5
1030.3
"Huntsman Brand" Oat Malt Stout
1037.5
1030.3
"Huntsman Brand" Dorset Brown Ale
1037.5
1025.6
"Huntsman Brand" Strong Old Ale
1076.5
1052.8
1051.4
"Huntsman Brand" India Pale Ale
1052.8
1043.4
Bitter Ale, matured in Bottle
1051.2
1043.1
1042.3
Sources:
Eldridge Pope brewing records
"A Modern West Country Brewery" by H.C. Vickery, 1934, page 16.
Mmmm. I just bothered to check and found that I have details of a few Eldridge Pope beers from the 1930's. Courtesy, as usual, of the Whitbread Gravity Book. Sadly the only beers matching thos on the price list are Crystal Ale, which I already had the gravity for, and Dorset Brown Ale, one wher I could make a pretty informed guess.
Eldridge Pope bottled beers in the 1930's
Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation
1934
Crystal Ale
Pale Ale
7d
pint
1007.3
1037
3.86
80.27%
1935
Double Stout
Stout
pint
1013.5
1044.2
3.98
69.46%
1938
Crystal Ale
Pale Ale
4d
half
1005.9
1036.7
26
4.01
83.92%
1938
Dorset Brown Ale
Brown Ale
4d
half
1009.5
1038.2
40 + 13
3.72
75.13%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001
Not quite sure what I'm trying to prove with this, other than that I'm hopelessly enamoured of numbers.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/10/bottling-at-eldridge-pope-in-1934-beers.html)