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18-01-2014, 07:20
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Watney's and Mild Ale. A combination that's bound to pull the readers in. This will prove to Andrew that he's wrong. Everyone loves Mild. Especially Dark Mild.
Look, if I do a poll of those legally able to drink in this family, 100% like Dark Mild. Love it even. There - statistical proof, Andrew, that everyone loves Dark Mild. Not the beers we'll be looking at today were necessarily that dark. Many London Milds between the wars were half dark, about midway between true Dark Mild and Bitter. Though there were breweries, Barclay Perkins, for example, who produced differently coloured versions of the same beer by adding caramel at racking time.
I've so many examples of Watney's Mild, I'm spreading them across several instalments. And ridiculous numbers from other London breweries. Unsurprisingly, as Mild was an extremely popular style and an important product for most breweries. It's obvious that Whitbread and Truman would be very interested in what their competitors were up to with their Milds.
Just checked on Whitbread's Mild output in the 1920's and it's rather less than I would have expected - a little over 20% of the total. Here are all the numbers in nice table form.
Whitbread Mild output in the 1920's
LA
X
MA
All Milds
All beers
Year
barrels brewed
%age of total
barrels brewed
%age of total
barrels brewed
%age of total
barrels brewed
%age of total
barrels brewed
1921
127,944
18.94%
53,930
7.98%
181,874
27%
675,647
1922
99,485
17.27%
35,893
6.23%
135,378
23%
576,118
1923
89,145
17.65%
22,939
4.54%
112,084
22%
505,097
1924
21,844
3.96%
101,221
18.35%
123,065
22%
551,616
1925
18,260
3.46%
103,961
19.69%
122,221
23%
527,977
1926
14,861
2.90%
104,632
20.41%
119,493
23%
512,528
1927
10,660
2.31%
93,752
20.28%
104,412
23%
462,250
1928
9,317
6.55%
113,934
23.33%
123,251
25%
488,357
1929
7,972
9.29%
130,609
29.42%
138,581
31%
443,888
Sources:
Whitbread Ale brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/086, LMA/4453/D/01/087, LMA/4453/D/01/088, LMA/4453/D/01/089, LMA/4453/D/01/090, LMA/4453/D/01/091, LMA/4453/D/01/093, LMA/4453/D/01/094, LMA/4453/D/01/095 and LMA/4453/D/01/096 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Whitbread Porter brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/09/113, LMA/4453/D/09/114, LMA/4453/D/09/115, LMA/4453/D/09/116, LMA/4453/D/09/117, LMA/4453/D/09/118, LMA/4453/D/09/119, LMA/4453/D/09/120, LMA/4453/D/09/121 and LMA/4453/D/09/122 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Before we go any further, I should emphasise that the beers were looking at here are the full-strength Milds. Beers usually called X Ale by the brewery. There were two other weaker classes which we'll examine in a later post. Whitbread LA and MA in the table above belonged to the weakest class of Mild.
Watney's Mild Ale 1870 - 1929
Date
Beer
Price per pint (pence)
Acidity
FG
OG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
1870
Mild
2
0.19
1018.7
1063.76
5.85
70.67%
1922
X
7
1008.6
1042.1
4.36
79.57%
1922
X
7
1009
1042.5
4.36
78.82%
1922
X
7
1008.8
1042.8
4.42
79.44%
1922
X
7
1042.9
1922
X
7
1009
1044
4.55
79.55%
1922
X
7
1009.3
1046.3
4.82
79.91%
1923
X
7
1008.6
1038.6
3.90
77.72%
1923
X
6
1007.6
1041.1
4.36
81.51%
1923
X
6
1009
1041.5
4.22
78.31%
1923
X
7
1008.6
1042.6
4.42
79.81%
1923
X
7
1008.8
1043.8
4.55
79.91%
1923
X
7
1009
1044
4.55
79.55%
1923
X
7
1009
1045
4.68
80.00%
1923
X
7
1008.4
1045.4
4.82
81.50%
1924
X
6
1008.5
1044.9
4.74
81.07%
1924
X
6
1045.9
1924
X
6
1009.4
1046
4.76
79.57%
1925
X
6
1009.8
1044.9
4.56
78.17%
1926
X
6
1039.6
1926
X
6
1041.3
1926
X
6
1043
1926
X
6
1043.3
1926
X
6
1043.5
1926
X
6
1043.5
1928
X
6
0.06
1010.3
1041.3
4.02
75.06%
1928
X
6
0.07
1012.3
1043.3
4.02
71.59%
1928
X
6
1009.8
1044.8
4.55
78.13%
1929
X
6
0.08
1011.2
1043
4.13
73.95%
1929
X
6
0.07
1013
1043.1
3.90
69.84%
Sources:
British Medical Journal 1870, vol. 1, 1870, page 68.
