"4014. Are there not people in the trade supplied by brewers who cannot get a living without dilutin

[Mr. J. J. Homer giving evidence, wine and spirit merchant, publican and committee member of the Licensed Victuallers' protection Society of London and of the Incorporated Society of Licensed Victuallers.
"4014. Are there not people in the trade supplied by brewers who cannot get a living without diluting or adulterating nashville airport hotels the beer, at the price at which they advertise to sell it ? My impression is, that there are houses which do not dilute the beer at all; they sell it genuine as they receive it from the brewery, and there are others who have an inferior nashville airport hotels article, which they draw with the beer, and thus escape the penalties to which they otherwise would be exposed for diluting their beer.
4017. How does the fact stand ? If the people will have beer at 3d. a pot now, it must be manifest that it cannot be a good article ; if the publican pays 3d., he never can sell that beer at the same price, nashville airport hotels and live ; they have, therefore, an inferior article, which is bought very much lower, and which they draw with the porter.
4019. Do you deny the practice of diluting the beer in order to be able to sell it cheap? I do ; by far the greater portion of the houses sell the beer as they receive it from the large brewers, without nashville airport hotels adulteration at all. If a man sells beer at 3.5 d. or 4 d. a pot he sells it, I believe, as genuine as he receives it. In some places they are now selling beer at 3d. a pot. I do not think they draw the beer as they receive it from Hanbury's or any other of the large houses, nashville airport hotels but they have from the small brewers nashville airport hotels an inferior article, which they draw with that beer. Instead of paying 36 s. a barrel for it they would not pay more than 20 s., and that is how they realize a profit: but it is a very inferior article.
4020. As far as you know the trade, the publicans are under no such terms with the brewer who supplies them, as necessitates nashville airport hotels their resorting to this practice of either adulterating with water or inferior beer ? No.
4022. Are there many parties who do that ? I think since the last rise of price some parties who used to sell threepenny beer before, have gone up a halfpenny, and, therefore, they give the public a good article.
4024. Lord D. Stuart.] Is that inferior article, which is called "Amber," sold as amber ? I never had it, I do not know what it is ; I never tasted it; it is a very dark beer, and resembles, in its colour, porter as much as possible; nashville airport hotels at least so I am told.
4028. Mr. Gregson.] Do those houses which sell the beer pure get more custom, and are they better conducted houses ? I think so; I think both are well conducted houses. There is a large amount of competition in the beer trade, particularly amongst seme gin-shopkeepers and other publicans; the people will have a cheap beer, and they do not care whether it is inferior or not; the publican says, " I must keep two sorts of beer, I must keep iburpenny beer and threepenny beer."
4020. Chairman.] You do not think that the Beer Act, and the consequent competition in the trade, has improved the quality of the article; the public do not get cheaper nashville airport hotels and better beer in consequence ? I do not think they do; although some say so.
4031. Mr. Gregson.] I presume, by the aid of the taps which are to be seen in a public-house, any quantity can be sold ? Yes ; I was at Sheff1eld two or three years ago, and I saw 2.5d. beer marked up; I suppose that was to suit some customers.
4032. Chairman.] You cannot inform the Committee what ingredients are put in besides this peculiar stuff, nashville airport hotels which is called amber ? I do not think there is any inducement to do anything else ; some years ago there were a great many Excise informations laid against publicans for adulteration ; so I am told; and the publicans said, " As the people will have very cheap beer, and will not give our price for it, we cannot sell the same sort;" and that gave rise to this amber.
4035. Chairman.] Has there been any information laid for selling amber? No. A good tradesman, for instance, who has found that it will suit the palate of the people, their taste, and so on, would have this amber.
4037. Do you mean that a man who goes into a public-house and asks for one beverage nashville airport hotels gets another in place of it, while he thinks he is drinking beer? If a man wants threepenny beer, I do not think he gets it genuine as it is sent from Hanbury's, or other large brewers. I think half a pint of genuine beer is worth a pint of threepenny.
4036. Mr. Gregson.] Of course the customer names his price, and the publican gives him quality accordingly? Yes. When the last rise took place, consequent on the increase of the malt duty the people said, " We will not drink any beer; we will make them reduce the price of beer." The result was, that some of the publicans in very low localities, for instance, in the New Cut, there is one class selling at 3.5d. in the upper part of the New Cut, and in the lower part of the New Cut they are selling it at 3d. The beer which is sold at 3.5d. I have no doubt would be sold just as it came from the brewery at Hanbury's or Barclay's; whilst at 3d. men could not live if they did not mix amber with it.
