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Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Charles Wells beers in 1952
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I’ve been on a price list binge recently. I blame the newspaper archive. And the fact that that adverts are about the only place Mild Ale ever gets mentioned.
Today’s is from a brewery that’s still very much around: Charles Wells. This is the price list in question:
Bedfordshire Times and Independent - Friday 13 June 1952, page 8.
You might well ask what the point of publishing this is. It’s quite simple: to show how slimmed down breweries’ product ranges became as a result of WW II. London brewers dropped many of their less popular beers in the early years of the war. That’s what finally did for Porter.
The advert shows about the minimum range a pub could get away with. Draught Mild and Bitter; bottled Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Stout, Strong Ale and Guinness. Not even Bass or Worthington, which were available in lots of pubs, just like Guinness.
I suppose you’d like to know more about these beers. So would I. Wonder if they have any brewing records preserved? Be interesting to take a look at them. Failing that, I do have a few analyses of their beers.
Charles Wells beers 1950 - 1979 |
Year |
Beer |
Style |
Price per pint d |
package |
OG |
FG |
ABV |
App. Atten-uation |
colour |
price per gravity point |
1950 |
X |
Mild |
12 |
draught |
1030.4 |
|
|
|
104 |
0.3947 |
1951 |
Mild Ale |
Mild |
14 |
draught |
1028.6 |
1005 |
3.07 |
82.52% |
75 |
0.4895 |
1960 |
Stout |
Stout |
24 |
bottled |
1040.9 |
1015.3 |
3.20 |
62.59% |
200 |
0.5868 |
1960 |
Bitter |
Pale Ale |
18 |
draught |
1034.4 |
1006.6 |
3.48 |
80.81% |
18 |
0.5233 |
1966 |
Charter Ale |
Pale Ale |
38 |
bottled |
1055.4 |
1009 |
5.80 |
83.75% |
27 |
0.6859 |
1968 |
Mild XX |
Mild |
19 |
draught |
1029.8 |
1003.6 |
3.27 |
87.92% |
70 |
0.6376 |
1968 |
Nogger (Keg) |
Pale Ale |
28 |
draught |
1040.4 |
1004 |
4.55 |
90.10% |
25 |
0.6931 |
1968 |
IPA Bitter |
IPA |
22 |
draught |
1036.3 |
1003 |
4.16 |
91.74% |
20 |
0.6061 |
1979 |
Fargo |
Pale Ale |
|
draught |
1050 |
|
|
|
|
|
1979 |
Bombardier |
Pale Ale |
|
draught |
1042 |
|
|
|
|
|
1979 |
IPA or Eagle Bitter |
IPA |
|
draught |
1035 |
|
|
|
|
|
Sources: |
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002. |
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252 |
1980 Good Beer Guide |
You can see that their IPA didn’t change a great deal between 1950 and 1979, nor their Mild between 1950 and 1968. Though by 1979 their Mild no longer existed in cask form.
For comparison purposes, here’s Guinness from the same period:
Guinness Extra Stout 1951 - 1960 |
Year |
Beer |
Style |
Price per pint d |
package |
OG |
FG |
ABV |
App. Atten-uation |
colour |
price per gravity point |
1951 |
Extra Stout |
Stout |
30 |
bottled |
1049.1 |
1007.5 |
5.43 |
84.73% |
1 + 8 |
0.611 |
1951 |
Extra Stout |
Stout |
31 |
bottled |
1047.7 |
1008.1 |
5.16 |
83.02% |
1 + 8.5 |
0.6499 |
1952 |
Extra Stout |
Stout |
28 |
bottled |
1047.4 |
1007.5 |
5.20 |
84.18% |
1 + 8 |
0.5907 |
1953 |
Extra Stout |
Stout |
31 |
bottled |
1047.4 |
1008.7 |
5.04 |
81.65% |
1 + 11 |
0.654 |
1953 |
Extra Stout |
Stout |
36 |
bottled |
1046.3 |
1002.8 |
5.70 |
93.95% |
1 + 8 |
0.7775 |
1960 |
Extra Stout |
Stout |
29 |
Bottled |
1046.0 |
1007.7 |
5.00 |
83.37% |
|
0.6304 |
1960 |
Extra Stout |
Stout |
36 |
Canned |
1046.1 |
1007 |
5.10 |
84.82% |
|
0.7809 |
Sources: |
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002. |
Which Beer Report, 1960, pages 171 - 173. |
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