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20-07-2011, 12:40
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An exotic treat for you today: a strong export Pale Ale from the early 1950's.


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xoCL6VTGtM0/Tia8ZT8T55I/AAAAAAAAIDY/_ZRTUUntOms/s320/Whitbread_Pale_Ale.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xoCL6VTGtM0/Tia8ZT8T55I/AAAAAAAAIDY/_ZRTUUntOms/s1600/Whitbread_Pale_Ale.jpg)
It's a funny period. British beer strengths were just starting to recover from their postwar nadir. But most beers were still pretty week. Whitbread Best Ale (Mild) was only 1032º, IPA 1035º and PA 1040º. Not particularly impressive. Apart from the odd strong beer that was made in tiny quantities, there was almost nothing stronger and 1050º. Which is why this is an unusual beer.

Whitbread had been in the export business for a long while. Like most other large London brewers they took advantage of the port and Britain's imperial muscle to ship beer all around the world. For the export trade, already weakened at the end of the 19th century by the growth of Lager, the glory days ended with WW I. Most foreign markets had been closed or dried up. Sales in the empire had been badly hit as colonies built their own brewing industries.

Where was left? Belgium.

Let's take a look in detail at British exports:




British Beer Exports 1946 – 1953











1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953


Channel Isands
5,342
7,021
9,958
9,693
6,505
2,721
8,959
9,815


Gibraltar
5,698
7,077
6,958
7,609
8,530
8,693
8,183
8,325


Malta
414
521
673
897
336
624
445
484


Cyprus

2,593
2,312
2,112
2,538
4,002
2,712
2,099


British West Africa
1,574
5,797
18,044
34,626
33,811
35,593
50,636
58,049


British East Africa
1,361
2,624
7,316
13,391
4,014
4,341
1,900
1,511


Aden
50
1,284
2,327
4,200
2,684
2,006
2,897
5,927


Bahrein, Koweit, etc

594
5,141
7,813
4,099
4,039
5,073
4,756


India and Pakistan
69,278
8,130
17,075
18,076
15,333
11,890
9,451
5,617


British Malaya
26,270
6,377
10,463
12,258
11,666
14,412
6,028
5,447


Ceylon
2,648
7,686
3,565
6,669
6,363
5,605
5,656
8,624


Hong Kong
10,062
5,873
5,679
12,863
9,508
12,027
7,254
4,811


Australia

54
8,481
18,761
16,879
35,790
8,303
57


Canada

313
1,598
1,281
2,090
3,352
3,680
3,892


Bermuda
22
788
977
1,603
2,843
1,901
1,466
948


British West India Islands
251
1,045
15,087
14,009
15,459
15,213
16,112
17,123


Bbritish Guiana
38
175
1,991
2,752
3,871
3,247
6,056
6,594


Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

1,843
3,069
5,747
5,291
6,805
6,277
3,035


Irish Republic
221
3,280
11,327
6,201
4,225
5,223
4,966
4,674


Other British Countries
74
972
6,470
6,719
7,153
8,927
10,260
6,570


total
123,303
64,047
138,511
187,280
163,198
186,411
166,314
158,358













Norway
595


1


17
79


Iceland
11

7
5
1
1
10
20


Faroe Islands
12

6







Germany
543
1,196
3,275
3,140
3,144
5,349
3,995
3,618


Belgium
1,405
3,414
34,288
33,786
33,362
45,733
50,237
55,240


France
756
193
294
611
645
817
882
852


Italy
2,564
121
71
17
44
28
21
92


Greece

2,954

1,917
137
196
24



Algeria


18



5
6


Libya
14
190
3,381
6,576
4,571
4,150
3,040
1,634


Transjordan

95
675
821
155
362
227
66


Palestine
1,299
8,684
3,045







Egypt
12,536
12,709
7,587
6,999
4,782
11,001
29,288
51,981


Iraq
1,760
7,792
5,621
4,936
2,503
3,763
2,516
3,619


Iran
1,898
1,700
1,996
1,971
553
259
89



Burma
40,439
5,695
31
147
636
1,018
1,800
1,173


USA

270
2,986
1,921
1,563
967
1,373
1,328


Other Foreign Countries
283
620
3,306
3,999
5,916
15,378
7,552
6,873


total
64,115
45,633
66,587
66,847
58,012
89,022
101,076
126,581


Grand total
187,418
109,680
205,098
254,127
221,210
275,433
267,390
284,939


Source:










“1955 Brewers' Almanack”, pages 58-59.











As you can see, in 1950 Belgium was the second biggest recipient of British exports, second only by a few barrels to British West Africa. Belgium received more than 50% of exports to non-British countries and 15% of all exports.

Whitbread Pale Ale is still sold in Belgium. No idea where it's brewed.






That's me done. Over to Kristen . . . . . . .








http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQ2gmLOXfoE/Tia7MvuJfwI/AAAAAAAAIDU/q99TN73os4c/s1600/Whitbread_1950_ExPA.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQ2gmLOXfoE/Tia7MvuJfwI/AAAAAAAAIDU/q99TN73os4c/s1600/Whitbread_1950_ExPA.jpg)



Kristen’s Version
A very straightforward beer here that doesn’t require a whole lot of explanation. This one does very well on cask as it can get a bit ‘tinny’ on draught.




Ingredients

Grist–Three different English pale malts. Really your choice here. All are indicated as ‘second’ grade so its really your preference here. I used Maris Otter, Golden Promise and some Halcyon split evenly. For the sugar I used straight No1 invert. Very simple to make and use in this beer. The tiny bit of caramel does add a hint of caramelly goodness but very little of anything else. A very simple recipe so make your decisions based on your preference. I think the %sugar to malt is what I’d focus on more than what type of malt. See how this much sugar plays in this beer. You can split your batch and add your sugar directly to your fermenter if you’d like. Just be sure to calculate your hopping BU if you do this as the lower gravity will extract more bitterness.

Hops–They call for Worcester Goldings which I used b/c I had them and don’t get to use them very often.
Wonderful little hops that I wish I got more often. Stick with something Goldings or go experimenting at your leisure just make sure they are lower alpha hops.

Yeast – The dry or the wet Whitbread works very nicely here. I’m not a big fan but it plays very nice with the sugar in the beer.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-9114770339852922345?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com


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