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23-11-2011, 08:25
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Aitchison. It's my new best mate. Remember I said That I felt a table coming on? It's come. The table, I mean. Today.


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Zlj1qEWgK8/TsUENjQiICI/AAAAAAAAIXo/Jlh2dlBR190/s320/Aitchisons_Strong_Ale.JPG (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Zlj1qEWgK8/TsUENjQiICI/AAAAAAAAIXo/Jlh2dlBR190/s1600/Aitchisons_Strong_Ale.JPG)
I'm quite lucky, having most of the 20th century covered. Pretty much right up until they closed in 1961.


As you can see, the majority are Pale Ales of various strengths. Mostly the two classic variations from between the wars: 60/- at around 1039º and 70/- at 1045. Roughly the equivalent to modern 70/- and 80/-. One of the things I like about the Thomas Usher Gravity Book are the descriptions of flavour. The ones for Aitchison's Pale Ales aren't particularly flattering : "thin sweetish flavour". I wonder if this is when sweet Pale Ales came into fashion in Scotland?

Note the watery Pale Ale sold as 90/-. The practice of calling Strong Ales 90/- in Scotland is very recent. I suspect it goes back at the very most to the 1970's. I can't remember seeing a 90/- in the 19th century. They tended to go for multiples of 20: 60/-. 80/-, 100/-, 120/-., 140/- and 160/-. 90 bob seems to have first appeared after WW I and referred to a weak, bottled Pale Ale or IPA. Why they're called 90/- when they're weaker than 60/- Pale Ales is a mystery to me. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Brown Ale, as in England, had a burst of popularity in Scotland in the 1920's and 1930's. The two pre-war samples here are right on the border between a standard and a Double Brown in terms of gravity. The post-war one, at just over 1040º, is a around 10º stronger than a typical 1950's Brown Ale. With a colour of 50 EBC, it's only slightly darker than Newcastle Brown.

The beers sold as Strong Ale and Scotch Ale are probably the same beer. 1070º to 1080º is decent gravity for the 1950's and is around what most domestic Scotch Ales were in the 1930's. You'll not that both are a fairly dark brown. Those two-number colours are about 90 - 100 EBC.

I was surprised to see there's only one Stout. And that isn't even an Aitchison's beer. It's a brand from brand from McLennan & Urquhart, whose Dalkeith brewery Aitchison bought in 1955 and closed in 1958. It looks a typical low-alcohol, Scottish sweet Stout. It's a shame there aren't some other Aitchison Stouts to compare it with.

That's it for now. Unless I can find any more Aitchison-related material.




Aitchison beers 1925 - 1959


Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation
Flavour


1925
??
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1009
1059.5
25
6.61
84.87%



1927
Pale Ale
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1006.3
1035.3

3.77
82.27%



1927
Pale Ale
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1006
1035

3.77
82.86%



1927
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
6d
half pint
bottled

1009
1038
30
3.76
76.32%



1927
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
7d
half pint
bottled

1011
1045
25
4.42
75.56%



1928
60/- Pale Ale
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1007
1039.5

4.23
82.28%



1929
60/- Beer
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1009.8
1038.8

3.76
74.84%



1929
60/- Beer
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1009.8
1040.3
Pale no. 1 - 2 glass paler than standard
3.96
75.78%
thin sweetish flavour with after bitter. Possibly indicates addition of priming.


1929
70/- Beer
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1008
1045
Pale no. 2 half glass paler than our Newcastle 70/-
4.82
82.22%
Does not drink its gravity.


1929
60/- (pale)
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1008
1045.5
Between 1 - 2. Same as our standard
4.89
82.42%
Thin sweetish flavour, but after bitter not so prounced as sample from ???


1931
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
7d
pint
bottled
0.05
1008.8
1039.3

3.96
77.61%



1931
Brown Ale
Brown Ale
8d
pint
bottled
0.06
1015.9
1047.9

4.14
66.81%



1931
XXXX Ale
Strong Ale
8d
pint
bottled
0.05
1009.9
1046.6

4.77
78.76%



1933
Brown Ale
Brown Ale

pint
bottled

1015.5
1045.5

3.88
65.93%



1934
Pale Ale
Pale Ale

pint
draught

1007.3
1039.3

4.16
81.53%



1937
60/- Pale Ale
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1007
1040
9 – 10
4.29
82.50%



1939
60/- Ale
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1007
1039
12
4.16
82.05%



1940
Pale Ale
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1008
1038

3.90
78.95%



1947
105/- Ale
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1008
1036

3.64
77.78%



1947
80/- Ale
Pale Ale
16d
pint
bottled

1008
1042

4.42
80.95%



1949
"Best Cellar"
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1010.5
1042

4.09
75.00%



1949
PA 90/-
Pale Ale

pint
bottled

1007
1029

2.85
75.86%



1950
Scotch Ale
Scotch Ale

half pint
bottled
0.13
1020.8
1080
4 + 40
7.73
74.00%



1950
Best Cellar Ale
Ale
1/1d
half pint
bottled
0.06
1011.3
1046.8
21 B
4.61
75.85%



1953
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
1/3d
nip
bottled
0.07
1021.5
1072.6
9 + 40
6.64
70.39%



1956
Aitchie Blue Seal Pale Ale
Pale Ale
1/4d
half pint
bottled
0.05
1010.2
1030
26
2.56
66.00%



1956
Gold Seal Brown Ale
Brown Ale
10.5d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1013.9
1041.6
50
3.58
66.59%



1959
Dalkeith Sweet Stout
Stout
15d
halfpint
bottled

1021.3
1037.3
600
2.05
42.90%



Sources:


Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive


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


Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive



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