As reegular readers of the blog knw ; I`m pretty interested in the beers and breweries of ,
The early 19 Th Century to a period just before the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 ;
Today`s post is from an item in the Wm Younger & Co collection ;
Part of the internationally imortant Scottish Brewing Archive , cared for by the helpfull and ,
Friendly team at The University of Glasgow , Special Collections & Archives Department ..
The book it`self is of similar size and layout to those of Wm Younger`s own breweries
( Corporate ) records of brewing for the 1850`s ; and is catalogued as ,
" The Brewing Book of D J Younger ; CAT Ref : WY 6 / 1 / 2 / 5 " .
The book starts with entries from an un named brewery in October 1851
With a variety of beers brewed , ranging from the conventional 60 & 80 /- Ales ,Up to 130 /- .
Also brewed were ; I P , II P ; X P & XX P , B . S & B B S ;
To name but a few in the entries from this particular brewery, the entries continue in the same
Handwriting until the 27 Th August 1852 ;
Gyle No : 100 : 80 / - @ 1.091 , 60 /- @ 1.075 .
The next brewery in this book is , clearly entered as " Holyrood Brewery " ;
Entries start with Brew No : 77 X . P ( Double Brew ) on 29 Th Nov 1869 @ 1.053 .
Gyle No : 100 : 80 / - @ 1.091 , 60 /- @ 1.075 .
The next brewery in this book is , clearly entered as " Holyrood Brewery " ;
Entries start with Brew No : 77 X . P ( Double Brew ) on 29 Th Nov 1869 @ 1.053 .
The Holyrood entries end on 22 / 02 / 1870 with Brew : 176 & 177 , X. P @1.058 ,
And 1.051 Original Gravities .
( 1 ) Unmarked Illegible Bry *
The next clearly defined brewery in this book is , Craigend Brewery ;
The " Craigend " is written , in a similar fashion to the " Holyrood " in the top left corner of ,
The relevant page of entries ; Sadly , though the Craigend brews are clearly defined for a few ,
Scant pages , The handwriting remains in much the same fist as the defined Craigend entries .
Regarding this , the Craigend entries start with a brewing of " X , No 1 : 1.067 ;
The relevant page of entries ; Sadly , though the Craigend brews are clearly defined for a few ,
Scant pages , The handwriting remains in much the same fist as the defined Craigend entries .
Regarding this , the Craigend entries start with a brewing of " X , No 1 : 1.067 ;
And end with aparti gyle ( No 6 ) brewing of 100 /- @ 1.090 and " B " @ 1.040 on 21 St Oct 1853 .
The entries , again in the same hand continue in the same hand and writing style ;
From Gyle No 7 on 22/10/1853 , A Parti Gyle of XXX @ 1.085 and B @ 1.025
until Brew No : 30 , 3 Rd of December 1853 , a multi gylye brew of X @ 1.062 .
Sadly the last few photos I took of the D J Younger brewing book have become corrupted ;
Another minor wrinkle in the collar of research to iron out on my next visit to the team who ,
Care for the Scottish Brewing Archive at The University of Glasgow S Coll & Archives Dep`t .
( 1 ) The entries preceeding the Craigend ones are from an un stated / illegible brewery ;
Starting with Brew No : 299 , 140 Shilling Ale @ 1.128 and ending with No 444 , X P @ 1.052 ;
Brewed on the 23 Rd of February 1853 .
In a recent discussion with the Chairman of The Scottish Brewing Archive Association ;
We discussed the range of brewing dates recorded in this volume , and the concomitant issues ;
Chief amongst which is the age of D J Younger in the 1850`s ,
Which to my suprise was ,. around 9 years old at the start of the dates range .
The obvious question was then asked ; Why the disparity ? , I propounded the theory as follows ;
With an eye on thrifty business practice , Would any of D J Younger`s elder brothers have had
` Pupil`s Books ` , and if so , would it be likely for any unused ` Company ` books to be
Utililsed for this purpose ; Then recycled to the next generation of family pupil brewers ? ,
A question to which I believe the answer to be Yes ! .
One question raised by the above theory would , be were J & W Burnett merely owning factors
Of The Craigend Brewery during the period it`s brews were recorded in this volume ? .
If you can assist with this , Or know of Scottish brewing records in corporate & private archives ,
And are able to facilitate ditect or , remote access ; Please get in touch , I`d love to hear from you .
A photo of Edinburgh , and Waverley Station;
Calton Jail above , with the brewery on the left of the photo
Edit : I`ve been reminded that there are actually three breweries in this photo by John Martin ;
On the left of the row of buildings is , the Craigend Brewery and in the centre ,
The North Back of Cannongate Brewery , Whilst on the right of the photo is ,
The Old Edinburgh Brewery, With the marshalling & goods yards of Waverley Station visible in the foreground , With the Grain Sheds in the right mid section of the photo.
Locations of the Craigend , North Back of Cannongate & Old Edinburgh & other breweries in that area of `Auld Reekie ` Can be found in the leaflet " Breweries in Cannongate ",
produced by Scottish Brewing Heritage
The Craigend Brewery
North Back Of Cannongate
Edinburgh
Scotland
Some Owner / Operators 1830 - 1892
1830 - 1834 : Hutchinson , Aikman
1834 - 1840 : Robert Alexander
Ca 1850 - 1858 : J & W Burnett & Co
1858 - 1874 : Steel , Coulson & Co
1874 - 1892 : Drybrough & Co
Information Courtesy of The Scottish Brewing Archive Association
A SAMPLING OF SOME BEERS BREWED IN 1853
GYLE DATE BEER Original Gravity Final Gravity I B U A B V
6 11 / 04 / 1853 Beer 1.037 1.010 12 3.5
15 25 / 04 / 1853 Beer 1.031 1.006 6 3.25
2 05 / 04 / 1853 60 /- ALE 1.070 1.013 34 7.6
19 30 / 04 / 1853 60 /- ALE 1.073 1.014 26 7.6
18 29 / 04 / 1853 80 /- ALE 1.086 1.020 44 8.8
5 19 / 10 / 1853 80 /- ALE 1.079 1.020 32 8
6 11 / 04 / 1853 100 /- ALE 1.097 1.022 56 10.1
16 26 / 04 / 1853 100 /- ALE 1.105 1.028 78 10.5
8 15 / 04 / 1853 120 /- ALE 1.108 1.026 58 11.2
15 25 / 04 / 1853 120 /- ALE 1.114 1.030 58 11.4
Cheers All 🍻
Edd
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