Truman Gravity Book document B/THB/C/252 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
You'll notice that I've thrown in a Watney's Mild from the 1870's. That gravity in the 1060's is pretty typical of X Ales of the period.
But how typical was Watney's Mild of London X Ales? Let's take a look shall we:
London Mild Ales in the 1920's
Year
Brewer
Beer
Price per pint (pence)
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation
1922
Barclay Perkins
7d
7
1010
1042
4.16
76.19%
1922
Camden
M
1010.5
1043.8
40
4.40
75.95%
1922
Charrington
7d
7
1010
1042
39
4.16
76.19%
1922
Lion Brewery
X
7
1006.3
1041.2
4.55
84.71%
1922
Mann
7d
7
1010
1046.5
50
4.75
78.49%
1922
Meux
X
7
1006.8
1041.3
4.49
83.54%
1922
Truman
X
7
1011.1
1042.1
4.02
73.63%
1922
Whitbread
X
7
1009.3
1043.3
4.42
78.52%
1923
Barclay Perkins
X
7
1013.2
1044.7
4.08
70.47%
1923
Camden
M
1009.4
1043.8
40
4.54
78.48%
1923
Charrington
X
7
1009.6
1042.6
4.29
77.46%
1923
Lion Brewery
X
7
1007.6
1042.1
4.49
81.95%
1923
Mann
X
7
1010
1042.5
4.22
76.47%
1923
Meux
X
6
1009.6
1042.2
4.24
77.25%
1923
Truman
X
7
1010.2
1041.7
4.09
75.54%
1923
Whitbread
X
1008
1042.1
40B + 1.5R
4.44
81.00%
1924
Barclay Perkins
X
6
1011.7
1044.6
4.27
73.77%
1924
Camden
M
1011.1
1043.5
45
4.29
74.52%
1924
Cannon Brewery
X
6
1010.5
1039
3.69
73.08%
1924
Mann
X
6
1007.3
1043.7
4.74
83.30%
1924
Smith Garrett
X
6
1045.1
1924
Truman
X
6
1014.1
1043
3.74
67.21%
1924
Whitbread
X
1012.0
1042.7
40 + 5
4.06
71.87%
1925
Barclay Perkins
X
6
1011.4
1044
4.23
74.09%
1925
Cannon Brewery
X
6
1010.4
1039.8
3.81
73.87%
1925
Meux
X
6
1004
1041.2
4.86
90.29%
1925
Truman
X
6
1010.8
1041
3.92
73.66%
1925
Whitbread
X
1010.0
1042.2
40 + 7
4.26
76.30%
1926
Barclay Perkins
X
1010.8
1043.2
4.21
75.00%
1926
Charrington
X
6
1043.4
1926
City of London
X
6
1045.4
1926
Lion Brewery
X
6
1042.6
1926
Mann
X
6
1043.8
1926
Meux
X
6
1043.8
1926
Smith Garrett
X
6
1041.9
1926
Taylor Walker
X
6
1045.7
1926
Truman
X
6
1045
1926
Wenlock
X
6
1042.8
1926
Whitbread
X
1012.5
1042.6
40 + 13
3.99
70.68%
1927
Whitbread
X
1014.0
1042.8
40 +13
3.81
67.27%
1928
Barclay Perkins
X
1011.0
1042.9
42
4.22
74.35%
1928
Courage
X
6
1010
1042.7
4.25
76.58%
1928
Hoare
X
6
1012.2
1043.3
4.03
71.82%
1928
Mann
X
6
1010.7
1045.6
4.53
76.54%
1928
Taylor Walker
X
6
1013
1044.5
4.08
70.79%
1928
Truman
X
6
1011.7
1042.7
4.02
72.60%
1928
Whitbread
X
1012.5
1042.1
40 + 13
3.92
70.31%
1929
Barclay Perkins
X
1012.5
1042.6
40
3.98
70.65%
1929
Hoare
X
6
1011
1044.7
4.38
75.39%
1929
Mann
X
6
1009
1044
4.55
79.55%
1929
Taylor Walker
X
6
1014.7
1044
3.79
66.59%
1929
Truman
X
6
1010
1042
4.16
76.19%
1929
Whitbread
X
1012.0
1042.2
40 + 14
4.00
71.57%
Average
6.3
1010.5
1043.0
4.21
75.43%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records
Camden Brewery brewing records document number ACC/2305/9/5 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001
Whitbread brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/089, LMA/4453/D/01/090, LMA/4453/D/01/091, LMA/4453/D/01/093, LMA/4453/D/01/094 and LMA/4453/D/01/095 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
