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22-12-2011, 07:23
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All this talk about Aitken is giving me a thirst. How about taking a look at some of their beers?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gDgtcZubayM/TuX3JRYz_uI/AAAAAAAAIcw/pSCaCD0Oz8c/s400/Aitkens_Ales_Advert.JPG (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gDgtcZubayM/TuX3JRYz_uI/AAAAAAAAIcw/pSCaCD0Oz8c/s1600/Aitkens_Ales_Advert.JPG)
As with other brewers, the vast majority of their beers for which I have details are Pale Ales. Let's start with those from between the wars. Almost all are in the 1034º to 1040º range, which was typical for 60/- and 70/- Pale Ales of the time. Most 70/- PA's were around the top end of that and 60/- PA's around the bottom end. The two outliers are the Heavy Export from 1934, which is a very respectable 1055º. That's about the same as a top-end London Pale Ale. Was it really a export beer? Hard to say. The word Export seems have been used in many ways in Scotland, only sometimes meaning beer that was really shipped abroad.
You'll note some inconsistencies in the names. 90/-, for example. Logic would dictate that it would be a good bit stronger than 60/- or 70/- PA. But it isn't. At 1038.8º, it has the gravity of a 70/- PA. Though this example of 90/- is relatively strong. I've seen plenty that were closer to 1030º. I need hardly say that this should not be confused with modern beers called 90/-, which are Strong Ales. Ah, those pesky Scots with their confusing names.
Then there's "Heavy" and "Export". Today they're used to denote specific strengths of Scottish Pale Ale, being equivalent to Bitter and Best Bitter respectively. There's no such clarity in the pre-war naming. One beer even combining the two. You're probably bored of hearing me say this, but "Heavy" was used to mean just "Strong" until quite recently. Its specific meaning seems of recent origin.
The post-war Pale Ales like quite similar, just with a few gravity points shaved off. 60/- PA is down to just over 1030º and Heavy or 70/- PA to 1035º. I'm sort of assuming that Heavy by this time was synonymous with 70/-. Export, at 1043º, certainly looks like what we all know and love as Export or 80/-. And then there's than pesky 90/-. With a gravity slightly lower than 60/-. Where's the logic in that?
Let's move on to the Stouts. They look like typical Scottish Sweet Stouts: low attenuation, low ABV. How did they get such low attenuation without the use of lactose? It's a mystery to me.
I've not much to say about the Strong Ales. Except that they look very much like I would expect. Dark brown in colour and around 6% ABV. It's interesting that pretty much every Scottish brewery I've looked at continued to brew beers of this type after WW II. There were many English brewers with no product than 4.5% ABV. This is also the type of Scottish beer which was best known outside Scotland. And the basis for the beers described as Scotch Ale in Belgium.
Finally there's that lonely Brown Ale. It looks like a classic Double Brown to me. A reasonably well attenuated beer of over 1050º. Rather like Whitbread's Double Brown. I'd love to see the recipe. Whitbread's Double Brown was quite heavily hopped - more so than any of their Pale Ales. Was this similar?
Here's the table for you to peruse at your leisure:
James Aitken beers 1906 - 1964
Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Attenuation
1934
Falkirk Brown Ale
Brown Ale
pint
bottled
1011
1053
5.47
79.25%
1906
54/- PA
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1048.1
8
1922
PA
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1009.2
1036.2
3.50
74.59%
1925
??
