MORGAN BROTHERS ; NORWICH : DARK X & X X ALES 1878 - 1880

 How Do All , 

Today`s draught of cerevesian lore is drawn from the Pupil Brewer`s Book of a former 

Head Brewer of Whitbread`s Chiswell St Brewery and later I O B President ( 1920`s ) ;

 Henry Edmund Field ( 1859 - 1947 ) , Henry Edmund was born in Norwich in 1859 ,

The son of a local solicitor who`d removed to Norwich in the late 18 Th / early C 19 Th from 

Oxfordshire ; By the time of H E`s birth in 1859 , the family home in Norwich was the rather 

Splendid St Helen`s House 

St Helens House Photo from,
https://octagonchapelnorwich.org.uk

The brewing book of H E Field is a rather splendid volume with the brews laid out as 1 to 2 + 

Entries per page with attenuation details on the same page below the Liquor , Malts & Hops columns ;

Also included are the sugars where used , given as gross poundage used or combined with the 

Quarters weight used !! .

  One of the features of the volume in question is the total lack of any apparent brewery name to 

Which the volume may be ascribed ; Happily there are a few clues in the volume it`s self 

Such as details of the weather " 17 degrees at St Helens " written on the right hand side of the page 

Of an 1878 brewing , other weather notes and references lead me to suspect that a Norwich brewer 

was the Operator / Owner of the brewery Henry Edmund trained at .

 A number of fellow labourers in the orchard of beer history were kind enough to assist with my 

Quest to find the the name of the elusive manufactory of cerevesian delights ;

After appeals to The Institute of Brewing & Distilling and others failed to bear fruit ; 

 Eventually the redoubtable Eric Dore was able to further assist with a clipping from 

An east anglian newspaper from the 1880`s in which Henry Edmund Field is described as 

A Brewer`s Pupil employed at Messr`s Morgan Brothers brewery in a local news gleaning ;

Describing a Dinner held at the brewery .

  

  After Henry Edmund left Morgan`s in 1881 * , there`s a gap of 2 - 3 years before he joined 

The brewing staff at Chiswell St in late 1884 - 1885 ; Joining the Institute Of  Brewing  and ,

Becoming active in education in the brewing trade ; a longstanding passion . 

 H E later became the Head Brewer at Chiswell St ( Ca 1911 I believe ) and after retiring from the Whitbread board in the eary 1920`s was elected President of the I O B on 2 occasions ;

Passing away in London in 1947 .

The Brewing Book of H E Field @ LMA 4453 / D / 02 / 022 forms part of the larger Whitbread 

Archives cared for by the ever helpfull and friendly team at The London Archives .

                                                      Morgan Brothers 

                                                   A SHORT HISTORY 

Though reputedly founded in the 16 Th Century ; The Old Brewery on King St in Norwich 

 Was certainly established by 1720 , which is the date subscribed to by the Morgan Brothers .

   The King St premises were aquired by the brothers in the early years of Queen Victoria`s reign 

(1844 ) , With the burgeoning concern being styled as Morgan Brothers by 1873; 

Some 14 Years before it`s registration as a limited company in 1887 as Morgan`s Brewery Co Ltd .

  The thriving Norwich concern bought their Norfolk neighbours ; 

Wm Cann & Co of Wymondham in 1894 , following this purchase with that of their King`s Lynn 

Rivals : Elijah Eyre`s Lady`s Bridge Brewery in 1900 .

The company who were brewing at Norwich and , King`s Lynn weathered the storms of war ; 

 Going on to purchase The Crown Brewery of E & G Morse at Lowestoft in 1936 ;

With production at the Crown Brewery ceasing and the brewery buildings sold off and now used 

For other purposes .

 The Second World War proved more problematical in terms of brewing production ;

When the Old Brewery suffered a direct hit in a 1942 Air Raid on Norwich ; with production of 

Morgan`s beers moving up the road to King`s Lynn until the newly rebuilt Old Brewery was in 

Full commercial operation ( qv By 1947 ?? ) ; The Lady`s Bridge Brewery ceasing to brew in 1951 , 

 The independent brewing of Morgan`s beers was to continue on King St until 1961 ;

When their neighbours , Steward & Patteson of The Pockthorpe Brewery ,

 And Bullard`s of The Anchor Brewery purchased the company and pubs ; 

Themselves to be brought under the controll of the Watney - Mann empire within a few short years ,

And in an odd twist of fate ; becoming the only old established Norwich brewery to still 

Produce beer into the 1980`s at their original brewery site *

                                        *  Some Norwich Breweries & Operating Dates 

Youngs , Crawshay & Youngs :Founded Ca 1807 , Closed 1958 , After purchase by Bullard`s 

Steward & Patteson : Founded 18 Th Century ,

                                    Closed January 1970 after purchase by Watney - Mann Ltd

Bullard & Sons : Founded 1837 , Closed 1968 as part of the Watney Mann group .

