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08-02-2016, 08:12
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I'm returning briefly to my Newark-on-Trent theme. Why? Because I can and I feel like it.

Really it's just because I bumped my nose into a Warwick & Richardson's advert from 1906. Warwick & Richardson was one of the two big breweries in Newark still operating when my family moved to the town in the early 1960's. It was bought by John Smiths in 1962 and closed in 1966. After which their pubs were supplied with beer from the Barnsley Brewery. Most of the brewery still stands on North Gate. It's an attractive late Victorian job, so I'm glad they didn't just bulldoze it.

I remember the Cock Inn in Balderton going from Warwicks to Barnsley to Courage livery. Then changing its name to Chesters. Does at last sell cask now, which it didn't when I lived in Baldo. Still wonder what Warwicks beer tasted like. My dad must have drunk it, as I know my mother did (Milkmaid Stout). And she only usually drank in pubs. Other than Chrismas and weddings.

Here's the price list:


https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rWgXtPXaZ88/VrNbxKYGrSI/AAAAAAAAZNs/F6iBMPetKbk/s640/Warwick_%2526_Richardson_1906_2.jpg (https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rWgXtPXaZ88/VrNbxKYGrSI/AAAAAAAAZNs/F6iBMPetKbk/s1600/Warwick_%2526_Richardson_1906_2.jpg)
Lincolnshire Chronicle - Tuesday 25 December 1906, page 1.

As you can see, they had a range of 16 draught beers, which is pretty impressive.. Though my guess is that there were only really three or four parti-gyles. The bottled beers look like versions of the draught beers:

Trent Stout = P
Double Srout = SS
Extra Stout = DS
Mild Ale = XXX
Trent Ale = LBB
IPA = IPA

How does the range compare with that of breweries elsewhere? Let's take a look, shall we?

First, the Warwick's beers in table form:



Warwick & Richardson beers in 1906


Beer
Style
price per barrel (shillings)
price per gallon (pence)


X
Mild Ale
36
12


XX
Mild Ale
42
14


XXX
Mild Ale
48
16


XXXX
Mild Ale
54
18


LBB
Pale Ale
36
12


TA
Pale Ale
42
14


BB
Pale Ale
48
16


IPA
IPA
54
18


A
Strong Ale
60
20


B
Strong Ale
72
24


P
Porter
36
12


SS
Stout
42
14


DS
Stout
48
16


Sources:


Lincolnshire Chronicle - Tuesday 25 December 1906, page 1.



Now Whitbread's:



Whitbread beers in 1906


Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
hops lb/brl


X
Mild
1055.1
1013.0
5.57
76.42%
1.23


FA
Pale Ale
1049.6
1013.0
4.84
73.78%
2.61


IPA
IPA
1050.1
1013.0
4.91
74.04%
2.63


2PA
Pale Ale
1056.5
1017.0
5.23
69.92%
2.37


PA
Pale Ale
1063.4
1022.0
5.47
65.29%
3.40


KK
Stock Ale
1075.1
1028.0
6.23
62.73%
4.06


2KKK
Stock Ale
1080.2
1033.0
6.24
58.83%
4.33


KKK
Stock Ale
1085.8
1032.0
7.11
62.69%
4.63


P
Porter
1055.2
1013.0
5.58
76.43%
1.55


CS
Stout
1057.9
1017.0
5.41
70.65%
1.38


S
Stout
1074.5
1026.0
6.41
65.08%
2.09


SS
Stout
1085.2
1032.0
7.03
62.43%
3.84


SSS
Stout
1095.1
1038.0
7.56
60.05%
4.29


Sources:


Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/071 and LMA/4453/D/09/100.



The biggest difference is in the Mild Ales. Whitbread brewed just one, while Warwick's had a more typical Victorian range of X to XXXX. Whitbread's X Ale, incidentally, sold for 36 shillings a barrel, just like Warwick's. But based on what I've seen at other provincial breweries, the gravity of Warwick's was probably lower.

Both breweries made four Pale Ales. But note the different position of IPA in the Pale Ale hierarchy. At Whitbread it was one of the weakest, at Warwick's the strongest. As I've said often before, IPA wasn't necessarily stronger than Pale Ale. It varied, depending on the brewery. Ironically, Warwick's IPA ended up being their standard Bitter. I can recall filling the odd keg of it during my time at Holes, though by then only two pubs in Newark still sold it.

The surprising thing about the Black Beers, is that Warwicks still had a draught Porter. It was pretty moribund outside Ireland and London. As the maps here show (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.nl/2009/04/death-of-porter-part-92.html). Based on the price, Warwick's top Stout was nowhere near as strong as SSS. DS was probably around 1070ยบ

I can't think of owt of any sense about the Strong Ales. Keeping my gob shut as tight as Mum after all those rum punches in the former governor's mansion in Kingston.

I wish I had some real numbers for Warwicks beers. Before I started my crazy crawl through records, I never dreamt so much was out there. Maybe, somewhere, there is more information about their beers. I can still dream.

My favourite ever dream? Being on a Newark pub crawl in 1940. And not waking before I got to taste the Mild.

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