1902 Bass King's Ale

You're better off going to the auction sites, probably. Most of the existing bottles are in the U.K. Here's information on the sizes made: http://www.mpeterson.co.uk/kings.htm. Good luck.

 

This is a good guide regarding the sizes and approx prices that they fetch on auction sites.

Almost all versions still appear on UK Ebay, but almost none ship outside the UK (rarely some ship to Europe),
if they do the shipping costs are very high as the bottles are quite heavy (and UK shipping costs are among the highest in Europe). I once had a single pint bottle delivered and the shipping costs to Europe for that single bottle were more than 40 GBP (65+ USD).

Some guidelines when you purchase bottles. The 1977 re-bottling used the original bottles and labels. The only way to tell the difference is an extra label sticked under the original label (you can see it on the link above, first bottle from the left). You can see the text in the link. If you see glue residue on that part and the seller says it is the 1902 version, he could be lying. Also the wax on the 1977 usually is bright black and shiny (even now), it also had on occasions a gold foil, but it has been destroyed in the majority of the bottles offered. The 1902 is gray and has a lead-like texture and appearance.

You can see the differences in this picture of the two bottles here. The big one (quart size) still has the extra label and you can see the black wax clearly (it tasted great btw ) . The smaller bottle is the pint size of 1902 where you can see the difference on the wax (still have that one, but it is not up for trade):

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4067/4441248919_14c699e19c_o.jpg


What the link doesn't mention is that an earlier version exists. That from 1869 ! This is probably the rarest. It was brewed under the name of Ratcliff Ale, the label is on the same style as the other ones and it is this one (however if you find a bottle the condition of the label could be in really bad shape unless it was glued to preserve it):



The easiest version to obtain seems to be the : Bass Princess Ale of 1978, at usually reasonable (prior to shipping) prices. Both this and the 1977 version if they where stores well and the wax is intact still taste very nice.

 

I had my share of a few , but not in a vertical. With British beer it is quite difficult to tell if it is the same beer or not I agree, especially for memorial beers. And when you try them so many year after, where age, cellar conditions, etc has affected it that much...

If I am not mistaken Bass had patented 2 different beers. One called Pale Ale with the red triangle, which was their normal best seller Pale Ale, and the second was their Strong Ale with the red diamond on the label. The most common version of the Strong ale was the No.1. There had been two more versions of the Strong Ale No.2 and No.3 with small gravity changes. I haven't seen any bottle having the No.2 or No.3 though. From a brief read I had of the Oxford Companion (I don't own the book) I noticed the Strong Ale No.2 being mentioned. The No.3 came to my attention when reading the book "A Bottle of Guinness please". There is a table with the export table of Henry Brack & Co of 1877 where Bass Strong Ale No1.,No2 and No.3 are being mentioned.

On the Ratcliffe version The No.1 is being mentioned and I think that was the one brewed for the King's Ale. But many of the labels followed don't mention the No. of the Strong Ale. So everything is based on assumption only. Even if it is indeed the same recipe there where so many gaps between each version that I doubt they could taste the same.

Anyway all this is history. Sorry for a second overlong post

Cheers,

Alex

 

My $00.02.....

Beers like this simply do not trade in the conventional sense that we're all used to here on the forums. These really are the kinds of relics that straddle the line between historical artifact/curio and the ultimate collectible in breweriana. Even the empty bottles are attractive pieces to many collectors. Therefore, these fall well beyond any sort of metric of $4$ or even rarity4rarity.

If you're simply looking to try these just for the experience, well.....hope that you'll someday meet someone who's been holding onto a bottle for whatever reason. Otherwise, your only real alternative is to dig through auction pages for a while.

I lucked out a couple years ago and found a Prince's Ale that was misfiled under Pots & Pans or whatever. $19 shipped to my doorstep. That was an absolute fluke and should be considered the exception. The bottle and cork were gnarly as shit (leaked slightly in transit), but the liquid turned out to be absolutely amazing.

Conversely, I was able to acquire a King's Ale 1902 (verified original) for roughly $150 shipped to the US. The bottle itself was absolutely pristine with only minor label damage. However, as with the Prince, this also leaked in transit....and eventhough the cork was originally in much better condition than the Prince's, this was a decidedly lesser liquid.

Moral of the story: If you do happen to find one/any of these via overseas auction, be prepared for uncertainty. These bottles are incredibly old and fragile (duh) and really weren't built for the kinds of abuse that modern shipping companies tend to dish out. Consider this as just one of the many risks of dealing with bottles of this age (oh, and not to mention the fact that you might not even like how it tastes).

 

There were actually a couple that were posted late last year....I recall this well as I had kept it in my watch history until it fell off into the aether, but I somehow don't remember what they actually closed out for. Perhaps one of these is the bottle which you speak of.....

Here's a reference to the listing(s):

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bass-co-kings-kings-ale-full-magnum-220552493

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bass-commemorative-ale-magnum-kings-219461100

 

Yeah, my one experience with the 1902 was disappointing: it had leaked in transit from the UK and was decidedly sour. Still an interesting beer, but not lip-smacking good. (I have another bottle, plus the 1977 and '78 versions, coming over today with a friend who's been living in England - the seller on eBay would only ship in the UK.)

And yes, I've never seen a Bass corker traded on this site. Not Ballantine Burton, either. Although I did manage to arrange a nice trade recently for some old bottles of Thomas Hardy and other old English beers.

 

Haha, yeah....that was me that you did the IP trade with.

Hope you enjoy those goodies.

 

Ayup. Drank 'em all - just finished with the '79 TH last weekend. Great stuff.