How Do All ,
I recently visited the National Brewing Library that`s deposited with the good folks in Headington
At the Oxford Brookes University campus ; Amongst the items I looked at was a small / pocket notebook with " Castle Brewery " with entries from 1905 , written up by a Mr Colin Morgan ***
Sadly , no other clues as to which of the two breweries with that name that operated in Edinburgh at That time , Cooper & McLeod of the Grassmarket and , G & J Maclachlan in Craigmillar . After a bit of research and with the assistance of a fellow member of the Scottish Brewing Archive Association , I managed to identify which of the two breweries in Edinburgh the notebook referenced ,with the Castle Brewery in question turning out to be that of G & J Maclachlan Ltd .
G & J Maclachlan Ltd , A short history;
George & John Maclachlan who hailled from Strathallan were established ( Seperately )
in the Wine And Spirits trade in Glasgow by 1888 , the year when the two brothers established the partnership . The following year in 1889 , a former Linnen and Cotton factory on Wyndford St in Maryhill , Glasgow was bought and re purposed into The Castle Brewery .
Within ten short years , the Maryhill Castle Brewery proved to be too small in terms of output,
to meet the growing demand for the company`s products , which by that time had expanded to not just the Domestic market in Scotland and the rest of the UK . With the company`s Castle Pale Ale amongst other Beers being enjoyed in Australia , South Africa and India .
By 1901 , a new brewery had been built in Edinburgh , at Craigmillar on Mitchell St which proved sufficient to meet the growing demand for Maclachlan`s Ales and Stouts . The Castle Brewery in Glasgow ceased production in 1907 , with demolition of the brewery following in the period 1915 - 1932 .
The Castle Brewery on Mitchell Street in Craigmillar which had been planned since 1900 , and Brewing by 1901 proved a success tainted with tragedy , as John Maclachlan died just two years after the completion of the new brewery in 1903 , with John M`s interests in the concern being purchased by his brother George who converted the concern to a Limited Company in 1907.
G & J Maclachlan Ltd went into voluntary liquidation in 1923 being succeeded by
" McLachlan`s Ltd , (Scottish Company No : 12914) " under whose direction the company continued to independently brew in Edinburgh until their purchase by J & R Tennent Ltd of Glasgow in 1960 , With the Castle Brewery continuing to brew until 1966 .
The period covered by the notebook of Colin Morgan , with entries ALL from 1905 illustrates a moderately large brewery brewing in typical Scottish fashion with a good range of products .
The malts used varied from " Own Scotch , Own Ouchak " etc ;to those supplied by other maltsters.
The sugars used are , annoyingly only listed by Cwt contributions with no indicator as to the supplier used by the company , a fact in common with the hops used weight which are little squiggled figures near the wort volumes in each copper with no clues as to etymology of Growth or Crop Year.
Interpretation and analysis of the Morgan notebook involved interpreting the Malts used extract in Lbs Extract Eg ` 95.12 `, Sugars; allowing me to calculate the gross poundage of extract at Collection / All Up ,then by division and Other calculations establishing the ` Yield Gravity @ Let Off - X Mins/ All Up `; Then alteration of this to reflect the gravity of Wort A ( Strong ) and Wort B ( Table / Weak ) at ,their original collection gravities .
*** If any blog readers know of any descendants of Colin Morgan or his son E J Morgan who donated the notebook in the 1970`s ;
Please get in touch with me or the team at The National Brewing Library ,as I`m working to a goal ; the achievement of which requres permission from the depositor of the Notebook as opposed to the successors in title to Maclachlan`s Ltd .
