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12-05-2022, 07:10
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Bottled beers were becoming increasingly popular and this popularity had inspired brewers to come up with new methods for producing them.
For some breweries, such as Whitbread, bottled beer was starting to be a hugely significant part of their sales. Between 1901 and 1904, bottled beer increased its proportion of their total sales from 25% to 50%.
Whitbread Draught and Bottled sales 1901 – 1914
total draught
Bottling
Burton
Year
barrels
%
barrels
%
barrels
%
Total
1901
538,097
73.63%
188,525
25.80%
4,153
0.57%
730,775
1902
546,043
72.92%
198,812
26.55%
3,975
0.53%
748,830
1903
552,383
71.00%
221,651
28.49%
3,998
0.51%
778,032
1904
546,402
69.40%
237,522
30.17%
3,379
0.43%
787,303
1905
538,584
67.67%
254,373
31.96%
2,983
0.37%
795,940
1906
526,766
64.32%
289,898
35.40%
2,361
0.29%
819,025
1907
513,881
61.49%
320,140
38.30%
1,749
0.21%
835,770
1908
477,470
58.97%
330,767
40.85%
1,459
0.18%
809,696
1909
456,638
56.14%
355,212
43.67%
1,481
0.18%
813,331
1910
446,477
55.72%
353,534
44.12%
1,325
0.17%
801,336
1911
459,908
53.81%
392,899
45.97%
1,564
0.18%
854,371
1912
464,539
49.95%
463,938
49.88%
1,548
0.17%
930,025
1913
436,095
51.17%
414,661
48.66%
1,415
0.17%
852,171
1914
418,402
49.38%
427,455
50.45%
1,415
0.17%
847,272
Source:
Whitbread Bottled Beer Sales ledger held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/16.
Not all types of beer were bottled. Most notable of the excluded types was Mild Ale. Despite being the most popular style at the time, it was rarely bottled. The name Porter also rarely appeared on a label. Not because it wasn’t bottled, but because bottled forms were marketed under another name, such as Luncheon Stout or Cooper.
Bottled beer types
Type
Min. OG
Max OG
Strong Ale
1069.5
1111.2
IPA
1055.6
1069.5
Light Pale Ale
1041.7
1050.0
Stout
1055.6
1077.8
Luncheon Stout
1044.5
1050.0
Source:
“A Treatise of Practical Brewing and Malting” by Frank Thatcher, 1907, page 477.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0r4Br0SKVT4T2EumSzsjr4uOtJfwpz6_j5Tzul8Kbp4 8OX4s7BO2Rwy6lIGyAqGkPSk8kQqIR8r_etr9Uh9Mg-cjuYkZgstpKOiNzlzmhYurHMPwVpTxPqSoOK1d6Pc7nWBkIHrf W0pGEZwA7tm5bKhkZS1tzSEcaJXdBh7LFNyDicG1O7I6lNpQd/s320/Simonds_Luncheon_Stout.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0r4Br0SKVT4T2EumSzsjr4uOtJfwpz6_j5Tzul8Kbp4 8OX4s7BO2Rwy6lIGyAqGkPSk8kQqIR8r_etr9Uh9Mg-cjuYkZgstpKOiNzlzmhYurHMPwVpTxPqSoOK1d6Pc7nWBkIHrf W0pGEZwA7tm5bKhkZS1tzSEcaJXdBh7LFNyDicG1O7I6lNpQd/s437/Simonds_Luncheon_Stout.jpg)
Several different methods of sealing bottles were employed. The oldest, and one still used today, was a cork. This was very effective, but relied very much on the quality of the cork itself. And good quality corks were expensive. It was also easy to disturb any sediment when removing it. There was also a risk of contamination from corks as they naturally contained moulds and yeasts.
"there is nothing to beat a corked bottle beer — provided the cork is steamed and washed in a revolving wire drum to remove all dust and to soften and sterilise it." The most popular type was the internal screw stopper. They were usually made of very hard wood and fitted with a rubber washer. That such stoppers could be reused was a double-edged sword. As they used a standard thread, they would fit any brewer’s bottles. Unlike the bottles themselves, customers made little effort to return stoppers to the right brewery. Which meant that even if you bothered to buy good quality stoppers you would inevitably end up with inferior ones from your rivals. I can remember buying quart bottles with this type of closure in the late 1970s.
Flip-top stoppers – like those used by Grolsch – weren’t much used in the UK, despite their popularity in the USA and the rest of Europe. Its use was mostly limited to Lager and rarely used for British-style beers.
Various weird and wonderful single-use stoppers were in use, most of which didn’t hang around for long. One did, however, stand the test of time: the crown cork. In the run up to WW I this was becoming increasingly popular, especially for half pints.
"He [Mr. Robert D. Clarke] believed that the crown cork would prove to be the cork of the future. It imparted no taste, and being soaked in paraffin it was absolutely clean and satisfactory. He had practically scrapped the whole of his ordinary cork bottles, and was using nothing but crowns and porcelain stoppers."
