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09-10-2011, 07:32
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Wee Heavy. I've always been troubled by this supposed style. Partly because it seems to be based on a single commercial beer: Fowler's Wee Heavy. Or to give it it's proper name, Fowler's Twelve Guinea Ale.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVhCG4IJiFU/TorzUmZ14gI/AAAAAAAAILc/mfXHQYZ-VEM/s320/Fowlers_Wee_Heavy_beermat.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVhCG4IJiFU/TorzUmZ14gI/AAAAAAAAILc/mfXHQYZ-VEM/s1600/Fowlers_Wee_Heavy_beermat.jpg)
The name "Wee Heavy", though poetic, is pretty rubbish. Wee = small, heavy = strong. "Small Strong" doesn't sound quite so cool, does it? The more I look into Scottish brewing, the more obvious it is how broadly the word "Heavy" was used. There's Heavy Export Ale, Heavy Stout and, of course, Wee Heavy.
Let's use the real name for Fowler's Wee Heavy: Twelve Guinea Ale. What does that mean? Nothing more than that a hogshead of the beer sold for 12 guineas (£12 12/-, £12.60 in new money). It's like the shilling system, just posher. Guineas weren't used for any old sums. No, they were reserved for the price of racehourses and that sort of thing. And for the very top-end Scottish beers.
Just a few days ago we heard that ten and twelve guinea ales were "rarely brewed". William Younger didn't make one. They didn't go higher than 160/- (£8). There was one brewer who did regulalry brew a Twelve Guinea Ale. You guessed it, Fowler of Prestonpans. It must have been quite famous, given the number of analyses of it that I've found.
In the 19th century, Twelve Guinea Ale had a ludicrous OG: 1159º. I think that's the highest I've seen. It's so high that even though the FG is 1068º, it's still 12% ABV. You can see that between the wars, it was still a real beast, with a gravity of over 1100º. The second war put an end to tha and, by the time we reach 1955, the OG is the same as the FR had been a century earlier. Sort of sums up the decline in British beer strengths.
The colour, well that's brown A darkish brown. I wish I knew the colour of the 1862 sample. I suspect it would have been very different. Basically much paler. That's what happened to Edinburgh Ales like William Younger's No. 1 Ale. That mysteriously darkened - like many Stock and Strong Ales - sometime around 1900.
Here's a table with all the facts (at least the ones I know):
Fowler's Twelve Guinea Ale 1862 - 1955
Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Attenuation
1862
Twelve-Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
1068
1159
11.99
57.23%
1921
Prestonpans Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1042
1118
9.92
64.41%
1925
Twelve-Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1038
1117.7
100
10.44
67.71%
1926
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1031
1117
140
11.33
73.50%
1926
Twelve Guinea Beer
Strong Ale
bottled
1040
1115
9.79
65.22%
1928
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1043
1114
130
9.24
62.28%
1929
Twelve Guinea Ale (carbonated)
Strong Ale
bottled
1030
1114
No. 15
11.06
73.68%
1929
Twelve Guinea Ale (carbonated)
Strong Ale
bottled
1030
1115
No. 15
11.19
73.91%
1931
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1024
1098
9.71
75.51%
1933
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1034
1108
9.68
68.52%
1940
Twelve Guinea Cream Ale
Strong Ale
7d
nip
bottled
0.06
1028
1094.3
14 + 40
8.66
70.31%
1940
Twelve Guinea Cream Ale
Strong Ale
7d
nip
bottled
0.07
1028.2
1095.3
14 + 40
8.76
70.41%
1947
Heavy Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1025.5
1081.4
7.27
68.67%
1948
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1019.5
1079.5
7.84
75.47%
1948
Prestonpans Twelve Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1021.5
1080
7.63
73.13%
1949
Prestonpans Twelve Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
1/3d
nip
bottled
0.06
1030.3
1077.7
15 + 40
6.13
61.00%
1955
Twelve Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
1/3d
nip
bottled
0.04
1016.9
1068.1
120
6.67
75.18%
Sources:
"The lancet 1853, Volume 2", 1853, page 631.