G & J Maclachlan Ltd
The Castle Brewery
Mitchell St
Craigmillar
Edinburgh
Scotland
 |
| Photo of The Castle Brewery Ca 1960 From the Brewey History Society Webpage on the brewery |
AN ANALYSIS OF BEERS BREWED IN 1905
DATE QUALITY O/GRAV R/GRAV F/GRAV IBU ABV
Tuesday 20 Th June Pale Ale 1.029 1.007.25 1.004 16 3.7
Friday 23 Rd June Pale Ale 36/- 1.027 1.007.25 1.004 16 3.4
Wednesday 5 Th July Pale Ale 36 /- 1.029 1.007.25 1.004 16 3.6
Tuesday 16 Th May Table Beer 1.030 1.009.25 1.006 16 3.5
Wednesday 25 Th May Table Beer 1.032 1.009.25 1.006 16 3.8
Thursday 9 Th June Table Beer 1.030.5 1.007.25 1.004 16 3.8
Friday 28 Th June Table Beer 1.028 1.007.25 1.004 16 3.5
Wednesday 8 Th May X Ale 1.037.5 1.009.75 1.006.5 34 4
Friday 26 Th May X Ale 1.039.5 1.009.75 1.006.5 36 4.3
Wednesday 21 St June X Ale 1.040 1.009.75 1.006.5 40 4.4
Thursday 20 Th July X Ale 1.039 1.009.75 1.006.5 38 4.2
Wednesday 23 Rd August X Ale 1.039 1.010 1.006.5 36 4.2
Thursday 1 St September X Ale 1.039.5 1.009.75 1.006.5 32 4.3
Monday 8 Th May X X Ale 1.062 1.014 1.010 34 6.7
Monday 19 Th June X X Ale 1.065 1.014 1.010 30 7.3
Monday 3 Rd July X X Ale 1.058 1.014 1.010 32 6.3
Monday 24 Th July X X Ale 1.059 1.014 1.010 34 6.5
Monday 21 St August X X Ale 1.055 1.013 1.009 36 6
Thursday 3 Rd June X X X Ale 1.069 1.013 1.009 52 8
Thursday 22 Nd June X X X Ale 1.068 1.012 1.008 40 8
Tuesday 11 Th July X X X Ale 1.069 1.013 1.009 42 8
Wednesday26 Th July X X X Ale 1.070 1.014 1.010 38 8
Thursday 3 Rd August X X X Ale 1.068 1.012 1.008 36 8
Wednesday 19 Th July 1905 54 /- Ale 1.057 1.015.25 1.012 36 5.9
Friday 5 Th May STOUT 1.067 1.016 1.012 44 7.3
Friday 2 Nd June STOUT 1.059 1.011.25 1.007.5 44 6.8
Friday 11 Th August STOUT 1.068.5 1.016.75 1.014 76 7.25
Thursday 16 Th June STOUT 1.035 1.008.25 1.005 14 4.3
Thursday 16 Th June 1905 STOUT 1.098 1.018 1.014 42 11.4
Friday 13 Th June EXPORT 1.052 1.011 1.007 40 5.9
Friday 18 Th July EXPORT 1.055.5 1.010 1.006 38 6.5
Undated Gyle, Nos 301-2 EXPORT 1.055 1.011 1.007 36 6.3
Thursday 17 Th August EXPORT 1.051 1.010 1.006 42 5.9
Thursday 28 Th August EXPORT 1.055 1.012 1.008 42 6.2
Friday 11 Th Sept EXPORT 1.050 1.010 1.006 38 5.8
I hope you all found the table of interest ; If any readers have any Pre Great War Scottish brewing records in their personal collections , I`d love to hear from you ;
I can be contacted at the Blog`s email : beerhistorybloke@gmail.com
** All submissions will be credited to either X Name or , if annonymity is required , As follows ;
" Records in a Private Collection " , with blogposts and other writings confined to analysis tables
similar to the one ibid in the event that recipies publication isn`t allowed .
Cheers All ; A Merry Christmas and A Happy Hogmanay to readers ,
Edd
Information on the company`s history sourced from the Scottish Brewing Heritage Website ,
And from the Brewery History Society Webpage on the Company
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