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18-12-2018, 07:09
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You must be sick of Scotch Ale by now. You're not the only one. But I feel obliged to continue my death march until I lie by the roadside like a crumpled heap of rags.
On the face of it, WW II seems to have had little impact on the character of Scotch Ale. Unlike most styles, it seems to have bounced back to pre-war like gravities soon after the end of hostilities.
The majority of examples retained a gravity of somewhere around 1080º. Which in the immediate post-war years counted as super strong. Why was that, when other styles were emasculated?
Partly, I assume it’s because some were genuine export beers. Scotch Ale was popular in Belgium and they expected it to be full strength. Belgian drinkers wouldn’t have stood for a 5% ABV Scotch Ale. But some was probably just due to Scotch Ale being an expensive treat: if it wasn’t pretty strong, why bother with it?
Though there had been some reductions is strength. Fowler’s Twelve Guinea Ale, for example. Pre-war it had an OG of over 1100º. In the late 1940’s, that was down to just 1080º. Still strong, but not crazily so.
There are a few quite weak examples, beers under 1060º. McEwan Double Scotch Ale is a good example. I suspect that’s really a Double Brown Ale. Especially as it’s eerily similar in gravity to William Younger’s Double Century Ale. The two firms had merged by this point and my guess is that Double Scotch was just a rebadge of the William Younger beer.
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed one odd brewery in the table: John Smith. Which is very much an English brewery. They brewed a Scotch Ale exclusively for the Belgian market. I doubt they could have got away with selling it in the UK. I think Scottish brewers would have got pretty annoyed had they done so.
Bottled Scotch Ale after WW II
Year
Brewer
Beer
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
colour
1950
Aitchison
Scotch Ale
1080
1020.8
7.73
74.00%
55
1948
Aitken
Strong Ale
1067.5
1021
6.04
68.89%
1948
Ballingall
"Angus" Strong Ale
1073.5
1023.5
6.49
68.03%
1948
Calder Alloa
Scotch Strong Ale
1065.5
1019
6.04
70.99%
1950
Campbell
Royal Scotch Ale
1080.1
1014.2
8.66
82.27%
77
1948
Dryborough
Strong Ale
1060
1019.5
5.25
67.50%
1947
Fowler
Heavy Ale
1081.4
1025.5
7.27
68.67%
1948
Fowler
Twelve Guinea Ale
1080
1021.5
7.63
73.13%
1949
Fowler
Twelve Guinea Ale
1077.7
1030.3
6.13
61.00%
100
1948
Gordon & Blair
"Unique" Scotch Ale
1043.5
1016.5
3.49
62.07%
1948
Jeffrey
Strong Ale No. 1
1067
1025
5.43
62.69%
1950
John Smith
Scotch Ale
1080.3
1025.6
7.11
68.12%
65
1948
Maclachlan
Strong Ale
1070.5
1024.5
5.96
65.25%
1948
McEwan
Strong Ale
1078
1022.5
7.23
71.15%
1950
McEwan
Double Scotch Ale
1057.7
1018.4
5.09
68.11%
80
1950
McEwan
Scotch Ale
1088
1022.6
8.56
74.32%
65
1947
Murray
Heavy Ale
1066.3
1017.25
6.38
73.96%
1948
Steel Coulson
Strong Ale
1063
1026
4.77
58.73%
1947
Usher
Old Scotch Ale
1073.5
1020.5
6.90
72.11%
1948
Usher
Strong Ale
1090.5
1024.5
8.63
72.93%
1950
Younger, Geo.
Gordon Xmas Ale
1090.7
1032.3
7.58
64.39%
50
1948
Younger, Robert
Strong Ale
1048
1014.5
4.34
69.79%
1947
Younger, Wm.
No. 1 Strong Ale
1074
1022
6.76
70.27%
1950
Younger, Wm.
