Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Old Ale after WW II
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After WW II, the term Old Ale rarely referred to a beer that had been aged for any length of time. Mostly, it was just something stronger than usual. And how much stronger that was varied from region to region and brewery to brewery. There was one feature they all had in common: a dark colour.
In the Southeast, Old Ale was effectively a stronger version of Dark Mild. And was often parti-gyled with it.
In the North, it was often something stronger. Old Tom, for example. Or Old Something. Strong, dark beers often had an Old prefix. Often the difference between these stronger types and Barley Wine is blurred.
Bottled Old Ale 1950 - 1965 |
Year |
Brewer |
Beer |
Price per pint d |
OG |
FG |
ABV |
App. Atten-uation |
colour |
1950 |
Barclay Perkins |
No. 1 Southwarke Ale |
32 |
1052.4 |
1021.1 |
4.04 |
59.73% |
80 |
1953 |
Bentley's Yorkshire Brewery |
Old Timothy |
45 |
1075.6 |
1014.7 |
7.98 |
80.56% |
100 |
1953 |
Bullard |
Old Ale |
48 |
1080.5 |
1026.2 |
7.06 |
67.45% |
68 |
1952 |
Courage |
Double Courage |
43.5 |
1068.4 |
1010.8 |
7.55 |
84.21% |
150 |
1953 |
Duttons |
O.B.J. |
32 |
1060.9 |
1013.7 |
6.15 |
77.50% |
83 |
1959 |
George Gale |
Prize Old Ale |
|
1089.3 |
1006.9 |
10.95 |
92.27% |
60 |
1953 |
Greene King |
Suffolk Ale |
36 |
1062.8 |
1020.7 |
5.46 |
67.04% |
56 |
1953 |
John Smith |
Magnet Old Ale |
42 |
1072.5 |
1022.9 |
6.44 |
68.41% |
83 |
1953 |
JW Green |
Dragon's Blood |
45 |
1073.6 |
1028.1 |
5.88 |
61.82% |
56 |
1953 |
McMullen |
Old Time Ale |
45 |
1062.1 |
1015.1 |
6.12 |
75.68% |
105 |
1958 |
Mitchell & Butler |
Amba Pale Old Ale |
45 |
1056.3 |
1012.4 |
5.49 |
77.98% |
18 |
1953 |
Steward & Patteson |
Old Ale |
48 |
1080.3 |
1011 |
9.13 |
86.30% |
80 |
1959 |
Websters |
Old Tom |
26 |
1045.1 |
1012.5 |
4.23 |
72.28% |
150 |
1965 |
Wrekin |
Old Ale |
31 |
1039.8 |
1012.7 |
3.39 |
68.09% |
90 |
1953 |
Youngs, Crawshay & Youngs |
Old John |
54 |
1075.2 |
1025.3 |
6.47 |
66.36% |
80 |
|
Average |
|
40.9 |
1066.3 |
1016.9 |
6.4 |
73.71% |
83.9 |
Sources: |
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002. |
The above is an extract from my book on UK brewing after WW II, Austerity!.
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/austerity/23181344
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