Friday 4 April 2014

Charrington Pale Ale quality 1922 - 1925

I'm not 100% certain where this beer was brewed. You might think Burton, but that may not be the case. Especially as it's Ordinary Bitter strength. Truman brewed a beer like this in their London brewery, despite also having a brewery in Burton.

Winder what happened to Charrington's Burton brewery? Well it was sold:

"Charrington's Brewery, Burton on-Trent, withdrawn the firm's recent sale at Birmingham at £30,000, has been purchased Messrs. H. Ellis and F. A. Bailey, Burton-on-Trent."
Derby Daily Telegraph - Tuesday 23 February 1926, page 4.
But what happened to it after that?

"THE PLACE TO SPEND A MERRY XMAS.
GRAND OPENING NIGHT.
BOXING DAY, December 26.
Door open at 7. Commence at 7.30.
At the CHARRINGTON OLD BREWERY, LICHFIELD ST., BURTON.

10 ROUNDS CONTEST.
JOCK RODGERS (Burton) V. STOKER BOB  WILLIAMS.

8 ROUNDS CONTEST.
BATTLING ALF BARKS (Burton). v. VIC PARKER (Woodville).

6 ROUNDS.
Extra Special Paper-weight Contest.
NIPPER DAN DRAPER V. LEN SMITH (both of Burton).

8 ROUNDS.
FRED NAYLOR (Derby). V. ARTHUR REED (Swadlincote).

PRICES OF ADMISSION: Ringside 1/2, including tax. Main Hall 6d.
Referee: Mr. BILLY JORDAN. Jun.
Timekeeper: Mr. Jordan, Sen.
Promoters: C. Birch and B. Sherratt."
Derby Daily Telegraph - Saturday 21 December 1929, page 16.

There was no chance it would have been used for brewing again. It seems have turned into some sort of hall. I wonder which bit of the brewery it was? Some large room, obviously.

This is quite strong for a 8d Ordinary Bitter, with some of the samples around 1050º. It's another pretty highly attenuated beer.

Charrington, you may recall, had a shite Mild (14th of 17) but a fairly decent Burton (5th of 14). Let's see how their Bitter does.

Charrington Pale Ale quality 1922 - 1925
Year Style FG OG ABV App. Atten-uation Appearance Flavour score Price
1922 PA 1006.3 1045.8 5.16 86.24% grey poor -1 8d
1922 PA 1008.2 1047.4 5.11 82.70% bright rather poor -1 8d
1922 PA 1009 1049.5 5.28 81.82% grey v fair 2 8d
1922 PA 1010.8 1048.3 4.88 77.64% cloudy not quite nice -1 8d
1923 PA 1009.2 1047.7 5.01 80.71% hazy mawkish -1 8d
1923 PA 1008.6 1048.6 5.21 82.30% piecy fair 1 8d
1923 PA 1008 1049.5 5.42 83.84% not bright gone off -3 8d
1923 PA 1010 1047.5 4.88 78.95% brilliant v fair 2 8d
1923 PA 1007.2 1046.2 5.09 84.42% not bright gone off -3 7d
1923 PA 1010.6 1048.1 4.88 77.96% grey v fair 2 7d
1925 PA 1008 1051.5 5.68 84.47% bright good 2 7d
Average  1008.7 1048.2 5.14 81.91% -0.09
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001

Oh dear. Only three of eleven bright. That's woeful. Fewer than 50% with a positive score, just five, including two -3. But the four pretty good ones with scores of +2 almost balance that out. Almost, because is a small negative, -0.09.

Another gamble. Could be heaven or could be hell.

1 comment:

Jeremy Drew said...

I do like the phrase, 'Not quite nice'.

I think that I'll try and find an excuse to use it in the near future.