Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Burton and other dark beers in 1955
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I'm beginning to realise how many writers have used Andrew Campbell as a source. I'm not surprised. His "The Book Of Beer" is much more fact-heavy than other books of the period.
Today continuing with his description of 1950's beer types. First Burton and other strong, dark Ales:
"In winter months a still stronger type of dark beer is available which goes under the name of 'Burton' or 'old'. Prices will range from one shilling and sevenpence to one shilling an elevenpence a pint Burtons vary in flavour, some are quite strongly hopped, others retain the bitter-sweet flavour of mild beer. Gravities range from 1040º to 1050º.
Over 1050º beers may have the same dark colour as milds and Burtons, and as they are mostly rather sweet they could be grouped in the same family, but their strength and other qualities merit separate consideration.
"The Book Of Beer" by Andrew Campbell, 1956, pages 84-85.
He describes Burton as a winter seasonal beer. That's a change from 40 years previously, when it was a year-round brew. I suppose that was the first step on the path to obscurity, being available only part of the year. Which is how Burton still clings on today, in the form of Young's Winter Warmer. At most breweries the code used for Burton was KK.
The stronger dark beers referred to will be things like KKK and KKKK. Barclay Perkins brewed a KKKK for the Christmas period. In the 1930's, it had a gravity of around 1080º.
Here are some examples of such beers:
Strong Ales in the mid 1950's
Year
Brewer
Beer
size
package
Atten-uation
Barclay Perkins
KK
pint
draught
Charrington
KK
pint
draught
Charrington
Burton
pint
draught
Courage
XXX
pint
draught
Ind Coope
Double Burton
pint
draught
Mann Crossman
Burton
pint
draught
Mann Crossman
Dragon Ale
pint
draught
Meux
Treble Gold
pint
draught
Murray W
Heavy Ale
nip
bottled
Norman & Pring [Exeter]
Nap Ale
half
bottled
Truman
SA
pint
draught
Watney
KKKK
pint
draught
Whitbread
KKKK
pint
draught
Young & Co
Celebration Ale
nip
bottled
Source:
Whitbread Gravity Book
Next come Brown Ales:
"Between mild beers and stouts lie many types of brown ale, finished and filtered milds specially brewed for bottling. Brown ales again are sweet in flavour, but less full and creamy than stouts. Brown ales will probably be non-deposit beers to pour clear and sparkiling, but stouts will often be left to work after bottling. 'Home-brewed' is a title often given to brown ales, and will be met especially in the West Country. An average gravity for brown ale is about 1033º, which is a little above the weakest milds. Stouts range from this figure upwards. Price is a good guide to gravity, for if the price of the stout should be a fraction above that of a brown ale then it may be taken that the stout is a fraction stronger. The gravity of a pale ale and a brown ale may be the same if the price is the same, but the odds are that the pale ale will be a little lower."
"The Book Of Beer" by Andrew Campbell, 1956, page 85.
This is a bit more contentious. He calls Brown Ale nothing more than bottled Mild. I believe he was right in many cases, but there were still plenty of stronger Brown Ales that were quite different from Mild. And, of course, a beer like Newcastle Brown is a very different beast from ordinary Mild.
Just to show you what I mean, here's a variety of Brown Ales of the period:
Brown Ales in the mid 1950's
Year
Brewer
Beer
size
Atten-uation
Aitchison & Co
Gold Seal Brown Ale
half pint
Alnwick Brewery Co
Brown Ale
half pint
Alton Court Brewery
Brown Ale
half pint
Ansell, Birmingham
Nut Brown
half pint
Beasley
Coronation Ale
half pint
Birkenhead Brewery
Nut Brown Ale
half pint
Brickwoods
Brown Brew
half pint
Bullard & Sons [Norwich]
Brown Ale
half pint
Cobb & Co
Brown Ale
pint
Cobbold & Co, Ipswich
Cobnut Brown Ale
half pint
Darley, Thorne
Barley Brown
half pint
Duttons Brewery Blackburn
Nut Brown Ale
half pint
Everards
Burton Brown
half pint
Felinfoel
John Brown Ale
half pint
Flowers
Poacher Ale
half pint
Georges & Co, Bristol
Brown Ale
half pint
Gibbs Mew & Co. Ltd.
Moonraker Brown Ale
half pint
Greene King
Harvest Brown Ale
half pint
Greenhall Whitley
Wilderspool Brown Ale
half pint
Hammonds United Breweries
Brown Jack Ale
half pint
Hey & Son [Bradford]
White Rose Ale
pint
J Bernard Ltd
Double Brown Ale
half pint
Kemp Town Brewery, Brighton
Double Dolphin Ale
half pint
McMullen, Hertford
Nut Brown Ale
half pint
McMullen, Hertford
Olde Time Ale
nip
Mitchell & Butler,
Sam Brown
half pint
Morgans Brewery Ltd [Norwich]
Brown Ale
half pint
Newcastle Breweries
Brown Ale
half pint
Newcastle Breweries
Brown Ale
half pint
Northampton Brewery
Brown Ale
pint
Northern Clubs Federation
High Level Brown Ale
half pint
Offilers
Nut Brown
half pint
Peter Walker Ltd
Brown Peter Ale
half pint
Plymouth Breweries
Double Brown Ale
half pint
Ruddle
Nut Brown Ale
half pint
Samuel Smith Tadcaster
Taddy Nut Brown
half pint
Samuel Webster
Sam Brown Ale
half pint
Shipstone
Nut Brown Ale
pint
Simonds
Berry Brown Ale
half pint
St. Anne's Well Brewery [Exeter]
Brown Ale
half pint
Steward & Patteson, Norwich
Brown Ale
half pint
Stroud Brewery Ltd
Cotswold Brown Ale
half pint
Tamplin
Baby Browm
nip
Tennant Bros. Ltd, Sheffield
Lion Brown Ale
half pint
Tennant Bros. Ltd, Sheffield
Family Brown Ale
pint
Tetley
Family Ale
pint
Unknown Brewer
Burton Nut Brown Ale
half pint
Ushers Trowbridge
Brown Ale
half pint
Ushers Wiltshire Brewery [Trowbridge]
Triple Brown
half pint
Vale of Neath Brewery
???? Brown Ale
half pint
Vaux & Co
Double Maxim Ale
half pint
Wadworth
Middy Brown Ale
half pint
Whitbread
Double Brown
half pint
Whitbread
Forest Brown
half pint
Wm. Younger & Co
"Wee Willie" Brown Ale
half pint
Wm. Younger & Co
Edinburgh Brown Ale
half pint
Worthington
Nut Brown Ale
half pint
Young & Son Portsmouth
Chestnut Brown Ale
half pint
Source:
Whitbread Gravity Book
Still several more types of beer to go. Then we'll get onto the specific brands. That will be particularly revealing.https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...s.blogspot.com
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