Blog Tracker
26-11-2011, 07:17
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/11/fowlers-other-beers-1862-1961.html)
Fowler may have been best known for their Twelve Guinea Ale, but it wasn't the only beer they brewed. OH no indeedy. They brewed a normal range of a Scottish brewery: Pale Ale, Stout, IPA, etc.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7_0lMXsjZmk/Ts0Ht_1BDbI/AAAAAAAAIYg/F9IcjhcgXRk/s320/Fowlers_Brewers_Best_Export_1958.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7_0lMXsjZmk/Ts0Ht_1BDbI/AAAAAAAAIYg/F9IcjhcgXRk/s1600/Fowlers_Brewers_Best_Export_1958.jpg)
As you should be aware by now, Fowler's brewery in Prestonpans closed in 1962. That means I've beers spanning the last 100 years of their existence. Cool, eh? Back in the 19th century, like the brewers of Edinburgh and Alloa, they were as famous for their Pale Ales as their strong Scottish Ales. Bit of a recurring theme that one. Breweries specialising in both Pale Ale and Barley Wine type things. It explains why I've several analyses of Fowler's Pale Ale from the 1860's.
Straight away there's something that jumps out: the 19th-century PA's aren't that strong. A proper top-of-the-range Pale Ale of the 1860's was 1060º to 1065º. All of Fowler's are under 1060º and one is even below 1040º. That's kiddy beer for the Victorians. There's something else. The acidity. 0.27 to 0.29% is rather a lot. You'd expect a Pale Ale to be well below 0.10%.
The interwar Pale Ales are pretty weedy, too. Most are under 1030º. Even cheap London Pale Ales would have been over 1040º. Note the change in level of attenuation. The 19th century Pale Ales are 75% to 95%, the interwar ones 61% to 75%. That's quite a shift.
There's not much change after WW II. Most of the Pale Ales hover around the 1030º mark. Again, that's a few points off the pace. An average Bitter just after the war's end was around 1035º. The final analysis, Export Ale from 1961 is uncharacteristically strong. In fact, about exactly where you would expect an Export to be, gravity-wise. 1040º to 1054º the BJCP says the gravity range of Export is. They should know.
IPA. Every time I think I'm getting the hang of how brewers used the term, they surprise me again. I suspect it was just random whether a beer was called a Pale Ale or an India Pale Ale. Fowler's two pre-war IPA's are a good bit stronger than their Pale Ales at 1046º. Postwar, it's a feeble 1030º. I'm surprised the Style Council didn't jump all over them.
Heavy. I've explained its meaning in Scottish brewing several times, but it doesn't hurt repeating. Strong, that's all it means. Not a specific style. Just strong. As is clear from the 1948 Heavy Ale. It's not Heavy as in 70/- Pale Ale, but Heavy as in Strong Ale. I know it's confusing. What in Scottish beer isn't?
I really wish a colour had been given for the Sweet Ale. If it was dark, I suppose it could be classified as a Brown Ale. As it is, I've no idea what to call it. With that high finishing gravity, it must have been sweet as its name claims. It doesn't resemble any other beer I can remember coming across. Bit of a weird one.
The one Stout doesn't tell us much. Except that it's in the sweet, low-gravity, low-attenuation Scottish style. Which is no real surprise.
Here's the table itself:
Fowler beers 1862 - 1961
Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation
Flavour
1862
Prestonpans Beer
Pale Ale
1010
1047.1
4.86
78.77%
1862
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
1008
1057.4
6.50
85.89%
1869
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
draught
0.29
1013
1053.55
5.34
74.94%
1869
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
draught
0.29
1013
1054.76
5.38
76.57%
1869
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
draught
0.27
1007
1044.99
4.95
84.51%
1869
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
draught
0.28
1002
1039.15
4.93
95.71%
1928
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
3d
half
bottled
1010
1027
30
2.20
62.96%
1928
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
4d
half
bottled
1014
1036
35
2.84
61.11%
1930
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
3d
half
bottled
1009
1027.5
31
2.39
67.27%
1930
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1012
1039
46
3.50
69.23%
1931
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1009
1028
32
2.46
67.86%
1931
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
4d
half
bottled
1007
1027.5
2.72
76.36%
1931
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1007
1026
31
2.46
73.08%
1932
Sweet Ale
Ale
pint
bottled
1021
1040.5
2.57
49.38%
1939
I.P.A. (XP)
IPA
pint
bottled
1011
1046.25
7 – 8
4.61
76.76%
1939
90/- Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1010
1037.5
10
3.63
74.67%
1939
I.P.A. (XP)
IPA
pint
bottled
1011
1046.5
4.68
77.42%
1939
60/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1010
1038.5
11
3.70
74.03%
1940
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1011
1037
3.37
70.27%
1946
60/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1009
1029
2.59
68.97%
Sweetish. Appears to be primed. Lacks all character.