The answer is: pretty typical. The gravity was usually a point or two either side of the average of 1043. The attenuation was a tad higher than the average of 75%, but there were examples from other breweries with values over 80%. Looking at both tables, it does appear that the rate of attenuation was higher in the first half of the decade than the second.
A note on the colour values. 40 is the half dark colour, 40 + 13 is dark brown.
Next time we'll have a quick run through the other classes of London Mild in the 1920's.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2014/01/watneys-mild-ale-1870-1929.html)
Watney's and Mild Ale. A combination that's bound to pull the readers in. This will prove to Andrew that he's wrong. Everyone loves Mild. Especially Dark Mild.
Look, if I do a poll of those legally able to drink in this family, 100% like Dark Mild. Love it even. There - statistical proof, Andrew, that everyone loves Dark Mild. Not the beers we'll be looking at today were necessarily that dark. Many London Milds between the wars were half dark, about midway between true Dark Mild and Bitter. Though there were breweries, Barclay Perkins, for example, who produced differently coloured versions of the same beer by adding caramel at racking time.
I've so many examples of Watney's Mild, I'm spreading them across several instalments. And ridiculous numbers from other London breweries. Unsurprisingly, as Mild was an extremely popular style and an important product for most breweries. It's obvious that Whitbread and Truman would be very interested in what their competitors were up to with their Milds.
Just checked on Whitbread's Mild output in the 1920's and it's rather less than I would have expected - a little over 20% of the total. Here are all the numbers in nice table form.
Whitbread Mild output in the 1920's
LA
X
MA
All Milds
All beers
Year
barrels brewed
%age of total
barrels brewed
%age of total
barrels brewed
%age of total
barrels brewed
%age of total
barrels brewed
1921
127,944
18.94%
53,930
7.98%
181,874
27%
675,647
1922
99,485
17.27%
35,893
6.23%
135,378
23%
576,118
1923
89,145
17.65%
22,939
4.54%
112,084
22%
505,097
1924
21,844
3.96%
101,221
18.35%
123,065
22%
551,616
1925
18,260
3.46%
103,961
19.69%
122,221
23%
527,977
1926
14,861
2.90%
104,632
20.41%
119,493
23%
512,528
1927
10,660
2.31%
93,752
20.28%
104,412
23%
462,250
1928
9,317
6.55%
113,934
23.33%
123,251
25%
488,357
1929
7,972
9.29%
130,609
29.42%
138,581
31%
443,888
Sources:
Whitbread Ale brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/086, LMA/4453/D/01/087, LMA/4453/D/01/088, LMA/4453/D/01/089, LMA/4453/D/01/090, LMA/4453/D/01/091, LMA/4453/D/01/093, LMA/4453/D/01/094, LMA/4453/D/01/095 and LMA/4453/D/01/096 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Whitbread Porter brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/09/113, LMA/4453/D/09/114, LMA/4453/D/09/115, LMA/4453/D/09/116, LMA/4453/D/09/117, LMA/4453/D/09/118, LMA/4453/D/09/119, LMA/4453/D/09/120, LMA/4453/D/09/121 and LMA/4453/D/09/122 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Before we go any further, I should emphasise that the beers were looking at here are the full-strength Milds. Beers usually called X Ale by the brewery. There were two other weaker classes which we'll examine in a later post. Whitbread LA and MA in the table above belonged to the weakest class of Mild.
