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After WW II, the term Old Ale rarely referred to a beer that had been aged for any length of time. Mostly, it was just something stronger than usual. And how much stronger that was varied from region to region and brewery to brewery. There was one feature they all had in common: a dark colour.

In the Southeast, Old Ale was effectively a stronger version of Dark Mild. And was often parti-gyled with it.

In the North, it was often something stronger. Old Tom, for example. Or Old Something. Strong, dark beers often had an Old prefix. Often the difference between these stronger types and Barley Wine is blurred.




Bottled Old Ale 1950 - 1965
Year Brewer Beer Price per pint d OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation colour
1950 Barclay Perkins No. 1 Southwarke Ale 32 1052.4 1021.1 4.04 59.73% 80
1953 Bentley's Yorkshire Brewery Old Timothy 45 1075.6 1014.7 7.98 80.56% 100
1953 Bullard Old Ale 48 1080.5 1026.2 7.06 67.45% 68
1952 Courage Double Courage 43.5 1068.4 1010.8 7.55 84.21% 150
1953 Duttons O.B.J. 32 1060.9 1013.7 6.15 77.50% 83
1959 George Gale Prize Old Ale 1089.3 1006.9 10.95 92.27% 60
1953 Greene King Suffolk Ale 36 1062.8 1020.7 5.46 67.04% 56
1953 John Smith Magnet Old Ale 42 1072.5 1022.9 6.44 68.41% 83
1953 JW Green Dragon's Blood 45 1073.6 1028.1 5.88 61.82% 56
1953 McMullen Old Time Ale 45 1062.1 1015.1 6.12 75.68% 105
1958 Mitchell & Butler Amba Pale Old Ale 45 1056.3 1012.4 5.49 77.98% 18
1953 Steward & Patteson Old Ale 48 1080.3 1011 9.13 86.30% 80
1959 Websters Old Tom 26 1045.1 1012.5 4.23 72.28% 150
1965 Wrekin Old Ale 31 1039.8 1012.7 3.39 68.09% 90
1953 Youngs, Crawshay & Youngs Old John 54 1075.2 1025.3 6.47 66.36% 80
Average 40.9 1066.3 1016.9 6.4 73.71% 83.9
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

The above is an extract from my book on UK brewing after WW II, Austerity!.

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/austerity/23181344





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