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Whitbread Gravity Book document LMA/4453/D/02/002 held at the London Metropolitan Archives
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lAieig6JlTw/TorxV0I7TCI/AAAAAAAAILY/0DSeZXrghOM/s320/Fowlers_Twelve_Guinea_Ale_1862_1955.JPG (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lAieig6JlTw/TorxV0I7TCI/AAAAAAAAILY/0DSeZXrghOM/s1600/Fowlers_Twelve_Guinea_Ale_1862_1955.JPG)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-5780698028691408224?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/10/fowlers-twelve-guinea-ale.html)
Wee Heavy. I've always been troubled by this supposed style. Partly because it seems to be based on a single commercial beer: Fowler's Wee Heavy. Or to give it it's proper name, Fowler's Twelve Guinea Ale.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVhCG4IJiFU/TorzUmZ14gI/AAAAAAAAILc/mfXHQYZ-VEM/s320/Fowlers_Wee_Heavy_beermat.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVhCG4IJiFU/TorzUmZ14gI/AAAAAAAAILc/mfXHQYZ-VEM/s1600/Fowlers_Wee_Heavy_beermat.jpg)
The name "Wee Heavy", though poetic, is pretty rubbish. Wee = small, heavy = strong. "Small Strong" doesn't sound quite so cool, does it? The more I look into Scottish brewing, the more obvious it is how broadly the word "Heavy" was used. There's Heavy Export Ale, Heavy Stout and, of course, Wee Heavy.
Let's use the real name for Fowler's Wee Heavy: Twelve Guinea Ale. What does that mean? Nothing more than that a hogshead of the beer sold for 12 guineas (£12 12/-, £12.60 in new money). It's like the shilling system, just posher. Guineas weren't used for any old sums. No, they were reserved for the price of racehourses and that sort of thing. And for the very top-end Scottish beers.
Just a few days ago we heard that ten and twelve guinea ales were "rarely brewed". William Younger didn't make one. They didn't go higher than 160/- (£8). There was one brewer who did regulalry brew a Twelve Guinea Ale. You guessed it, Fowler of Prestonpans. It must have been quite famous, given the number of analyses of it that I've found.
In the 19th century, Twelve Guinea Ale had a ludicrous OG: 1159º. I think that's the highest I've seen. It's so high that even though the FG is 1068º, it's still 12% ABV. You can see that between the wars, it was still a real beast, with a gravity of over 1100º. The second war put an end to tha and, by the time we reach 1955, the OG is the same as the FR had been a century earlier. Sort of sums up the decline in British beer strengths.
The colour, well that's brown A darkish brown. I wish I knew the colour of the 1862 sample. I suspect it would have been very different. Basically much paler. That's what happened to Edinburgh Ales like William Younger's No. 1 Ale. That mysteriously darkened - like many Stock and Strong Ales - sometime around 1900.
Here's a table with all the facts (at least the ones I know):
Fowler's Twelve Guinea Ale 1862 - 1955
Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Attenuation
1862
Twelve-Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
1068
1159
11.99
57.23%
1921
Prestonpans Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1042
1118
9.92
64.41%
1925
Twelve-Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1038
1117.7
100
10.44
67.71%
1926
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1031
1117
140
11.33
73.50%
1926
Twelve Guinea Beer
Strong Ale
bottled
1040
1115
9.79
65.22%
1928
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1043
1114
130
9.24
62.28%
1929
Twelve Guinea Ale (carbonated)
Strong Ale
bottled
1030
1114
No. 15
11.06
73.68%
1929
Twelve Guinea Ale (carbonated)
Strong Ale
bottled
1030
1115
No. 15
11.19
73.91%
1931
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1024
1098
9.71
75.51%
1933
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1034
1108
9.68
68.52%
1940
Twelve Guinea Cream Ale
Strong Ale
7d
nip
bottled
0.06
1028
1094.3
14 + 40
8.66
70.31%
1940
Twelve Guinea Cream Ale
Strong Ale
7d
nip
bottled
0.07
1028.2
1095.3
14 + 40
8.76
70.41%
1947
Heavy Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1025.5
1081.4
7.27
68.67%
1948
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1019.5
1079.5
7.84
75.47%
1948
Prestonpans Twelve Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
bottled
1021.5
1080
7.63
73.13%
1949
Prestonpans Twelve Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
1/3d
nip
bottled
0.06
1030.3
1077.7
15 + 40
6.13
61.00%
1955
Twelve Guinea Ale
Strong Ale
1/3d
nip
bottled
0.04
1016.9
1068.1
120
6.67
75.18%
Sources:
"The lancet 1853, Volume 2", 1853, page 631.
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Whitbread Gravity Book document LMA/4453/D/02/002 held at the London Metropolitan Archives
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lAieig6JlTw/TorxV0I7TCI/AAAAAAAAILY/0DSeZXrghOM/s320/Fowlers_Twelve_Guinea_Ale_1862_1955.JPG (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lAieig6JlTw/TorxV0I7TCI/AAAAAAAAILY/0DSeZXrghOM/s1600/Fowlers_Twelve_Guinea_Ale_1862_1955.JPG)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-5780698028691408224?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/10/fowlers-twelve-guinea-ale.html)