Watney's Mild Ale 1870 - 1929
Date
Beer
Price per pint (pence)
Acidity
FG
OG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
1870
Mild
2
0.19
1018.7
1063.76
5.85
70.67%
1922
X
7
1008.6
1042.1
4.36
79.57%
1922
X
7
1009
1042.5
4.36
78.82%
1922
X
7
1008.8
1042.8
4.42
79.44%
1922
X
7
1042.9
1922
X
7
1009
1044
4.55
79.55%
1922
X
7
1009.3
1046.3
4.82
79.91%
1923
X
7
1008.6
1038.6
3.90
77.72%
1923
X
6
1007.6
1041.1
4.36
81.51%
1923
X
6
1009
1041.5
4.22
78.31%
1923
X
7
1008.6
1042.6
4.42
79.81%
1923
X
7
1008.8
1043.8
4.55
79.91%
1923
X
7
1009
1044
4.55
79.55%
1923
X
7
1009
1045
4.68
80.00%
1923
X
7
1008.4
1045.4
4.82
81.50%
1924
X
6
1008.5
1044.9
4.74
81.07%
1924
X
6
1045.9
1924
X
6
1009.4
1046
4.76
79.57%
1925
X
6
1009.8
1044.9
4.56
78.17%
1926
X
6
1039.6
1926
X
6
1041.3
1926
X
6
1043
1926
X
6
1043.3
1926
X
6
1043.5
1926
X
6
1043.5
1928
X
6
0.06
1010.3
1041.3
4.02
75.06%
1928
X
6
0.07
1012.3
1043.3
4.02
71.59%
1928
X
6
1009.8
1044.8
4.55
78.13%
1929
X
6
0.08
1011.2
1043
4.13
73.95%
1929
X
6
0.07
1013
1043.1
3.90
69.84%
Sources:
British Medical Journal 1870, vol. 1, 1870, page 68.
Truman Gravity Book document B/THB/C/252 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
You'll notice that I've thrown in a Watney's Mild from the 1870's. That gravity in the 1060's is pretty typical of X Ales of the period.
