Saturday 21 November 2015

Branded Old Ale and Strong Ale in 1953


It’s been a while. And, yes, I had forgotten. At least, temporarily. Not to worry, I’ve remembered now.

Though I can’t recall what the point of the series was, other than conjuring up multiple posts from table. Then again, doesn’t that pretty much sum up my blog?

This is quite a long set. I can think of a couple of good reasons why. Strong beers were more likely to be named because they were higher profile beers. And they were very often bottled. At a time when pump clips weren’t universal and keg still rare, the branding opportunities at point of sale were much smaller for draught beers. Amongst draught beers I think it’s no coincidence that many of the first ones to be heavily branded were in keg form. You had those brightly-lit bartop boxes to splash a name across.

Unsurprisingly, the adjective “Old” features heavily in names. Though, ironically enough, not in any described as Old Ale. How odd.

How many of these beers survive? I think only Robinson’s Old Tom. Though a revival of Colne Spring Ale is on the cards. And Tally Ho! Is still around, but brewed by someone else, Adnams. Mind you, Adnams have been using the name since the 1880’s.

I love some of the names. Oh be Joyful in particular. Also the echo of Arctic Ale. And Lees enigmatic “C”. Though to be fair that wasn’t a their own brand, C Ales be9ing brewed by several breweries around Manchester. Before you ask, I’ve no idea of where the name came from. Unlike October Brew which is doubtless a reference to the old practice of brewing strong keeping beers in either March or October. Though for conjouring up the cosy image of a strong beer on a cold, dark winter’s evening, it’s hard to beat Fireside.

Branded Old Ale and Strong Ale in 1953
Brewery Beer Type
Benskin's Colne Spring Ale Old
Broadway Brewery Broadway Old
Brickwood Little Bricky Old Ale, bottled
Samuel Webster Coronation Old Brown, very strong
Flowers Breweries Dragon's Blood Old English Ale
East Anglian Breweries Old Nell Strong
Samuel Webster Old Tom Strong
Wm. Younger King of Ales Strong
Barclay, Perkins Winter Brew Strong Ale
Brampton Brewery Golden Bud Strong Ale
Dutton's Oh Be Joyful Strong Ale
Campbell Praed Pride Strong Ale
Courage Double Courage Strong Ale
Drybrough Burns Strong Ale
Frederick Robinson Old Tom Strong Ale
Fredk. Robinson Young Tom Strong Ale
Gardner Kentish Fire Strong Ale
Guernsey Brewery Double Pony Strong Ale
H. & G. Simonds Old Berkshire Strong Ale
Ind Coope & Allsopp Arctic Strong Ale
J. & J. Morison J & J Strong Ale
J. C. & H. R. Palmer Tally-Ho! Strong Ale
J. W. Lees C Strong Ale
John Rowell John Barleycorn Strong Ale
Massey's King's Ale Strong Ale
Morrell's Brewery College Ale Strong Ale
Richard Whitaker Bantam Strong Ale
Timothy Taylor Blue Label Strong Ale
Ushers Wiltshire Brewery Triple Crown Strong Ale
Wenlock Brewery Fireside Strong Ale
Norman & Pring Imperial Strong Ale, bottle and draught
Cornbrook Brewery Cornbrook Old Tom Strong Ale, bottled
Daniel Thwaites Big Ben Strong Ale, bottled
Greene King Stingo Strong Ale, bottled
Truswell's Brewery October Brew Strong Ale, bottled
Daniel Thwaites Old Ben Strong Ale, draught
Truswelt's Brewery Imperial Strong Ale, draught
Hope & Anchor Old English Strong Beer
Lamb Brewery Stingo Strong beer
Higson's Brewery Stingo Strong beer, bottled
Lamb Brewery Rouser Strong Bitter
Ridley Stock Strong Brown Ale
Ridley Xmas Strong Brown Ale
Source:
Brewery Manual 1953-1954, pages 382 - 394.

Stouts next. Maybe.

5 comments:

Bailey said...

Palmer's still brew Tally Ho! or at least they did last time we were in Dorset.

Phil said...

October Brew

A Brew Rat said...

No Theakston's Old Peculier?

Ron Pattinson said...

Brew Rat,

I wouldn't expect to see in a list like that. Theakston was a tiny, obscure brewery.

Carl spark said...

Daniel Thwaites still brew big Ben but I think they could have reintroduced it fairly recently under their crafty dan range