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Just had my Sundey dinner. A doze now takes preference over writing loads of new words.

Instead, heres a section from one of my recently-published books, Austerity!.

Enjoy, while I head off to the settee to sooze along to Match of the Day.



At a time when the quality of cask beer was often questionable, but bottled beer was rather expensive for the average drinker, Keg Bitter was an attractive proposition Brewers often described it as being bulk bottled beer.

Crystal clear and sparkling, it had the visual characteristics associated with good-quality beer. And, being pasteurised, there was little chance of it turning sour before the keg ran dry.

The first Keg Bitters of the 1950s were promoted as high-class Pale Ales. And that’s where the origin of some truly lay. Double Diamond was a version of Allsopp’s IPA and Ben Truman was the descendent of a 19th-century bottled IPA. These beers were priced according to their perceived prestige. Keg Bitter was, on average, 3d per pint more expensive than an equivalent cask beer.

As brewers moved away from cask-conditioning, mostly for reasons of consistency and convenience, standard Bitters were also presented in keg form. Though still generally at a higher price than the cask version. It’s a trend that continues today: cask is generally cheaper than keg.

As keg began to spread to smaller breweries, more lower-gravity Keg Bitters were brewed. More like Ordinary Bitter than Best Bitter. For the most part, however, they still weren’t cheap.

It’s interesting to note the date when smaller, regional breweries started brewing Keg Bitter: around 1960. Also when they started brewing Lager. That’s probably not a coincidence. There’s overlap in the equipment used to make the two.


Keg Bitter in the 1957 to 1959
Year Brewer Beer Price per pint (d) OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation colour
1959 Simonds Keg Bitter 22 1037.4 1007.3 3.76 80.48% 19
1959 South London Brewery Golden Keg 18 1037.9 1005.7 4.03 84.96% 19
1959 Watney Red Barrel 22 1038.5 1010 3.7 74.03% 24
1959 Flowers Keg Bitter 22 1039 1010.7 3.54 72.56% 23
1959 Whitbread Tankard Bitter 22 1039.1 1011.9 3.52 69.57% 22
1957 Watney Keg Bitter 24 1039.4 1007.6 4.14 80.71% 23
1959 Truman Keg Bitter 22 1040.5 1008.8 4.12 78.27% 22
1957 Courage & Barclay Keg Bitter 22 1042.8 1006.6 4.72 84.58% 22
1959 Wm. Younger Keg Bitter 19 1043.7 1007.8 4.68 82.15% 55
Average 21.4 1039.8 1008.5 4.02 78.60% 25.4
Without Younger 21.75
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.


Keg Bitter 1960 - 1965
Year Brewer Beer Price per pint (d) OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation colour
1960 Bass Worthington "E" 18 1041.8 1006.5 4.6 84.45%
1960 Gibbs Mew Blue Keg Bitter 18 1036 1007.6 3.55 78.89% 25
1960 Ind Coope Double Diamond 19 1040.2 1010 3.92 75.12% 22
1960 Marston Burton Keg 21 1036 1006.8 3.65 81.11% 20
1961 Arkells King Keg 24 1040.5 1007.2 4.16 82.22% 20
1961 Birkenhead Brewery Keg Gold 20 1043.1 1006.5 4.57 84.92% 23
1961 Brickwoods Sunshine Keg Bitter 21 1035 1008.4 3.33 76.00% 28
1961 Dryborough Keg 19 1037.6 1006.8 3.85 81.91% 10
1961 Flowers Keg 24 1039.3 1012.5 3.35 68.19% 27
1961 Fremlin Keg 24 1040.4 1005.8 4.33 85.64% 23
1961 Gibbs Mew Red Keg 22 1040.4 1003.7 4.59 90.84% 21
1961 Gibbs Mew Blue Keg 18 1034.7 1002.8 3.99 91.93% 24
1961 Home Brewery 5 Star 22 1047.5 1007.7 4.97 83.79% 18
1961 Howcrofts Silver Keg 15 1037.3 1006.9 3.8 81.50% 20
1961 Lacon Keg Bitter 24 1040.1 1007.1 4.12 82.29% 17
1961 Starkey, Knight & Ford Star Keg 23 1042.3 1008 4.29 81.09% 27
1961 Tennant Bros. Keg Bitter 21 1036.8 1005 3.97 86.41% 15
1961 Threllfalls Keg Bitter 18 1038.5 1004.9 4.2 87.27% 17
1961 Truman Keg Bitter 21 1039 1006.2 4.27 84.10% 16
1961 Vaux Keg Beer 20 1034.8 1002.2 4.07 93.68% 14
1961 West Country Breweries Star Bright Keg 16 1029.8 1004.6 3.15 84.56% 22
1961 Whitbread Tankard Bitter 24 1038.6 1011 3.58 71.50% 18
1961 Yates's Castle Brewery Keg 20 1037.8 1006.8 3.88 82.01% 16
1963 Watney Red Barrel Ex. PA 31 1047.7 1012.9 4.52 72.96% 20
1964 John Smith Golden Keg 24 1039.1 1009.4 3.71 75.96% 23
Average 24 1039.1 1009.4 3.71 75.96% 23
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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