1947
120/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1011
1039.5
3.69
72.15%
Sound good round beer. Drinks full. Bright.
1947
Heavy Ale
Strong Ale
pint
bottled
1026
1081.4
7.27
68.67%
1948
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
pint
bottled
1020
1079.5
7.84
75.47%
1948
54/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1007
1028
2.72
75.00%
1949
XP (extra Pale)
Pale Ale
9s 3d per dozen
pint
bottled
1009
1029.5
2.65
69.49%
1949
India Pale Ale (Extra Pale)
IPA
pint
bottled
1009
1030
2.72
70.00%
1955
Stout
Stout
1/3d
half
bottled
0.04
1019
1038
400
2.49
51.05%
1961
Export Ale
Pale Ale
15d
half
bottled
0.04
1014
1044
20
3.79
68.86%
Sources:
"The lancet 1853, Volume 2", 1853, page 631.
British Medical Journal August 28th 1869, page 245
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
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
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i3JsJVwMe2o/Ts0IIwQdHyI/AAAAAAAAIYo/nqkfk1Wz9zU/s320/Fowler_beers_1862_1961.JPG (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i3JsJVwMe2o/Ts0IIwQdHyI/AAAAAAAAIYo/nqkfk1Wz9zU/s1600/Fowler_beers_1862_1961.JPG)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-5815615525754161551?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/11/fowlers-other-beers-1862-1961.html)
Fowler may have been best known for their Twelve Guinea Ale, but it wasn't the only beer they brewed. OH no indeedy. They brewed a normal range of a Scottish brewery: Pale Ale, Stout, IPA, etc.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7_0lMXsjZmk/Ts0Ht_1BDbI/AAAAAAAAIYg/F9IcjhcgXRk/s320/Fowlers_Brewers_Best_Export_1958.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7_0lMXsjZmk/Ts0Ht_1BDbI/AAAAAAAAIYg/F9IcjhcgXRk/s1600/Fowlers_Brewers_Best_Export_1958.jpg)
As you should be aware by now, Fowler's brewery in Prestonpans closed in 1962. That means I've beers spanning the last 100 years of their existence. Cool, eh? Back in the 19th century, like the brewers of Edinburgh and Alloa, they were as famous for their Pale Ales as their strong Scottish Ales. Bit of a recurring theme that one. Breweries specialising in both Pale Ale and Barley Wine type things. It explains why I've several analyses of Fowler's Pale Ale from the 1860's.
Straight away there's something that jumps out: the 19th-century PA's aren't that strong. A proper top-of-the-range Pale Ale of the 1860's was 1060º to 1065º. All of Fowler's are under 1060º and one is even below 1040º. That's kiddy beer for the Victorians. There's something else. The acidity. 0.27 to 0.29% is rather a lot. You'd expect a Pale Ale to be well below 0.10%.
The interwar Pale Ales are pretty weedy, too. Most are under 1030º. Even cheap London Pale Ales would have been over 1040º. Note the change in level of attenuation. The 19th century Pale Ales are 75% to 95%, the interwar ones 61% to 75%. That's quite a shift.
There's not much change after WW II. Most of the Pale Ales hover around the 1030º mark. Again, that's a few points off the pace. An average Bitter just after the war's end was around 1035º. The final analysis, Export Ale from 1961 is uncharacteristically strong. In fact, about exactly where you would expect an Export to be, gravity-wise. 1040º to 1054º the BJCP says the gravity range of Export is. They should know.
