Shut up about Barclay Perkins - League table of London Milds in the 1920's

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So here we are. At the end of a marathon series of posts about London Mild Ale quality in the 1920's. I've laughed, you've cried, we've all forgotten why I started this in the first place.

But to start off I thought I'd summarise the vital statistics of the London Milds we've been looking at. I've averaged out the values for each of the beers. I think you'll agree that they give us some fascinating insights. No? OK, they tell us one thing. London brewers kept a very close eye on each other.

Why do I say that? Because the OG's of Milds in the same class are all very close to each other. I've used the price per pint in 1922 to divide them up: 5d, 6d and 7d. The three 5d Milds have a variation of less than 1 point. If you leave out Watney, the spread across the 7d Milds is exactly 1 point. There's slightly more variation in the 6d Milds - 2.4 points altogether, but the majority are 1034-1035º.

Attenuation is in the high 70's or low 80's for the vast majority of the Milds. Only Hoare X and Truman X were significantly lower.

Here's all the information in handy table form:

Average values for London Mild Ales in the 1920's
Brewery	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Price per pint
Meux	MA	1028.1	1005.9	2.88	78.93%	5d
Whitbread	MA	1028.7	1005.1	3.06	82.04%	5d
Truman	MA	1029.0	1007.5	2.79	74.31%	5d
City of London	X	1033.7	1006.4	3.55	81.04%	6d
Hoare	X	1033.8	1009.8	3.11	71.16%	6d
Courage	X	1034.5	1007.3	3.53	78.76%	6d
Wenlock	X	1034.6	1007.2	3.57	79.21%	6d
Cannon	X	1035.1	1008.1	3.53	77.11%	6d
Huggins	X	1036.0	1008.1	3.63	77.57%	6d
Charrington	X	1040.8	1008.7	4.17	78.63%	7d
Lion Brewery	X	1040.9	1007.6	4.33	81.37%	7d
Meux	X	1041.2	1008.2	4.28	80.02%	7d
Truman	X	1041.2	1011.8	3.82	71.44%	7d
Whitbread	X	1041.2	1007.6	4.38	81.62%	7d
Mann	X	1041.3	1008.2	4.26	79.96%	7d
Barclay Perkins	X	1041.8	1010.7	4.01	74.38%	7d
Watney	X	1043.6	1008.8	4.50	79.65%	7d
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.

Let's get on with what I'm sure you've all been waiting for, the London Mild Premier League Table for 1925. It's a bit surprising for anyone who started their drinking in the 1970's, like I did:

League table of London Milds in the 1920's by score
Brewery	Beer	No. examples	no. bright	% bright	no. good flavour	% good flavour	average score
City of London	X	12	4	33.33%	3	25.00%	-1.25
Charrington	X	10	3	30.00%	5	50.00%	-0.70
Barclay Perkins	X	14	1	7.14%	5	35.71%	-0.64
Truman	MA	8	4	50.00%	2	25.00%	-0.63
Meux	MA	7	4	57.14%	2	28.57%	-0.57
Whitbread	X	5	3	60.00%	2	40.00%	-0.2
Meux	X	11	6	54.55%	6	54.55%	0
Huggins	X	10	6	60.00%	7	70.00%	0.20
Hoare	X	10	7	70.00%	7	70.00%	0.30
Courage	X	16	15	93.75%	11	68.75%	0.38
Lion Brewery	X	10	5	50.00%	6	60.00%	0.40
Truman	X	14	11	78.57%	9	64.29%	0.5
Cannon	X	14	9	64.29%	9	64.29%	0.54
Whitbread	MA	3	0	0.00%	2	66.67%	0.67
Wenlock	X	12	8	66.67%	10	83.33%	1.17
Watney	X	17	16	94.12%	15	88.24%	1.25
Mann	X	15	10	66.67%	11	73.33%	1.33
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001

Yes, it's true: Watney and Mann (in my young days combined into one evil conglomerate) come out on top. As they were two of the beers for which there were the most samples, I don't think it's a freak result. Just shows how dangerous it is to project the future into the past. That their beer was shit in the 1970's tells you nothing about its quality pre-war.

Wenlock is a surprising third with a very respectable score. Whitbread MA at number four is even more surprising, but that is based on just three samples. The X Ales of Huggins, Hoare, Courage, Lion Brewery, Truman and Cannon all come out with modestly positive scores.

It was saddening to see so many of the great Porter breweries with negative scores - City of London, Charrington, Truman, Meux, Whitbread and my own favourite Barclay Perkins. The one other brewery with a negative score was Charrington, one of London's most renowned Ale brewers. All very odd.

One last table. These are the beers rated by clarity:

League table of London Milds in the 1920's by clarity
Brewery	Beer	No. examples	no. bright	% bright	no. good flavour	% good flavour	average score
Whitbread	MA	3	0	0.00%	2	66.67%	0.67
Barclay Perkins	X	14	1	7.14%	5	35.71%	-0.64
Charrington	X	10	3	30.00%	5	50.00%	-0.70
City of London	X	12	4	33.33%	3	25.00%	-1.25
Truman	MA	8	4	50.00%	2	25.00%	-0.63
Lion Brewery	X	10	5	50.00%	6	60.00%	0.40
Meux	X	11	6	54.55%	6	54.55%	0
Meux	MA	7	4	57.14%	2	28.57%	-0.57
Whitbread	X	5	3	60.00%	2	40.00%	-0.2
Huggins	X	10	6	60.00%	7	70.00%	0.20
Cannon	X	14	9	64.29%	9	64.29%	0.54
Wenlock	X	12	8	66.67%	10	83.33%	1.17
Mann	X	15	10	66.67%	11	73.33%	1.33
Hoare	X	10	7	70.00%	7	70.00%	0.30
Truman	X	14	11	78.57%	9	64.29%	0.5
Courage	X	16	15	93.75%	11	68.75%	0.38
Watney	X	17	16	94.12%	15	88.24%	1.25
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.

Slightly different results, but Watney still does very well.



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