Antique BATE'S SACCHAROMETER by CHADBURN BROS; c.1850

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The Bate Saccharometer Historical Background : Distillers and brewers, and of course the Customs and Excise, have long been interested in the relative strength of their product, as determined by the specific gravity or relative density of the liquid when measured with a hydrometer. The origins of hydrometry itself are largely lost in the mists of time, but go back at least to Archimedes’ studies of stationary fluids. The modern hydrometer was developed by Robert Boyle around 1665. After Boyle, hydrometers began to be produced by a variety of makers, first simply as academic instruments, but later attracting the attention of both Customs and Excise in helping to check the strength of spirits. Brewer's interest in the hydrometer developed much later than in the distilling industry. The hydrometer had not been introduced to brewers until around 1784. Since the instrument was used to measure the ‘saccharin’ or fermentable extract in brewers' worts, John Richardson – who is generally credited with its introduction - had coined the term ‘saccharometer’. Richardson 's work was to lead to the larger brewers making major changes in malting and brewing practice and standardisation of product strength. The ability to measure wort strength resulted in discussions on the payment of excise duty on beer according to its specific gravity, but initially nothing came of it. The Excise continued to charge duty on beer according to its classification of ‘strong,’ ‘small’ or ‘table.’ Beer duty itself was withdrawn in 1830 and it was not until 1880 that Gladstone re-introduced a duty on beer, now based on the specific gravity, or ‘original gravity,’ of the wort. Thus, in the absence of any Excise imperative, a range of competing saccharometers began to appear on the market. Major manufacturers included Dicas, Quin, Richardson and Dring & Fage. In Scotland a saccharometer by Allan was in use. Robert Brettell Bate, born in Stourbridge in 1782, was the nephew of Mary Sikes, whose husband, Bartholomew Sikes, was an established scientific instrument maker and manufacturer of hydrometers. Bate lived just a short walk from his aunt’s house in Wilderness Row, Clerkenwell, and clearly visited frequently, since his friendship with his cousin Anna Maria Sikes led to a speedily arranged marriage in 1804. Following the wedding, the newly wed couple went to live with the bride’s mother who had recently been widowed. Before his death, Bartholomew Sikes had been negotiating with the Excise Office for a contract to supply them with his improved hydrometer. After strenuous lobbying by Mary Sikes, Robert Bate was awarded the contract. This stroke of luck led to Bate becoming a prosperous scientific instrument maker. Excise ambivalence to the duty on beer did not extend to the distilleries of Scotland , where duty was being paid on the malt, the wort (or wash) and the spirit. An Act of 1816 had specified Allan's saccharometer as the instrument to be used to assess wort strength. In 1821 the English Board of Excise ordered 80 Allan saccharometers through their official supplier, who had become Robert Bate. Bate, however, was anxious to obtain the same monopoly for saccharometers as he had developed for hydrometers. Bate dispatched one of his journeymen to Edinburgh , where he took all of Allan's men to an alehouse and kept them intoxicated for nearly a fortnight - and then had them carried to London by boat! Deprived of his workforce, Allan's order was much delayed and although eventually completed, Bate had used the opportunity to persuade the Excise into adopting his own instrument. Bates' saccharometer replaced Allan's in Ireland in 1823, in Scotland in 1825 and was legalised in England in 1826. Bate’s saccharometers, like the one on offer here, were usually made of gilt brass. The upper graduated stem covers 30 degrees of specific gravity and the lower stem ends in a loop which holds a range of friction-fit weights (or poises), each of which increases the range by 30deg. The instrument can take two forms: a ... read more

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