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Shut up about Barclay Perkins - UK-brewed Lager before WW II
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Barclay Perkins made a few trial attempts at Lager brewing during WW I. It obviously opened their eyes its possibilities, as they started building a Lager brewery right after war’s end. It started brewing in 1921.
But Lager remained a tiny market, dominated by a handful of specialist producers. In 1936 a parliamentary debate revealed that a mere six breweries produced Lager in Britain. The total output of all six was just 114,000 barrels in 1935 . That’s out of a total of 20,864,814 barrels, making Lager just 0.55% of UK beer production.
The six breweries were: Arrol, Tennent, Barclay Perkins, the Red Tower Lager Brewery in Manchester, the Wrexham Lager Brewery and Jeffrey of Edinburgh. Three of six were located in Scotland.
Brewer |
Location |
Date started |
Arrol |
Alloa |
1921 |
Tennent |
Glasgow |
1885 |
Barclay Perkins |
London |
1921 |
Red Tower Lager Brewery |
Manchester |
1920’s |
Wrexham Lager Brewery |
Wrexham |
1883 |
Jeffrey |
Edinburgh |
1902 |
Newspaper advertisements of the period reveal that several Lagers - Graham’s, Barclay’s, Tennent’s and Wrexham - were available nationally, at a time when few beers were sold outside their own region.
Unlike the Lager that started its march to domination in the 1960s, those of the 1930s were mostly above-average strength. Though there were exceptions, such as Barclay’s Draught Lager.
Allsopp’s Lager was produced at Arrol in Alloa. They had installed a fancy American-built Lager plant in their Burton brewery in 1899. Their Lager wasn’t a great success and, after Allsopp went into receivership in 1913, the plant was moved to Alloa.
UK-brewed Lager before WW II |
Year |
Brewer |
Beer |
Style |
OG |
FG |
ABV |
App. Atten-uation |
colour |
1932 |
Allsopp |
Lager |
Lager |
1041 |
1009.4 |
4.10 |
77.07% |
|
1932 |
Allsopp |
Lager |
Lager |
1045 |
1010 |
4.55 |
77.78% |
|
1937 |
Allsopp |
Lager |
Lager |
1045.2 |
1011.8 |
4.33 |
73.89% |
|
1933 |
Arrol |
Graham's Golden Lager |
Lager |
1044.5 |
1010.5 |
4.42 |
76.40% |
|
1932 |
Barclay Perkins |
Lager |
Lager |
1051 |
1011 |
5.21 |
78.43% |
12.5 |
1934 |
Barclay Perkins |
Draught |
Lager |
1032.2 |
1013.0 |
2.54 |
59.63% |
|
1935 |
Barclay Perkins |
Draught |
Lager |
1043.5 |
1011.0 |
4.30 |
74.71% |
|
1936 |
Barclay Perkins |
Lager (Dark) |
Lager |
1058 |
1017.6 |
5.24 |
69.66% |
|
1936 |
Barclay Perkins |
Lager (Light) |
Lager |
1045.7 |
1010.1 |
4.63 |
77.90% |
|
1932 |
Jeffrey |
Pilsener |
Pils |
1052 |
1007.8 |
5.77 |
85.00% |
9 |
1936 |
Jeffrey |
Lager |
Lager |
1046.4 |
1013.1 |
4.32 |
71.77% |
|
1933 |
McEwan |
Pilsener |
Pils |
1044 |
1010 |
4.42 |
77.27% |
8 |
1934 |
McEwan |
Pilsener |
Pils |
1049.6 |
1009.6 |
5.21 |
80.65% |
|
1933 |
Red Tower |
Lager Beer |
Lager |
1049.7 |
1011.4 |
4.98 |
77.06% |
12.5 |
1934 |
Red Tower |
Lager |
Lager |
1051 |
1011 |
5.21 |
78.43% |
|
1932 |
Tennent |
Light Beer |
Lager |
1049 |
1007.4 |
5.43 |
84.90% |
6.5 |
1931 |
Tennent |
Lager Beer |
Lager |
1043.1 |
1009.3 |
4.39 |
78.42% |
8 |
1937 |
Tennent |
Pilsener |
Pils |
1051.2 |
1010.8 |
5.26 |
78.91% |
|
1934 |
Wrexham |
Pilsener |
Pils |
1052 |
1010.7 |
5.38 |
79.42% |
|
Sources: |
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive. |
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive. |
Barclay Perkins brewing records. |
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001. |
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