Disher’s ale and Edinburgh United Breweries beers 1928–1933

Edinburgh United Breweries. Pretty much forgotten today. It was set up in the late nineteenth century to absorb several small breweries, among them Bell’s, sometime brewers of “black cork”, and Disher’s, famous for their strong ale.

Bell’s brewery on the Pleasance remained the brewery for the united concern. Here it can be seen in the background. Splendidly, the pub in the foreground is advertising Disher’s Ten Guinea Ale:

Picture courtesy of David Gordon of the Edinburgh shop Now and Then

Here's what the site looks like today. Hooray, the brewery building is still there!

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Now for some numbers. I don’t know for sure what kind of beer the 54/– to 80/– and the 6d and 8d beers were. Most likely Pale Ale, but I am not going to assume. As 210/– is ten guineas, I think we can take it that they were still making Disher’s Ten Guinea Ale up to the end. But look at the gravity of it and how it plummets by almost 20 gravity points in just five years. More happily, Jeffrey’s continued to brew it after they took over EUB in the 1930s and were still making Disher’s Extra Strong Ale at 1.088 in the 1950s.

Gravities of Edinburgh United Breweries beers, 1928–1933
Brewery	Beer name	Beer type	OG	Year
EUB	6d	?	1037	1928
EUB	Mild	?	1033	1928
EUB	8d	?	1052	1928
EUB	210/–	Strong Ale	1103	1928
EUB	210/–	Strong Ale	1100	1929
EUB	54/–	?	1031	1929
EUB	80/–		1054	1929
EUB	Exp St	Stout	1055	1929
EUB	60/–	?	1036	1930
EUB	210/–	Strong Ale	1093	1930
EUB	54/–	?	1031	1930
EUB	Mild	Mild Ale	1032	1930
EUB	210/–	Strong Ale	1090	1930
EUB	210/–	Strong Ale	1089	1931
EUB	210/–	Strong Ale	1085	1932
EUB	54/–	?	1030	1933
EUB	60/–	?	1036	1933
EUB	210/–	Strong Ale	1082	1933
EUB	210/–	Strong Ale	1090	1933
EUB	60/–	?	1039	1933
EUB	60/–	?	1042	1933