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1010
1039
3.76
74.36%
1926
Sparkling Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1005
1034
40
3.77
85.29%
1926
PA
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1007
1034
40
3.51
79.41%
1934
Heavy Export
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1010
1055
5.87
81.82%
1937
60/- Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1006.5
1038.5
13 – 14
4.16
83.12%
1938
Falkirk Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1004
1040.5
4.77
90.12%
1938
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1006.8
1039.8
11
4.30
83.02%
1938
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1006.8
1039.8
11
4.30
83.02%
1938
90/- Ale
Pale Ale
6d
pint
bottled
1007.3
1038.8
13
4.10
81.29%
1938
Heavy Ale
Pale Ale
7d
pint
draught
1007
1045
13 – 14
4.95
84.44%
1939
60/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1008.3
1036.8
3.70
77.55%
1940
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1004.5
1038
4.37
88.16%
1941
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1006.5
1037
3.97
82.43%
1948
Heavy Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1006.5
1040.5
4.43
83.95%
1949
60/-
Pale Ale
15d
pint
draught
1007
1030.5
3.05
77.05%
1949
Heavy Beer
Pale Ale
20d
pint
bottled
1011.5
1034.5
2.97
66.67%
1949
90/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1006.5
1030
3.05
78.33%
1954
Export Ale
Pale Ale
bottled
0.05
1011.6
1043.2
27
4.10
73.15%
1955
Export Ale
Pale Ale
1/3d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1009.3
1043.7
27
4.47
78.72%
1959
Sparkling Ale
Pale Ale
10d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1006.4
1031.1
45
3.09
79.42%
1961
Export Ale
Pale Ale
15d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1011
1043
21
4.00
74.42%
1964
Sparkling Ale
Pale Ale
12d
half pint
bottled
0.05
1007.8
1032.6
40
3.10
76.07%
1949
Stout
Stout
pint
bottled
1020
1038.5
2.38
48.05%
1954
A Stout
Stout
1/2d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1021.2
1041.4
1 + 20
2.59
48.79%
1959
Stout
Stout
14d
halfpint
bottled
1022.3
1039.4
250
2.19
43.40%
1961
Stout (no lactose)
Stout
15d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1022
1038.9
275
2.11
43.44%
1948
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
18d
half pint
bottled
1021
1067.5
6.04
68.89%
1953
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
1/2.5d
nip
bottled
0.06
1018.3
1065.6
15 + 40
6.15
72.10%
1955
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
1/3d
nip
bottled
0.05
1020.3
1067
105
6.06
69.70%
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11
Document WY/6/1/1/14 of the William Younger archive 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 held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-8929391349025568287?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/12/james-aitken-beers-1906-1964.html)
All this talk about Aitken is giving me a thirst. How about taking a look at some of their beers?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gDgtcZubayM/TuX3JRYz_uI/AAAAAAAAIcw/pSCaCD0Oz8c/s400/Aitkens_Ales_Advert.JPG (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gDgtcZubayM/TuX3JRYz_uI/AAAAAAAAIcw/pSCaCD0Oz8c/s1600/Aitkens_Ales_Advert.JPG)
As with other brewers, the vast majority of their beers for which I have details are Pale Ales. Let's start with those from between the wars. Almost all are in the 1034º to 1040º range, which was typical for 60/- and 70/- Pale Ales of the time. Most 70/- PA's were around the top end of that and 60/- PA's around the bottom end. The two outliers are the Heavy Export from 1934, which is a very respectable 1055º. That's about the same as a top-end London Pale Ale. Was it really a export beer? Hard to say. The word Export seems have been used in many ways in Scotland, only sometimes meaning beer that was really shipped abroad.
You'll note some inconsistencies in the names. 90/-, for example. Logic would dictate that it would be a good bit stronger than 60/- or 70/- PA. But it isn't. At 1038.8º, it has the gravity of a 70/- PA. Though this example of 90/- is relatively strong. I've seen plenty that were closer to 1030º. I need hardly say that this should not be confused with modern beers called 90/-, which are Strong Ales. Ah, those pesky Scots with their confusing names.
Then there's "Heavy" and "Export". Today they're used to denote specific strengths of Scottish Pale Ale, being equivalent to Bitter and Best Bitter respectively. There's no such clarity in the pre-war naming. One beer even combining the two. You're probably bored of hearing me say this, but "Heavy" was used to mean just "Strong" until quite recently. Its specific meaning seems of recent origin.
The post-war Pale Ales like quite similar, just with a few gravity points shaved off. 60/- PA is down to just over 1030º and Heavy or 70/- PA to 1035º. I'm sort of assuming that Heavy by this time was synonymous with 70/-. Export, at 1043º, certainly looks like what we all know and love as Export or 80/-. And then there's than pesky 90/-. With a gravity slightly lower than 60/-. Where's the logic in that?
