Sunday 28 March 2010

Burton beers ca 1955 (part two)

http://www.arcticalchemy.com/Back to Andrew Campbell's "The Book Of Beer" to conclude his roundup of Burton beers. I hope you enjoy it.

We start with Ind, Coope and Allsopp:

"The parent company [Ind, Coope and Allsopp] brew at Burton, Romford and Alloa and also at Wrexham - Graham's Golden Lager. In 1948 a substantial interest was acquired in Taylor's Brewery, Nairobi, in whose extended and rebuilt premises many brews are prepared including Allsopp's White Cap Lager. At home their most celebrated brews are a pale ale available on draught as Diamond and in bottle as Double Diamond, which since 1946 has, largely as a result of advertising but also because the combine controls more than 3,300 licensed houses, become one of the three national beers. It has the same dry quality of the other Burton I.P.A.s, perhaps a little softer and lighter in flavour than Bass or Worthington.

Allsopp's have the distinction of being the first brewery to form a laboratory, appointing a Mr. H. Bottinger as scientific adviser in 1845 and in 1852 they were invited to prepare a special brew for the expedition that was sent in search of Franklin, and was such a great success that it was taken on other expeditions to the polar regions.Called Arctic Ale, it travelled with the British North Greenland Expedition in 1952. It is a strong ale, less sweet than a barley wine, but quite rightly described by one admirer as 'mellow as old burgundy and nourishing as beefsteak'.

Ind, Coope and Allsopp's draught bitter has a very light sweet touch and is quite pleasantly sharp on the tongue, their Burton is rather light, not sweet at all. A recently introduced beer specially intended for the home consumer is Coronet, selling at a shilling a half-pint, with a slightly sweet but positively malty flavour. It is said to be fully fermented, but throws a slight sediment and should be poured with care. It is a nice beer, and is bottled in screw-top pints as well as the usual half-pint."
"The Book Of Beer" by Andrew Campbell, 1956, pages 203-204.


You know the score by now. Here's where I theatrically pull the technical details of the beers just mentioned from the Whitbread Gravity Book. You'll find Double Diamond, Ind Coope Bitter and Burton in the table below. Sadly, no Arctic Ale. Though I hope soon to have the opportunity to taste a recreation of this legendary beer.


Ind Coope beers in the 1950's
Year
Beer
Style
Price
size
package
FG
OG
Colour
ABV
attenuation
1950
MA
Mild
1/-
pint
draught
1008.9
1027.9
7 + 40
2.46
68.10%
1950
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
1/3d
pint
draught
1005.6
1032.1
22 B
3.44
82.55%
1950
Mild Ale
Mild
1/3d
pint
draught
1009.6
1039.2
40 + 9
3.84
75.51%
1951
Ale
Mild
1/-
pint
draught
1008
1029.4
3 + 40
2.77
72.79%
1951
Bitter
Pale Ale
1/3d
pint
draught
1005.2
1035.3
22 B
3.92
85.27%
1951
Double Burton
Burton
2/-
pint
draught
1013.9
1054.3
17 + 40
5.25
74.40%
1954
Strong Mild Ale
Mild
1/7d
pint
draught
1010.7
1043.5
17 + 40
4.26
75.40%
1957
Mild Ale
Mild
1/3d
pint
draught
1008.4
1034.9
95
3.44
75.93%
1957
Double Diamond
Pale Ale
1/8d
pint
draught
1008.1
1043.8
20
4.65
81.51%
1957
PA
Pale Ale
1/5d
pint
draught
1006.5
1036.3
19
3.88
82.09%
1957
Best Bitter
Pale Ale
1/5d
pint
draught
1008
1035.2
19
3.53
77.27%
1957
Mild Ale
Mild
1/3d
pint
draught
1006.6
1032
70
3.30
79.37%
1959
Red Hand
Pale Ale
1/10d
pint
draught
1011.5
1037.5
18
3.37
69.33%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity Book


Check back on the first part of my posts on Burton beers and you'll see that Double Diamond was in reality a good bit weaker than Bass or Worthington IPA. Perhaps bottled Double Diamond was stronger. Unfortunately, I have no details of that version. Their Strong Mild was just about the same strength as draught Double Diamond. I'm not sure what that tells us. I'll let you know when I work it out.

I was going to finish the Burton beers today. But the post was getting a bit long. And I know what a short attention span people have today. Almost as  short as mine.

4 comments:

Arctic Alchemy said...

Ron, I am sending you two bottles of Arctic Ale, one to drink now, and one to save for a 100 years J

I am quite curious about brewing the Arctic Ale on a commercial level, (albeit small 19bbl). The key to recreation of any style is of course the water chemistry, and the famous Burton profile is one I am continually working on, but…

I often wonder how larger breweries (Allsopp and Bass et al) maintained consistency among their products whilst brewing with vastly different water profiles. The water in London is quite different that of Burton, I would imagine they sourced malt and hops from the same place, but the hard water of Burton (although, pH being almost the same as London) would create a vastly different tasting ale then say "Romford" or "Alloa" which is in Scotland?
The sodium, sulfate ,bicarbonate levels are more than double(some tripple) that of London.

Graham Wheeler said...

In the early 1990's bottled Double Diamond was quoted by Allied Breweries (To Mr. R.P. and myself) as being 1053. Triple Diamond, which was probably only exported, as 1085.

Although it was probably stronger in the 1950s, even at 1053 it matches the Bass Red Label. Judging by the large difference between Double Diamond and Triple Diamond, it would make sense if DD was, at one time, 10 degrees or so higher.

Anonymous said...

Ind Coope Burton Ale (1970s-onwards cask version) was often said to be a cask edition of DD, and was, IIRC, 1048.

Ron Pattinson said...

Silly me. I'd missed the Whitbread Gravity Book pages of Ind Coope bottled beers. With several analyses of bottled Double Diamond. I'll post them tomorrow.