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2022/05/bottling-1880-1914.html)
Bottled beers were becoming increasingly popular and this popularity had inspired brewers to come up with new methods for producing them.
For some breweries, such as Whitbread, bottled beer was starting to be a hugely significant part of their sales. Between 1901 and 1904, bottled beer increased its proportion of their total sales from 25% to 50%.
Whitbread Draught and Bottled sales 1901 – 1914
total draught
Bottling
Burton
Year
barrels
%
barrels
%
barrels
%
Total
1901
538,097
73.63%
188,525
25.80%
4,153
0.57%
730,775
1902
546,043
72.92%
198,812
26.55%
3,975
0.53%
748,830
1903
552,383
71.00%
221,651
28.49%
3,998
0.51%
778,032
1904
546,402
69.40%
237,522
30.17%
3,379
0.43%
787,303
1905
538,584
67.67%
254,373
31.96%
2,983
0.37%
795,940
1906
526,766
64.32%
289,898
35.40%
2,361
0.29%
819,025
1907
513,881
61.49%
320,140
38.30%
1,749
0.21%
835,770
1908
477,470
58.97%
330,767
40.85%
1,459
0.18%
809,696
1909
456,638
56.14%
355,212
43.67%
1,481
0.18%
813,331
1910
446,477
55.72%
353,534
44.12%
1,325
0.17%
801,336
1911
459,908
53.81%
392,899
45.97%
1,564
0.18%
854,371
1912
464,539
49.95%
463,938
49.88%
1,548
0.17%
930,025
1913
436,095
51.17%
414,661
48.66%
1,415
0.17%
852,171
1914
418,402
49.38%
427,455
50.45%
1,415
0.17%
847,272
Source:
Whitbread Bottled Beer Sales ledger held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/16.
Not all types of beer were bottled. Most notable of the excluded types was Mild Ale. Despite being the most popular style at the time, it was rarely bottled. The name Porter also rarely appeared on a label. Not because it wasn’t bottled, but because bottled forms were marketed under another name, such as Luncheon Stout or Cooper.
Bottled beer types
Type
Min. OG
Max OG
Strong Ale
1069.5
1111.2
IPA
1055.6
1069.5
Light Pale Ale
1041.7
1050.0
Stout
1055.6
1077.8
Luncheon Stout
1044.5
1050.0
Source:
“A Treatise of Practical Brewing and Malting” by Frank Thatcher, 1907, page 477.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0r4Br0SKVT4T2EumSzsjr4uOtJfwpz6_j5Tzul8Kbp4 8OX4s7BO2Rwy6lIGyAqGkPSk8kQqIR8r_etr9Uh9Mg-cjuYkZgstpKOiNzlzmhYurHMPwVpTxPqSoOK1d6Pc7nWBkIHrf W0pGEZwA7tm5bKhkZS1tzSEcaJXdBh7LFNyDicG1O7I6lNpQd/s320/Simonds_Luncheon_Stout.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0r4Br0SKVT4T2EumSzsjr4uOtJfwpz6_j5Tzul8Kbp4 8OX4s7BO2Rwy6lIGyAqGkPSk8kQqIR8r_etr9Uh9Mg-cjuYkZgstpKOiNzlzmhYurHMPwVpTxPqSoOK1d6Pc7nWBkIHrf W0pGEZwA7tm5bKhkZS1tzSEcaJXdBh7LFNyDicG1O7I6lNpQd/s437/Simonds_Luncheon_Stout.jpg)
Several different methods of sealing bottles were employed. The oldest, and one still used today, was a cork. This was very effective, but relied very much on the quality of the cork itself. And good quality corks were expensive. It was also easy to disturb any sediment when removing it. There was also a risk of contamination from corks as they naturally contained moulds and yeasts.
"there is nothing to beat a corked bottle beer — provided the cork is steamed and washed in a revolving wire drum to remove all dust and to soften and sterilise it." The most popular type was the internal screw stopper. They were usually made of very hard wood and fitted with a rubber washer. That such stoppers could be reused was a double-edged sword. As they used a standard thread, they would fit any brewer’s bottles. Unlike the bottles themselves, customers made little effort to return stoppers to the right brewery. Which meant that even if you bothered to buy good quality stoppers you would inevitably end up with inferior ones from your rivals. I can remember buying quart bottles with this type of closure in the late 1970s.
Flip-top stoppers – like those used by Grolsch – weren’t much used in the UK, despite their popularity in the USA and the rest of Europe. Its use was mostly limited to Lager and rarely used for British-style beers.
Various weird and wonderful single-use stoppers were in use, most of which didn’t hang around for long. One did, however, stand the test of time: the crown cork. In the run up to WW I this was becoming increasingly popular, especially for half pints.
"He [Mr. Robert D. Clarke] believed that the crown cork would prove to be the cork of the future. It imparted no taste, and being soaked in paraffin it was absolutely clean and satisfactory. He had practically scrapped the whole of his ordinary cork bottles, and was using nothing but crowns and porcelain stoppers."
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2022/05/bottling-1880-1914.html)