                                            DARK   X  &  X X ALES 

                                  SAMPLE  ANALYSES 1878  - 1880 

NB : Though the volume covers brewings from 1878 until 1881 , the only Gyles brewed 

After December 1880 and , Entered up in H E `s book are Pale Ale ( STOCK ) and 

A Parti Gyle of X X K ( Bitter ) and Imperial Ale . 

                                                      DARK   X ALE

                                                       1878  - 1880 

Gyle	Date	ORIGINAL	RACKING	FINAL	I  B  U	A  B  V
245	12/10/1878	1.048.75	1.011.25	1.008	26	5.3
299	14/12/1878	1.048.75	1.011.25	1.008	24	5.3
7	10/01/1879	1.048.75	1.011.25	1.008	22	5.3
31	11/02/1879	1.048.75	1.011.25	1.008	22	5.3
50	05/05/1879	1.048.75	1.011.25	1.008	22	5.3
56	09/05/1880	1.048.75	1.011.25	1.008	20	5.3
236	28/09/1880	1.048.75	1.011.25	1.008	24	5.3
254	19/10/1880	1.048.75	1.011.25	1.008	24	5.3

                       

                                                                  DARK  X X ALE 

                                                       1878  - 1880

Gyle	Date	ORIGINAL	RACKING	FINAL	I  B  U	A  B  V
245	12/10/1878	1.052.75	1.011.5	1.008	26	5.8
299	14/12/1878	1.052.75	1.011.5	1.008	26	5.8
7	10/01/1879	1.052.75	1.011.5	1.008	22	5.8
31	11/02/1879	1.052.75	1.011.5	1.008	22	5.8
50	05/03/1879	1.052.75	1.011.5	1.008	22	5.8
56	09/03/1879	1.051.5	1.011.5	1.008	20	5.7
236	28/09/1880	1.051.5	1.011.5	1.008	24	5.7
254	19/10/1880	1.051.5	1.011.5	1.008	24	5.7

 

                                          

                                     GRISTS , HOPS & SUGARS USE 

Gyle No : 245 Saturday 12 Th October 1878 

                                         X X & X Dark & X L ALES                               

MALTS	QUARTERS	SUGARS
Crawshay No 1	4 . 5	No 3 Invert   @ 17.494 %
Crawshay No 2	6	CANE           @  7.498  %
Imperial	1 . 5

128 Lbs Hops Used IN Coppers 

QUALITY	X X	X	X L
ORIGINAL GRAVITY	1.052.75	1.048.75	1.044.5
BREWLENGTH IN F V 1
PARTI GYLE	31 Wort Brls	31 ¼ Wort Brls	13 Wort Brls
SINGLE GYLE	70 ½ Wort Brls	76 ¾ Wort Brls	84  Wort Brls
IBU	26	26	28
A B V	5.8  %	5.3  %	4.75  %

Gyle No : 50  Wednesday  5 Th March 1879

                                               X X & X Dark & X L ALES 

MALTS	QUARTERS	SUGARS
Crawshay	4	No 3 Invert @ 20.759 %
Cudden No 3	8	CANE         @ 4.41 %
No 1 ( 3 )	7 . 5
Imperial Malt	2 . 5

203 Lbs Hops Used IN Coppers              

QUALITY	X X	X	X L
ORIGINAL GRAVITY	1.052.75	1.048.75	1.044.5
BREWLENGTH IN F V 1
PARTI GYLE	74 Wort Brls	80 Wort Brls	10 Wort Brls
SINGLE GYLE	156.75 Wort Brls	169 Wort Brls	185.25 Wort Brls
IBU	22	232	22
A B V	5.8  %	5.3  %	4.75  %

Gyle No : 254  Tuesday  19 Th October 1880 

                                                   X X & X Dark  ALES

MALTS	QUARTERS	SUGARS
Smith	7	No 3 Invert @ 21.084 %
Smith & Son	7

126 Lbs Hops Used IN Coppers 

QUALITY	X X	X
ORIGINAL GRAVITY	1.051.5	1.048.75
BREWLENGTH IN F V 1
PARTI GYLE	43.75 Wort Brls	39.75 Wort Brls
SINGLE GYLE	80.25 Wort Brls	85 Wort Brls
IBU	24	24
A B V	5.8  %	5.3  %

I hope you`ve all enjoyed today`s analyses post , I` ll be posting a recipie for the Dark X Ale 

Later on today ,  

Cheers All 🍻 ,

Edd