Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Truman Brick Lane grists 1924 - 1940
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Yes, I've not done spinning words from those few tables of numbers.
This time it's the stuff that provides the fermentable materials that we're looking at. Malt, sugar and adjuncts. I've had to fiddle with the number a bit because they were specified in quarters. And a sugar quarter is only 224 lbs, as opposed to the 336 lbs of a malt quarter. So I've adjusted the sugar and caramel figures to be 336 lb quarters.
One word of caution. We've already seen how there was a big shift from Porter/Stout to Ale in Truman's output over this period. That makes trends in ingredient usage harder to spot, because the ingredients for Ale and Stout differ. In 1910, the last year for which I have Brick Lane brewing records, neither of the two Ales, X and LK, contained either black malt or caramel. While all their Porters and Stouts did.
If we combine the caramel and black malt percentages, they start at 5.14% in 1924 and fall to 3.38% in 1940. That's a fall of around 50%. But production of Porter and Stout fell by more than 100% over the same period. My conclusion? Truman had started using caramel and black malt in some of their Ales.
I think I can understand why. You will, too, when we look at how Truman's beer range changed between 1910 and 1940. Which is what we'll be doing next time.
The most obvious long-term trend is the increase in the use of sugar, rising steadily up to a peak in 1934 then falling back again a little.
Malt usage is around 75% all the way through, except for the difficult year of 1933, where it dropped just below 75%. I was surprised to see the share of maize decline. That could be connected to which styles were being brewed as some contained maize and others didn't. At least that was the case back in 1910.
Here are the tables:
| Truman Brick Lane grists 1924 - 1940 (qtrs of 336 lbs) |
| Year |
Malt |
Maize |
Sugar |
Caramel |
Black |
Total |
| 1924 |
36,541 |
2,732 |
4,917 |
865 |
1,530 |
46,586 |
| 1925 |
40,789.5 |
3,323 |
6,222 |
1,150 |
1,426 |
52,910 |
| 1926 |
40,707.5 |
3,332 |
6,680 |
1,152 |
1,524 |
53,396 |
| 1927 |
41,395 |
2,748 |
7,319 |
1,164 |
1,042.5 |
53,668 |
| 1928 |
40,438.5 |
3,019 |
7,641 |
1,054 |
1,204 |
53,357 |
| 1929 |
38,145 |
3,263.5 |
7,415 |
962 |
1,035 |
50,820 |
| 1930 |
41,626 |
2,864.5 |
8,917 |
1,124 |
803 |
55,335 |
| 1931 |
39,365.5 |
2,994 |
8,780 |
1,110 |
628 |
52,878 |
| 1932 |
36,450.5 |
3,042 |
8,305 |
1,016 |
692 |
49,506 |
| 1933 |
26,719.5 |
2,589.5 |
7,307 |
851 |
821.5 |
38,288 |
| 1934 |
33,364 |
2,557 |
9,086 |
914 |
928 |
46,848 |
| 1935 |
36,248.33 |
2,264.17 |
8,980 |
854 |
851.5 |
49,198 |
| 1936 |
38,543 |
2,434.5 |
9,261 |
936 |
926 |
52,101 |
| 1937 |
38,508.5 |
2,465 |
9,310 |
861 |
1,097 |
52,242 |
| 1938 |
39,372 |
2,478.5 |
9,626 |
964 |
891.5 |
53,332 |
| 1939 |
39,061.33 |
2,521.33 |
9,545 |
714 |
1,084 |
52,926 |
| 1940 |
38,756 |
2,320 |
8,961 |
650 |
1,100 |
51,788 |
| Source: |
| Document B/THB/C/256c held at the London Metropolitan Archives |
| Truman Brick Lane grists 1924 - 1940 (%) |
| Year |
Malt |
Maize |
Sugar |
Caramel |
Black |
Total |
| 1924 |
78.44% |
5.86% |
10.56% |
1.86% |
3.28% |
100.00% |
| 1925 |
77.09% |
6.28% |
11.76% |
2.17% |
2.70% |
100.00% |
| 1926 |
76.24% |
6.24% |
12.51% |
2.16% |
2.85% |
100.00% |
| 1927 |
77.13% |
5.12% |
13.64% |
2.17% |
1.94% |
100.00% |
| 1928 |
75.79% |
5.66% |
14.32% |
1.98% |
2.26% |
100.00% |
| 1929 |
75.06% |
6.42% |
14.59% |
1.89% |
2.04% |
100.00% |
| 1930 |
75.23% |
5.18% |
16.12% |
2.03% |
1.45% |
100.00% |
| 1931 |
74.45% |
5.66% |
16.60% |
2.10% |
1.19% |
100.00% |
| 1932 |
73.63% |
6.14% |
16.78% |
2.05% |
1.40% |
100.00% |
| 1933 |
69.79% |
6.76% |
19.08% |
2.22% |
2.15% |
100.00% |
| 1934 |
71.22% |
5.46% |
19.39% |
1.95% |
1.98% |
100.00% |
| 1935 |
73.68% |
4.60% |
18.25% |
1.74% |
1.73% |
100.00% |
| 1936 |
73.98% |
4.67% |
17.78% |
1.80% |
1.78% |
100.00% |
| 1937 |
73.71% |
4.72% |
17.82% |
1.65% |
2.10% |
100.00% |
| 1938 |
73.82% |
4.65% |
18.05% |
1.81% |
1.67% |
100.00% |
| 1939 |
73.80% |
4.76% |
18.03% |
1.35% |
2.05% |
100.00% |
| 1940 |
74.84% |
4.48% |
17.30% |
1.26% |
2.12% |
100.00% |
| Source: |
| Document B/THB/C/256c held at the London Metropolitan Archives |
Next time we'll be looking at which beers Truman brewed in the interwar years.
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