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Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Thomas Usher's beers in the 1940's
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Sadly I have no details of Usher's beers during the war years so we've jumped over that and gone straight into austerity. Or should that be Austerity? Surely one of the most miserable periods in British history. All of the inconveniences food-wise, without any of fun. At least the bombing had stopped.
Working through the styles alphabetically again because, to be honest, I can't be arsed to think of a new way of doing it. Oh, look at that. They've changed Amber Ale. I can see it's no longer a version of PA 60/-. Clearly it's moved up a grade and is now PA 70/-. I can barely contain my excitement.
Now on to those Pale Ales. They did make up the vast bulk of what Usher brewed. The war has taken its toll on their gravities. And one has gone to the great ullage tank in the sky. It's pretty obvious why IPA disappeared: PA has taken the baseline gravity slot. I've prepared an additional table to demonstrate this and the changes in gravity over the war:
|
1928 |
1931 |
1946 |
1947 |
1948 |
1949 |
IPA |
|
1032 |
|
|
|
|
PA |
1035 |
1034 |
|
1029 |
1028.5 |
1028 |
PA 60/- |
1041 |
1040 |
1031 |
1032.5 |
1031.5 |
1031.5 |
PA 70/- |
1048 |
1047 |
|
1037.5 |
1037.5 |
1037.5 |
PA 80/- |
1055 |
1055 |
1044.25 |
1044.5 |
1044.5 |
1044.5 |
Neat eh? It makes it simple to see what the war did to Usher's gravities. It knocked approximately 10 points off them. Which left 80/- not much stronger than 60/- had been in the 1930's.
What else can I see? That Export seems to be becoming the name for 80/-. And that the gravities of 60/-, 70/- and 80/- haven't really changed since 1949. More than 60 years. That's an incredible amount of stability, if you compare it with what happened in the 60 years before 1949.
This has me puzzled still. Why is 70/- sometimes called 105/- and 80/- 120/-? I can see the pattern, but why do it?
No Stouts this time so we'll be ending on Strong Ale. There's something unusual about the Strong Ale/Scotch Ale. The 1948 version is as strong as the one from the 1920's. Something that could be said about virtually no British beer. With a gravity of over 1090ยบ it must have been one of the strongest beers available in Britain.
Almost, but not quite, done with Usher. I've a few more beers from the 1950's and 1960's.
Thomas Usher's beers in the 1940's |
Year |
Beer |
Style |
package |
FG |
OG |
colour |
ABV |
App. Attenuation |
1947 |
Amber Ale |
Amber Ale |
bottled |
1009 |
1037 |
|
3.63 |
75.68% |
1947 |
Amber Ale |
Amber Ale |
bottled |
1012.5 |
1038 |
|
3.30 |
67.11% |
1946 |
60/- Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1008.5 |
1029.5 |
|
2.72 |
71.19% |
1946 |
60/- Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1008.5 |
1031 |
|
2.91 |
72.58% |
1946 |
Export |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1011.25 |
1044.25 |
|
4.28 |
74.58% |
1947 |
60/- Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1006.5 |
1027.5 |
|
2.72 |
76.36% |
1947 |
Pale Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1009.5 |
1029 |
|
2.52 |
67.24% |
1947 |
PA 60/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1011 |
1031 |
|
2.58 |
64.52% |
1947 |
PA 60/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1011 |
1031.5 |
|
2.65 |
65.08% |
1947 |
PA 60/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1006 |
1032.5 |
|
3.44 |
81.54% |
1947 |
70/- Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1008.5 |
1036.5 |
|
3.63 |
76.71% |
1947 |
PA 70/- |
Pale Ale |
draught |
1008.5 |
1037.5 |
|
3.77 |
77.33% |
1947 |
PA 80/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1013 |
1044.5 |
|
4.08 |
70.79% |
1948 |
PA |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1011 |
1028.5 |
|
2.26 |
61.40% |
1948 |
PA 60/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1012.5 |
1031.5 |
|
2.45 |
60.32% |
1948 |
PA 60/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1008.5 |
1031.5 |
|
2.98 |
73.02% |
1948 |
105/- Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1007.5 |
1037.5 |
|
3.90 |
80.00% |
1948 |
PA 70/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1011.5 |
1037.5 |
|
3.37 |
69.33% |
1948 |
120/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1011.5 |
1044 |
|
4.22 |
73.86% |
1948 |
80/- Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1010.5 |
1044.5 |
|
4.42 |
76.40% |
1948 |
XP |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1015 |
1044.5 |
|
3.82 |
66.29% |
1948 |
120/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1009 |
1045.5 |
|
4.75 |
80.22% |
1949 |
PA |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1011.5 |
1027.5 |
|
2.06 |
58.18% |
1949 |
Pale Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1008.7 |
1027.9 |
32 brown |
2.48 |
68.82% |
1949 |
PA |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1011 |
1028 |
|
2.19 |
60.71% |
1949 |
PA 60/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1010.5 |
1030 |
|
2.52 |
65.00% |
1949 |
PA 60/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1014 |
1031.5 |
|
2.25 |
55.56% |
1949 |
PA 60/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1011.5 |
1031.5 |
|
2.58 |
63.49% |
1949 |
PA 70/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1013.5 |
1036 |
|
2.91 |
62.50% |
1949 |
PA 70/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1008.5 |
1037.5 |
|
3.77 |
77.33% |
1949 |
Pale Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1007.6 |
1038.4 |
29.5 B |
4.00 |
80.21% |
1949 |
80/- Ale |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1015 |
1044.5 |
|
3.82 |
66.29% |
1949 |
PA 80/- |
Pale Ale |
bottled |
1014.5 |
1044.5 |
|
3.88 |
67.42% |
1947 |
Old Scotch Ale |
Scotch Ale |
bottled |
1020.5 |
1073.5 |
|
6.90 |
72.11% |
1948 |
Strong Ale |
Strong Ale |
bottled |
1024.5 |
1090.5 |
|
8.63 |
72.93% |
Sources: |
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive |
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002 |
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