IPA. Every time I think I'm getting the hang of how brewers used the term, they surprise me again. I suspect it was just random whether a beer was called a Pale Ale or an India Pale Ale. Fowler's two pre-war IPA's are a good bit stronger than their Pale Ales at 1046º. Postwar, it's a feeble 1030º. I'm surprised the Style Council didn't jump all over them.
Heavy. I've explained its meaning in Scottish brewing several times, but it doesn't hurt repeating. Strong, that's all it means. Not a specific style. Just strong. As is clear from the 1948 Heavy Ale. It's not Heavy as in 70/- Pale Ale, but Heavy as in Strong Ale. I know it's confusing. What in Scottish beer isn't?
I really wish a colour had been given for the Sweet Ale. If it was dark, I suppose it could be classified as a Brown Ale. As it is, I've no idea what to call it. With that high finishing gravity, it must have been sweet as its name claims. It doesn't resemble any other beer I can remember coming across. Bit of a weird one.
The one Stout doesn't tell us much. Except that it's in the sweet, low-gravity, low-attenuation Scottish style. Which is no real surprise.
Here's the table itself:
Fowler beers 1862 - 1961
Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation
Flavour
1862
Prestonpans Beer
Pale Ale
1010
1047.1
4.86
78.77%
1862
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
1008
1057.4
6.50
85.89%
1869
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
draught
0.29
1013
1053.55
5.34
74.94%
1869
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
draught
0.29
1013
1054.76
5.38
76.57%
1869
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
draught
0.27
1007
1044.99
4.95
84.51%
1869
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
draught
0.28
1002
1039.15
4.93
95.71%
1928
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
3d
half
bottled
1010
1027
30
2.20
62.96%
1928
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
4d
half
bottled
1014
1036
35
2.84
61.11%
1930
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
3d
half
bottled
1009
1027.5
31
2.39
67.27%
1930
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1012
1039
46
3.50
69.23%
1931
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1009
1028
32
2.46
67.86%
1931
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
4d
half
bottled
1007
1027.5
2.72
76.36%
1931
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1007
1026
31
2.46
73.08%
1932
Sweet Ale
Ale
pint
bottled
1021
1040.5
2.57
49.38%
1939
I.P.A. (XP)
IPA
pint
bottled
1011
1046.25
7 – 8
4.61
76.76%
1939
90/- Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1010
1037.5
10
3.63
74.67%
1939
I.P.A. (XP)
IPA
pint
bottled
1011
1046.5
4.68
77.42%
1939
60/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1010
1038.5
11
3.70
74.03%
1940
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1011
1037
3.37
70.27%
1946
60/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1009
1029
2.59
68.97%
Sweetish. Appears to be primed. Lacks all character.
1947
120/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1011
1039.5
3.69
72.15%
Sound good round beer. Drinks full. Bright.
1947
Heavy Ale
Strong Ale
pint
bottled
1026
1081.4
7.27
68.67%
1948
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
pint
bottled
1020
1079.5
7.84
75.47%
1948
54/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1007
1028
2.72
75.00%
1949
XP (extra Pale)
Pale Ale
9s 3d per dozen
pint
bottled
1009
1029.5
2.65
69.49%
1949
India Pale Ale (Extra Pale)
IPA
pint
bottled
1009
1030
2.72
70.00%
1955
Stout
Stout
1/3d
half
bottled
0.04
1019
1038
400
2.49
51.05%
1961
Export Ale
Pale Ale
15d
half
bottled
0.04
1014
1044
20
3.79
68.86%
Sources:
"The lancet 1853, Volume 2", 1853, page 631.
British Medical Journal August 28th 1869, page 245
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
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
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i3JsJVwMe2o/Ts0IIwQdHyI/AAAAAAAAIYo/nqkfk1Wz9zU/s320/Fowler_beers_1862_1961.JPG (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i3JsJVwMe2o/Ts0IIwQdHyI/AAAAAAAAIYo/nqkfk1Wz9zU/s1600/Fowler_beers_1862_1961.JPG)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-5815615525754161551?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/11/fowlers-other-beers-1862-1961.html)