Wednesday 18 April 2012

McLennan & Urquhart beers 1922 – 1954

I seem to remember promising you details of some McLennan & Urquhart beers. Well here they are. Sorry about the delay. I was distracted by Pattison's.

Not that I have very many McLennan & Urquhart beers. Just eight. Most of them Pale Ales.

Let's start at the beginning, it the 1920's. I've no idea what that Old Fashioned Ale was in terms of style. It could be a strong Pale Ale. But that's just a guess. It's a similar strength to the top-level Pale Ales brewed in London. How about seeing those London Pale Ales in table form? You'll find it after the McLennan & Urquhart table.

Courage, Charrington, Watney and Barclay Perkins all brewed Pale Ales with gravities over 1050º. Though none has as high attenuation as the Old Fashioned Ale. And they were all a good deal paler. 30 Lovibond is about the darkest London Pale Ales got. Most were somewhere in the 1920's.

Moving on to the PA and Dalkeith Ale, it's hard to find an equivalent London beer, except for Whitbread IPA* and Watney Pale Ale. Both bottled beers. And that could explain the why the  McLennan & Urquhart beers have lower gravities. They were bottled beers, too. Quite often in the interwar years bottled versions were weaker than draught ones. That was certainlythe case at Barclay Perkins, where their Ordinary Bitter, XLK, was 1046º draught, but only 1038º bottled.

Almost forgot, I've a description of the flavour of Dalkeith Ale: "Pleasant. Slight after bitter. Nose & taste of fresh hops." That's interesting, because most of the Pale Ales in the Younger Gravity Book aren't described as being bitter or hoppy.

Next 1930 Dalkeith Stout. That's a typical looking Scottish Sweet Stout. Low attenuation, low ABV. It's not the most extreme I've seen. Some have attenuation lower than 50%. I won't bother comparing it with London beers, because London brewers didn't make anything like it.

Those two 1930's Pale Ales are an odd pair. The Export looks very much like a London Ordinary Bitter, such as Barclay Perkins XLK. It also isn't that far away from a modern Scottish Export.

Dalkeith Special Pale Ale is "special' in a peculiar way: it's especially weak. I struggled to find London Pale Ales as weak. In fact Truman's Sparkling Pale Ale was the only one I could find. That's why I've included examples from provincial English breweries. I could find a few under 1030º that came from England, but the vast majority were Scottish.

Finally it's the turn of the two post-war beers. The Pale Ale is typical of austerity-era Ordinary Bitters. Just a shade over 1030º. Gravities would creep up later in the 1950's and reach around 1037º. Though some breweries did continue to brew Pale Ales at 1030º or so. The Stout is, well, a bog-standard Scottish Sweet Stout, with a high FG and not much alcohol.

All in all, a very Scottish selection of beers. Not really so surprising, given the brewery’s location.


McLennan & Urquhart beers 1922 – 1954
Year Beer Style Acidity FG OG colour ABV App. Attenuation
1922 Old fashioned Ale ??
1010 1056 40 6.01 82.14%
1926 PA Pale Ale
1008 1040 40 4.16 80.00%
1929 Dalkeith Ale (carbonated) Pale Ale
1015 1041 No. 11 Same as our dark. 3.36 63.41%
1930 Dalkeith Stout Stout
1019.5 1040.5
2.70 51.85%
1932 Export Pale Ale
1011 1049
4.94 77.55%
1932 Dalkeith Special Pale Ale Pale Ale
1011.5 1025
1.74 54.00%
1947 Ale Pale Ale
1012.5 1030.5
2.32 59.02%
1954 Dalkeith Stout Stout 0.06 1019.7 1037.1 450 2.23 46.90%
Sources:
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11

Here are the London Pale Ales:


London Pale Ales 1925 – 1927
Year Brewer Beer Style Price size package FG OG colour ABV App. Attenuation
1925 Barclay Perkins PA Pale Ale
pint draught 1012 1053.1 30 5.35 77.40%
1925 Barclay Perkins XLK Pale Ale
pint draught 1011 1046 24 4.55 76.09%
1925 Barclay Perkins XLK Pale Ale

bottled 1007.5 1038.2 16 4.06 80.37%
1926 Watney Pale Ale Pale Ale 8d pint draught
1053.7


1927 Watney Watney Pale Ale Pale Ale

bottled 1010.1 1041.9
4.13 75.89%
1926 Whitbread PA Pale Ale


1013.5 1046.2 23 4.33 70.78%
1926 Whitbread IPA IPA


1009.0 1036.9 22 3.69 75.63%
1926 Courage Pale Ale Pale Ale 8d pint draught
1052.2


1926 Charrington Pale Ale Pale Ale 8d pint draught
1057.9


1926 Charrington Pale Ale Pale Ale 7d pint draught
1045.9


1926 Truman Pale Ale Pale Ale 7d pint draught
1049.7


Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/01/612
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001
Whitbread brewing record held at the london Metropolitan Archives document number LMA/4453/D/01/091
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252

And here the English Light Pale Ales:


English Light Pale Ales 1933
Year Brewer Beer Style Price size package Acidity FG OG colour ABV App. Attenuation
1933 Truman Sparkling Pale Ale Pale Ale 6d pint bottled 0.04 1004.6 1029
3.17 84.14%
1933 Morgans Brewery Light Bitter Pale Ale 6d pint bottled 0.05 1008.2 1029
2.69 71.72%
1933 Simonds Dinner Ale Pale Ale
pint bottled 0.05 1004.8 1030
3.28 84.00%
1933 Fremlin Dinner Ale Pale Ale
pint bottled 0.05 1004.9 1031
3.39 84.19%
1933 Fordhams Light Bitter Ale Pale Ale 7d pint bottled 0.04 1008 1029
2.72 72.41%
1933 Beer & Rigden Kent's Best Pale Ale Pale Ale
pint bottled 0.04 1006.4 1028 25.5 2.80 77.14%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001


* Someone ought to have told them that it's tantamount to fraud calling a beer below 1040º as IPA.

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