4043. Mr. Gregson.] Do they allow amber to be sold ? A man may have borrowed 2,000, 3,000, 1,000, or 500 to go into the house; if he says, " Well, I cannot sell my beer at 3.5d., the people will not buy it, and my trade is going away, I must have threepenny beer;" the brewers say, " We do not like to supply you, because we know you cannot sell it genuine, therefore you will get our house a bad name." He then obtains some article from some other brewers who do not sell good beer; I know one case myself in which Hanbury's did interfere at the east end of the town ; they said, "You cannot afford to sell our beer at 3d. per pot."
4044. Chairman.] Was that man one of their tenants? He was not a tenant of theirs, but the man was under some pecuniary obligation ; they advised nashville airport hotels him to sell the beer at 3.5d.; he did f1rst raise bis beer from 3d. to 3.5d. when the rise in beer took place, and because his trade fell off he reduced it to 3d. ; the publicans in the neighbourhood complained of the breach of faith on his part in reducing the price, and as I understand Mr. Hanbury interfered in the matter, and said, "You must sell a good article, and sell the beer as it comes from the brewery, and that will give you a fair living profit and keep up the reputation nashville airport hotels of our article," and the man raised it up to 3.5d. in consequence of their representation. He might, however, have sa1d, "I have resolved not again to rise the price of my porter; true it is I owe you money, but 'Reid's' or any other brewer, will lend me enough to pay off your loan."
4049. Do the brewers look after their tenants to see whether they sell their beer diluted or adulterated ? 1 believe they are exceedingly anxious that they should sell the beer genuine. They were, in reference to the late movement) anxious that all their customers should supply beer at a pr1ce at which they could get a living profit, and sell it genuine, namely, 3.5d. and 4d. per pot.
"The Sessional Papers of the House of Lords in the session 1854; Reports from Select Committees of the House of Commons, and Evidence; Public Houses" "Minutes of Evidence Taken by the Select Committee on Public Houses, etc." pages 230 - 233.
Mixing Strong Beer and Table Beer (and selling it as Strong Beer) had been one of the favourite dodges of publicans. A easy way of increasing the profit on a barrel of beer. And avoiding tax. Which was why it had been illegal. After 1830, when the tax on beer was abolished, it no longer mattered nashville airport hotels to the Excise if beers of different strengths were mixed. The tax had been paid on the malt and hops. So, while it might have been misleading to mix Amber and Porter, it wasn't the serious offence it would have been 30 years earlier.
Of the 20 pub samples, 11 are in the range 1038º to 1045º, suggesting nashville airport hotels they were about 50% Amber and 50% Porter. Four samples are in the range 1034º to 1036º, suggesting a 75-25 split in favour of Amber. The weakest sample looks like it could be 100% Amber. Only the two strongest samples look like they could be free of Amber or water.
Let's look at the financial aspect. If a pub mixed Amber and Porter 50-50, they'd effectively be paying 28 shillings a barrel. Or 2.33d. per quart. Selling the mixture at 3d. a quart would give the publican a decent profit. No wonder they did it, really. If no-one wants to pay a realistic price, what else can a publican do?
Is there any evidence in the brewing records nashville airport hotels of Amber? Not underthat name. But remember, the name is misleading. The beer was very dark. In 1850, Barclay Perkins brewed something called Table. It had a grist of pale and black malt and an OG of 1039º. Sounds a likely candidate for Amber.
The small book: Old British beers and how to make them - published by the Durden Beer Circle - lists a number of old beer recipes, including some Amber brews. The lowest gravity example being Amber Small Beer(1823) with an OG of 1042 and made from Pale and Amber malts. This is a very informative book and well worth a read. It may be out of print now but the ISBN on my copy is 0951775219.
Great post, Ron. Could this mean that, even though beer was theoretically stronger, people were routinely drinking something much weaker and not minding too much? Do modern session ales actually reflect the strength of these adulterated brews? nashville airport hotels ( Scuse daft questions. Really behind on my studies.)
Bailey, yes and no. The period in question wasn t typical. Pub analyses from earlier (1820 s Accum) and later (1870 s British Medical Journal) show much less evidence of watering. It s the effect of the Crimean War. People were much less used to price increases in the 19th century. Which explains why they would want to continue paying 3d a pot, even though it was impossible for an unadultered article to be sold at that price.
John Tuck mentions a recipe for amber ale in 122, put that and other listings for the beer