No. 1 Scotch Ale
1087.6
1017.5
9.21
80.02%
60
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document TU/6/11.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2018/12/bottled-scotch-ale-after-ww-ii.html)
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vY7Uk-l779A/XBJmL4Ms1EI/AAAAAAAAftU/WlBPplF2tcYGoPdOLb28uwIVGu6uhakqwCLcBGAs/s400/Aitchison_Strong_Scotch_Ale.jpg (https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vY7Uk-l779A/XBJmL4Ms1EI/AAAAAAAAftU/WlBPplF2tcYGoPdOLb28uwIVGu6uhakqwCLcBGAs/s1600/Aitchison_Strong_Scotch_Ale.jpg)
You must be sick of Scotch Ale by now. You're not the only one. But I feel obliged to continue my death march until I lie by the roadside like a crumpled heap of rags.
On the face of it, WW II seems to have had little impact on the character of Scotch Ale. Unlike most styles, it seems to have bounced back to pre-war like gravities soon after the end of hostilities.
The majority of examples retained a gravity of somewhere around 1080º. Which in the immediate post-war years counted as super strong. Why was that, when other styles were emasculated?
Partly, I assume it’s because some were genuine export beers. Scotch Ale was popular in Belgium and they expected it to be full strength. Belgian drinkers wouldn’t have stood for a 5% ABV Scotch Ale. But some was probably just due to Scotch Ale being an expensive treat: if it wasn’t pretty strong, why bother with it?
Though there had been some reductions is strength. Fowler’s Twelve Guinea Ale, for example. Pre-war it had an OG of over 1100º. In the late 1940’s, that was down to just 1080º. Still strong, but not crazily so.
There are a few quite weak examples, beers under 1060º. McEwan Double Scotch Ale is a good example. I suspect that’s really a Double Brown Ale. Especially as it’s eerily similar in gravity to William Younger’s Double Century Ale. The two firms had merged by this point and my guess is that Double Scotch was just a rebadge of the William Younger beer.
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed one odd brewery in the table: John Smith. Which is very much an English brewery. They brewed a Scotch Ale exclusively for the Belgian market. I doubt they could have got away with selling it in the UK. I think Scottish brewers would have got pretty annoyed had they done so.
Bottled Scotch Ale after WW II
Year
Brewer
Beer
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
colour
1950
Aitchison
Scotch Ale
1080
1020.8
7.73
74.00%
55
1948
Aitken
Strong Ale
1067.5
1021
6.04
68.89%
1948
Ballingall
"Angus" Strong Ale
1073.5
1023.5
6.49
68.03%
1948
Calder Alloa
Scotch Strong Ale
1065.5
1019
6.04
70.99%
1950
Campbell
Royal Scotch Ale
1080.1
1014.2
8.66
82.27%
77
1948
Dryborough
Strong Ale
1060
1019.5
5.25
67.50%
1947
Fowler
Heavy Ale
1081.4
1025.5
7.27
68.67%
1948
Fowler
Twelve Guinea Ale
1080
1021.5
7.63
73.13%
1949
Fowler
Twelve Guinea Ale
1077.7
1030.3
6.13
61.00%
100
1948
Gordon & Blair
"Unique" Scotch Ale
1043.5
1016.5
3.49
62.07%
1948
Jeffrey
Strong Ale No. 1
1067
1025
5.43
62.69%
1950
John Smith
Scotch Ale
1080.3
1025.6
7.11
68.12%
65
1948
Maclachlan
Strong Ale
1070.5
1024.5
5.96
65.25%
1948
McEwan
Strong Ale
1078
1022.5
7.23
71.15%
1950
McEwan
Double Scotch Ale
1057.7
1018.4
5.09
68.11%
80
1950
McEwan
Scotch Ale
1088
1022.6
8.56
74.32%
65
1947
Murray
Heavy Ale
1066.3
1017.25
6.38
73.96%
1948
Steel Coulson
Strong Ale
1063
1026
4.77
58.73%
1947
Usher
Old Scotch Ale
1073.5
1020.5
6.90
72.11%
1948
Usher
Strong Ale
1090.5
1024.5
8.63
72.93%
1950
Younger, Geo.
Gordon Xmas Ale
1090.7
1032.3
7.58
64.39%
50
1948
Younger, Robert
Strong Ale
1048
1014.5
4.34
69.79%
1947
Younger, Wm.
No. 1 Strong Ale
1074
1022
6.76
70.27%
1950
Younger, Wm.
No. 1 Scotch Ale
1087.6
1017.5
9.21
80.02%
60
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document TU/6/11.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2018/12/bottled-scotch-ale-after-ww-ii.html)