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21-07-2016, 08:24
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More Mild Ale numbers. And some unexpected ones at that.

I’m so glad that I split the London and provincial Milds. Because the two sets are surprisingly dissimilar. Something I hadn’t spotted previously.

First a word about where the breweries were located. Six were from Birmingham: Ansell, Atkinson, Dare, Davenport, Frederick Smith and Mitchell & Butler. Two from Exeter: City Brewery and St. Annes. Two from Norwich: Morgans and Steward and Patteson. Two from Portsmouth: Brickwood and Portsmouth United. And finally Burtonwood of Warrington.

The Birmingham Milds all have relatively high gravities. Coupled my decent attenuation, it means they’re mostly over 3.5% ABV. Which is very high for the period. If you remember, most of the London Milds were under 3% ABV. I’m not surprised that the Norwich Milds have some of the lowest gravities. Beers from rural areas tended to be weaker, for some reason.

Most interesting of all is the colour. Or rather lack of it. Because there’s only one of this set – Burtonwood – that’s properly dark. Three examples – City, Brickwood, Portsmouth United and St. Annes are pale. That is, all the ones from Exeter and Portsmouth. The Birmingham beers are all semi-dark, as are those from Norwich.

The real fun comes when you compare the colours of the London and provincial Milds. Only one London example was pale and one semi-dark. All the rest were properly dark. Here’s a comparison of the London and provincial analyses:



London vs. provincial Mild Ale 1946 - 1949


region
Price per pint d
Acidity
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
colour


London
12.5
0.06
1030.3
1008.6
2.82
71.69%
101.4


Provinces
13.1
0.07
1032.2
1005.2
3.51
83.94%
43.81



Provincial beers were a halfpenny a pint dearer, slightly higher in gravity, considerably higher in ABV and much paler in colour than their London counterparts. The difference is much greater than I would have imagined. Given the higher FG and lower attenuation, my guess is that London Milds were sweeter.



Provincial Mild Ale 1946 - 1949


Year
Brewer
Beer
Price per pint d
Acidity
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
colour


1946
Lees
K


1028.0






1946
Lees
Bot. B


1030.0






1946
Lees
BM


1033.0






1948
Lees
K


1028.0






1948
Lees
BM


1032.0






1948
Lees
Bot. B


1030.0






1949
Ansell
Mild Ale
13
0.05
1035.4
1007.4
3.64
79.10%
50


1949
Atkinsons
Mild Ale
13
0.07
1034.6
1004.8
3.88
86.13%
50


1949
Brickwoods
Mild Ale
13
0.06
1033.2
1004.8
3.70
85.54%
20.5


1949
Burtonwood
Mild Ale
13
0.06
1027.5
1003.5
3.12
87.27%
80


1949
City Brewery
Mild Ale
13
0.06
1032.6
1006.8
3.35
79.14%
21


1949
Dare
Mild Ale
13
0.08
1034.6
1006.9
3.60
80.06%
58


1949
Davenport
Mild Ale
13
0.07
1032
1007.9
3.12
75.31%
58


1949
Frederick Smith
Mild Ale
13
0.06
1035
1008.6
3.42
75.43%
58


1949
Mitchell & Butler
XX
18
0.05
1034.6
1003.9
4.00
88.73%
35


1949
Morgans
Mild Ale
11
0.08
1027.7
1002.8
3.24
89.89%
50


1949
Portsmouth United
Mild Ale
13
0.08
1029.3
1003.1
3.41
89.42%
19


1949
St. Annes Brewery
Mild Ale
13
0.06
1034.9
1003
4.16
91.40%
20


1949
Steward & Patteson
Mild Ale
11
0.10
1027.7
1004.5
3.01
83.75%
50



Average

13.08
0.07
1032.2
1005.2
3.51
83.94%
43.8


Sources:


Lees brewing records held at the brewery.


Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.



Next we’ll be moving on to the 1950’s.

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