Let's move on to the Stouts. They look like typical Scottish Sweet Stouts: low attenuation, low ABV. How did they get such low attenuation without the use of lactose? It's a mystery to me.
I've not much to say about the Strong Ales. Except that they look very much like I would expect. Dark brown in colour and around 6% ABV. It's interesting that pretty much every Scottish brewery I've looked at continued to brew beers of this type after WW II. There were many English brewers with no product than 4.5% ABV. This is also the type of Scottish beer which was best known outside Scotland. And the basis for the beers described as Scotch Ale in Belgium.
Finally there's that lonely Brown Ale. It looks like a classic Double Brown to me. A reasonably well attenuated beer of over 1050º. Rather like Whitbread's Double Brown. I'd love to see the recipe. Whitbread's Double Brown was quite heavily hopped - more so than any of their Pale Ales. Was this similar?
Here's the table for you to peruse at your leisure:
James Aitken beers 1906 - 1964
Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Attenuation
1934
Falkirk Brown Ale
Brown Ale
pint
bottled
1011
1053
5.47
79.25%
1906
54/- PA
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1048.1
8
1922
PA
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1009.2
1036.2
3.50
74.59%
1925
??
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1010
1039
3.76
74.36%
1926
Sparkling Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1005
1034
40
3.77
85.29%
1926
PA
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1007
1034
40
3.51
79.41%
1934
Heavy Export
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1010
1055
5.87
81.82%
1937
60/- Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1006.5
1038.5
13 – 14
4.16
83.12%
1938
Falkirk Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1004
1040.5
4.77
90.12%
1938
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1006.8
1039.8
11
4.30
83.02%
1938
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
draught
1006.8
1039.8
11
4.30
83.02%
1938
90/- Ale
Pale Ale
6d
pint
bottled
1007.3
1038.8
13
4.10
81.29%
1938
Heavy Ale
Pale Ale
7d
pint
draught
1007
1045
13 – 14
4.95
84.44%
1939
60/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1008.3
1036.8
3.70
77.55%
1940
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1004.5
1038
4.37
88.16%
1941
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1006.5
1037
3.97
82.43%
1948
Heavy Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1006.5
1040.5
4.43
83.95%
1949
60/-
Pale Ale
15d
pint
draught
1007
1030.5
3.05
77.05%
1949
Heavy Beer
Pale Ale
20d
pint
bottled
1011.5
1034.5
2.97
66.67%
1949
90/- Ale
Pale Ale
pint
bottled
1006.5
1030
3.05
78.33%
1954
Export Ale
Pale Ale
bottled
0.05
1011.6
1043.2
27
4.10
73.15%
1955
Export Ale
Pale Ale
1/3d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1009.3
1043.7
27
4.47
78.72%
1959
Sparkling Ale
Pale Ale
10d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1006.4
1031.1
45
3.09
79.42%
1961
Export Ale
Pale Ale
15d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1011
1043
21
4.00
74.42%
1964
Sparkling Ale
Pale Ale
12d
half pint
bottled
0.05
1007.8
1032.6
40
3.10
76.07%
1949
Stout
Stout
pint
bottled
1020
1038.5
2.38
48.05%
1954
A Stout
Stout
1/2d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1021.2
1041.4
1 + 20
2.59
48.79%
1959
Stout
Stout
14d
halfpint
bottled
1022.3
1039.4
250
2.19
43.40%
1961
Stout (no lactose)
Stout
15d
half pint
bottled
0.04
1022
1038.9
275
2.11
43.44%
1948
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
18d
half pint
bottled
1021
1067.5
6.04
68.89%
1953
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
1/2.5d
nip
bottled
0.06
1018.3
1065.6
15 + 40
6.15
72.10%
1955
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
1/3d
nip
bottled
0.05
1020.3
1067
105
6.06
69.70%
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11
Document WY/6/1/1/14 of the William Younger archive 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 held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-8929391349025568287?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/12/james-aitken-beers-1906-1964.html)