Shut up about Barclay Perkins - London X Ales 1880 - 1899
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In the 1870s Mild replaced Porter as London’s favourite beer. At least if Whitbread are anything to go by. Their X Ale outsold their Porter for the first time in 1875. Within a decade it had pulled far ahead, outselling Porter almost two to one. X Ale remained Whitbread’s best-selling beer at the start of WW II. That’s quite a stint as top dog.
The big London Porter breweries didn’t even brew Mild Ale until the 1830s. Before that, they had concentrated exclusively on Porter and Stout. This might have been for purely logistical reasons as until 1829, Beer (i.e. Porter and Stout) came in different-sized barrels to Ale. Though the beginning of a wane in Porter’s popularity might well also have played a role.
In the 1830s and 1840s, London brewers produced a full range of Mild Ales, from X to XXXX. Gradually the stronger versions, of which only modest quantities were ever brewed, were discontinued. A few stronger Milds were still around in the 1880s, but a decade later pretty much only X Ale survived. Albeit being brewed in massive quantities.
Late 19th-century X Ales look ridiculously strong to modern eyes, often weighing in at over around 1060º. Believe it or not, gravities had declined. In the 1850s, most London examples of the style had been over 1070º.
It wasn’t just in terms of gravity that these Milds differed from modern versions. The rate of hopping was much higher. Averaging around 8 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, my calculations leave some at over 50 IBU. A crazily high level of bitterness to today’s eyes.
| London X Ales 1880 - 1899 |
| Year |
Brewer |
OG |
FG |
ABV |
App. Atten-uation |
lbs hops/ qtr |
hops lb/brl |
| 1880 |
Barclay Perkins |
1060.7 |
1013.6 |
6.23 |
77.63% |
10.29 |
2.69 |
| 1886 |
Barclay Perkins |
1055.0 |
1010.0 |
5.96 |
81.87% |
6.42 |
1.61 |
| 1886 |
Barclay Perkins |
1064.0 |
1015.0 |
6.49 |
76.63% |
8.00 |
1.97 |
| 1887 |
Barclay Perkins |
1059.0 |
1016.1 |
5.68 |
72.77% |
6.07 |
1.34 |
| 1890 |
Barclay Perkins |
1058.0 |
1016.9 |
5.44 |
70.87% |
9.06 |
2.19 |
| 1899 |
Barclay Perkins |
1054.7 |
1009.4 |
5.99 |
82.78% |
8.85 |
1.98 |
| 1881 |
Whitbread |
1061.2 |
1015.8 |
6.01 |
74.21% |
7.35 |
2.05 |
| 1885 |
Whitbread |
1063.2 |
1019.9 |
5.72 |
68.42% |
8.04 |
2.21 |
| 1891 |
Whitbread |
1059.6 |
1016.0 |
5.76 |
73.13% |
8.03 |
2.14 |
| 1895 |
Whitbread |
1059.6 |
1016.0 |
5.76 |
73.13% |
8.01 |
2.17 |
| 1898 |
Whitbread |
1058.4 |
1017.0 |
5.48 |
70.91% |
6.92 |
1.86 |
| 1887 |
Fullers |
1050.7 |
1013.6 |
4.91 |
73.22% |
6.64 |
1.41 |
| 1893 |
Fullers |
1050.4 |
1010.0 |
5.35 |
80.22% |
6.86 |
1.49 |
| 1898 |
Fullers |
1049.6 |
1012.7 |
4.87 |
74.30% |
6.58 |
1.42 |
| 1880 |
Truman |
1061.8 |
1015.2 |
6.16 |
75.34% |
10.8 |
3.35 |
| 1885 |
Truman |
1059.0 |
|
|
|
8.0 |
2.12 |
| 1890 |
Truman |
1058.2 |
|
|
|
8.9 |
2.30 |
| 1895 |
Truman |
1056.5 |
|
|
|
7.6 |
2.03 |
|
Average |
1057.7 |
1014.5 |
5.72 |
75.03% |
7.91 |
2.02 |
| Sources: |
| Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/579, ACC/2305/1/584, ACC/2305/1/583, ACC/2305/1/586 and ACC/2305/1/593. |
| Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047, LMA/4453/D/01/050, LMA/4453/D/01/057, LMA/4453/D/01/061 and LMA/4453/D/01/064 |
| Fullers brewing records hels at the brewery. |
| Truman brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers B/THB/C/161, B/THB/C/166, B/THB/C/171 and B/THB/C/175. |
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