But how typical was Watney's Mild of London X Ales? Let's take a look shall we:
London Mild Ales in the 1920's
Year
Brewer
Beer
Price per pint (pence)
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation
1922
Barclay Perkins
7d
7
1010
1042
4.16
76.19%
1922
Camden
M
1010.5
1043.8
40
4.40
75.95%
1922
Charrington
7d
7
1010
1042
39
4.16
76.19%
1922
Lion Brewery
X
7
1006.3
1041.2
4.55
84.71%
1922
Mann
7d
7
1010
1046.5
50
4.75
78.49%
1922
Meux
X
7
1006.8
1041.3
4.49
83.54%
1922
Truman
X
7
1011.1
1042.1
4.02
73.63%
1922
Whitbread
X
7
1009.3
1043.3
4.42
78.52%
1923
Barclay Perkins
X
7
1013.2
1044.7
4.08
70.47%
1923
Camden
M
1009.4
1043.8
40
4.54
78.48%
1923
Charrington
X
7
1009.6
1042.6
4.29
77.46%
1923
Lion Brewery
X
7
1007.6
1042.1
4.49
81.95%
1923
Mann
X
7
1010
1042.5
4.22
76.47%
1923
Meux
X
6
1009.6
1042.2
4.24
77.25%
1923
Truman
X
7
1010.2
1041.7
4.09
75.54%
1923
Whitbread
X
1008
1042.1
40B + 1.5R
4.44
81.00%
1924
Barclay Perkins
X
6
1011.7
1044.6
4.27
73.77%
1924
Camden
M
1011.1
1043.5
45
4.29
74.52%
1924
Cannon Brewery
X
6
1010.5
1039
3.69
73.08%
1924
Mann
X
6
1007.3
1043.7
4.74
83.30%
1924
Smith Garrett
X
6
1045.1
1924
Truman
X
6
1014.1
1043
3.74
67.21%
1924
Whitbread
X
1012.0
1042.7
40 + 5
4.06
71.87%
1925
Barclay Perkins
X
6
1011.4
1044
4.23
74.09%
1925
Cannon Brewery
X
6
1010.4
1039.8
3.81
73.87%
1925
Meux
X
6
1004
1041.2
4.86
90.29%
1925
Truman
X
6
1010.8
1041
3.92
73.66%
1925
Whitbread
X
1010.0
1042.2
40 + 7
4.26
76.30%
1926
Barclay Perkins
X
1010.8
1043.2
4.21
75.00%
1926
Charrington
X
6
1043.4
1926
City of London
X
6
1045.4
1926
Lion Brewery
X
6
1042.6
1926
Mann
X
6
1043.8
1926
Meux
X
6
1043.8
1926
Smith Garrett
X
6
1041.9
1926
Taylor Walker
X
6
1045.7
1926
Truman
X
6
1045
1926
Wenlock
X
6
1042.8
1926
Whitbread
X
1012.5
1042.6
40 + 13
3.99
70.68%
1927
Whitbread
X
1014.0
1042.8
40 +13
3.81
67.27%
1928
Barclay Perkins
X
1011.0
1042.9
42
4.22
74.35%
1928
Courage
X
6
1010
1042.7
4.25
76.58%
1928
Hoare
X
6
1012.2
1043.3
4.03
71.82%
1928
Mann
X
6
1010.7
1045.6
4.53
76.54%
1928
Taylor Walker
X
6
1013
1044.5
4.08
70.79%
1928
Truman
X
6
1011.7
1042.7
4.02
72.60%
1928
Whitbread
X
1012.5
1042.1
40 + 13
3.92
70.31%
1929
Barclay Perkins
X
1012.5
1042.6
40
3.98
70.65%
1929
Hoare
X
6
1011
1044.7
4.38
75.39%
1929
Mann
X
6
1009
1044
4.55
79.55%
1929
Taylor Walker
X
6
1014.7
1044
3.79
66.59%
1929
Truman
X
6
1010
1042
4.16
76.19%
1929
Whitbread
X
1012.0
1042.2
40 + 14
4.00
71.57%
Average
6.3
1010.5
1043.0
4.21
75.43%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records
Camden Brewery brewing records document number ACC/2305/9/5 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001
Whitbread brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/089, LMA/4453/D/01/090, LMA/4453/D/01/091, LMA/4453/D/01/093, LMA/4453/D/01/094 and LMA/4453/D/01/095 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
The answer is: pretty typical. The gravity was usually a point or two either side of the average of 1043. The attenuation was a tad higher than the average of 75%, but there were examples from other breweries with values over 80%. Looking at both tables, it does appear that the rate of attenuation was higher in the first half of the decade than the second.
A note on the colour values. 40 is the half dark colour, 40 + 13 is dark brown.
Next time we'll have a quick run through the other classes of London Mild in the 1920's.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2014/01/watneys-mild-ale-1870-1929.html)