Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Barclay Perkins Burton Ale quality 1922 - 1924
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You must have guessed what's happening. The title has given that away. I've moved on to Burton Ale.
This will take a while so I'd make yourself comfortable. Once again we'll be trundling through the breweries in alphabetic order because, er, I can't think of anything better. And the tables are already in that order. Makes it easier for me to keep track of who I've already done.
We begin with my fave, Barclay Perkins.
They did seem interested in doing up their pubs:
"Public-House Improvements.
At the annual meeting of the Barclay Perkins Brewery Company the chairman stated that the best way to defeat the prohibition and local option movements was by the improvement of the public-house. According to this representative of the liquor trade, the Trade can do as well or better than the Government in improving the public-houses. This deliverance is an admission that there is room for improvement of the public-houses and also that the Trade can do something for the ensuring of improvement. As matter of fact, prohibition and local option movements are making progress because the Trade has not succeeded in improving the public-houses or the conditions of the working of the liquor traffic. The Trade lavishing money on opposition to the local option movement, and this means opposition to freedom to the full majorities of citizens declaring for or against the maintenance of unimproved public-houses in their areas."
Evening Telegraph - Tuesday 29 June 1920, page 2.
So why was their beer often in shit condition? "Local option" was a system where an area would vote for or against having licensed premises. In never became law in England. In Scotland it did, but suppression of pubs only ever happened in a few places.
As you'd expect, Barclay Perkins Burton had a gravity in the 1050's. In contrast to before WW I, when it was 68-70%, the rate of attenuation is quite high, around 80%. Then again, the gravity had been over 1070ยบ in 1914.
The example at 1046.3 looks wrong. My guess would be that it had been watered or slops of another beer added to it. It doesn't sound very appetising.
| Barclay Perkins Burton Ale quality 1922 - 1924 |
| Year |
Beer |
FG |
OG |
ABV |
App. Atten-uation |
Appearance |
Flavour |
score |
| 1922 |
KK |
1012 |
1056.2 |
5.80 |
79.18% |
cloudy |
fair |
1 |
| 1922 |
KK |
1011 |
1052.3 |
5.41 |
79.35% |
not bright |
yeast bitter |
-1 |
| 1922 |
KK |
1013 |
1052.5 |
5.20 |
76.19% |
not quite bright |
fair |
1 |
| 1922 |
KK |
1011 |
1054.1 |
5.67 |
80.41% |
bright |
fair |
1 |
| 1923 |
KK |
1010 |
1051.9 |
5.41 |
79.96% |
almost bright |
fair |
1 |
| 1923 |
KK |
1010 |
1050 |
5.21 |
80.00% |
brilliant |
rather bitter |
-1 |
| 1923 |
KK |
1010 |
1050 |
5.21 |
80.00% |
hazy |
v poor |
-2 |
| 1923 |
KK |
1011 |
1051.4 |
5.21 |
77.82% |
not bright |
full |
1 |
| 1923 |
KK |
1009 |
1046.3 |
4.88 |
80.99% |
very thick |
very sour |
-3 |
| 1924 |
KK |
1012 |
1055.5 |
5.64 |
78.02% |
brilliant |
good |
2 |
| 1924 |
KK |
1010 |
1056.5 |
6.02 |
81.59% |
bright |
going off |
-2 |
| Average |
1011 |
1052.43 |
5.42 |
79.41% |
|
|
-0.18 |
| Source: |
| Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001 |
They're having problems with clarity again. Only four of eleven are bright. Really poor. Six get positive scores for flavour, but only one is higher than a one. There are three pretty bad ones. I'd take them back.
I'm very disappointed by my heroes. I'm starting to think I won't rush into their pubs when I'm back in 1923. Maybe the brewery tap. The beer would have to be in good nick there. Wouldn't it?
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