Sunday 24 July 2016

Large London brewery Ordinary Mild Ale 1950 – 1954

You can probably guess from the highly specific title that I’m struggling with my sample size. It’s so large I’ve had to – somewhat arbitrarily – chop it into more manageable chunks.

The first and largest of which is the standard Mild from large London breweries. Of which there were still quite a few in the 1950’s. And all produced Mild. Or to be even more specific, Dark Mild Ale. Because there isn’t a pale one in the list. The lowest colour value is 50, which is a dark amber. Pretty well all the others are dark brown. The average is 106.7. Or quite dark.

The average OG has increased a little -  1.6 points – despite me having stripped out Best Mild to a separate table. So I’d reckon the real increase is more like 2 points. Combine that with a slightly lower average FG and it allows the ABV to tentatively poke its head above 3%. Hurray, you could now actually get drunk on Mild.

A few examples are still under 1030º. But in the case of Ind Coope this can be explained by the fact that they also brewed a stronger Mild. Which appears in a later table.

The price has increased a little, form 12.5d in the late 1940’s to 13.3d. That’s about 6p in modern money. It wouldn’t even get you a sip of Mild today. If you could find Mild, that is. There’s bugger all of it about nowadays.


Large London brewery Ordinary Mild Ale 1950 - 1954
Year Brewer Beer Price per pint d Acidity OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation colour
1950 Barclay Perkins Ale 13 0.05 1031.8 1006.8 3.24 78.62% 95
1950 Charrington MA 12 0.07 1029.6 1007.1 2.92 76.01% 120
1950 Courage MA 13 0.06 1032.4 1006.7 3.34 79.32% 120
1950 Ind Coope MA 12 0.07 1027.9 1008.9 2.46 68.10% 67
1950 Mann Crossman Mild Ale 13 0.07 1031.8 1005.8 3.38 81.76% 95
1950 Meux XX 12 0.08 1026.9 1005.6 2.76 79.18% 152
1950 Taylor Walker MA 12.5 0.07 1028.9 1006.1 2.96 78.89% 80
1950 Truman MA 13 0.07 1031.9 1008 3.10 74.92% 95
1950 Watney Best Ale 13 0.06 1031.2 1006.3 3.23 79.81% 105
1950 Whitbread Best Ale 13 1031.7 1010.5 2.80 66.88% 110
1951 Barclay Perkins Ale 14 0.05 1033.8 1007 3.48 79.29% 120
1951 Charrington  Ale 13 0.07 1033.5 1007.3 3.40 78.21% 110
1951 Courage Ale 13 0.06 1034.5 1010.3 3.13 70.14% 110
1951 Ind Coope Ale 12 0.05 1029.4 1008 2.77 72.79% 50
1951 Mann Crossman Ale 13 0.07 1034.5 1006.5 3.64 81.16% 90
1951 Meux X 12 1028.96 104
1951 Taylor Walker Ale 12 0.07 1031.7 1006.9 3.22 78.23% 100
1951 Truman Ale 13 0.07 1033.9 1006.3 3.59 81.42% 100
1951 Watney Ale 13 0.08 1032.7 1006 3.47 81.65% 110
1951 Watney Ale 14 0.08 1032.8 1007.4 3.30 77.44% 105
1951 Whitbread X 13 1031.3 96
1952 Barclay Perkins X 14 1031.51 118
1952 Charrington X 13 1032.61 118
1952 Ind Coope X 13 1031.1 82
1952 Mann Crossman X 14 1034.5 108
1952 Meux X 13 1029.96 152
1952 Taylor Walker X 13 1030.74 100
1952 Truman X 14 1033.7 110
1952 Watney X 14 1032.76 104
1952 Whitbread X 14 1031.39 114
1953 Barclay Perkins X 14 1032.11 96
1953 Charrington X 14 1032.67 128
1953 Courage X 14 1031.99 124
1953 Ind Coope X 14 1033.4 100
1953 Mann Crossman Best Ale 14 0.06 1032.9 1009.2 3.07 72.04% 110
1953 Meux X 13 1029.25 144
1953 Taylor Walker X 13 1032.74 96
1953 Truman Ale 14 0.05 1034 1008.1 3.36 76.18% 90
1953 Watney Ale 14 0.06 1033 1010.1 2.96 69.39% 95
1953 Whitbread Best Ale 14 0.05 1032.7 1010.5 2.87 67.89% 100
1954 Barclay Perkins XX 14 0.06 1029.4 1005.2 3.14 82.31% 110
1954 Charrington Ale 13 0.08 1030.7 1009.6 2.73 68.73% 120
1954 Courage Ale 14 0.05 1032.6 1006.2 3.43 80.98% 125
1954 Mann Crossman X 14 0.06 1032.9 1007.5 3.30 77.20% 115
1954 Meux Mild Ale 14 0.05 1031.2 1007.3 3.10 76.60% 120
1954 Taylor Walker T.W.X. 13 0.06 1031.7 1010.3 2.77 67.51% 100
1954 Truman LM 14 0.05 1034 1007.8 3.40 77.06% 95
1954 Watney XX 14 0.05 1032.3 1011.4 2.70 64.71% 110
1954 Whitbread Best Ale 14 0.06 1032.9 1009.9 2.98 69.91% 105
Average 13.3 0.06 1031.9 1007.8 3.12 75.45% 106.6
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
Whitbread brewing records

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