This image was sent in by a collector in Ireland. He thought it would help with the identification of bottler and possibly brewer of Mystery label #8. There is that AK again and a possible hint as to which part of the United Kingdom this is from.
What do you think??
This label turns up from time to time along with various others from the Aberdeenshire firm of J.MICHIE & SON(S) LTD., Newmill Brewery, Strichen – a small family brewer extant around the turn of the last century who were probably still brewing up until the First World War, but became solely bottlers at some point thereafter. Although the label looks old, I would guess that it is of a similar vintage (i.e. circa 1940s/50s) to Michie overprints of labels from Robert Younger Ltd., William Younger & Co. Ltd. and Campbell, Hope & King. Since the beer was EDINBURGH ALE, it seems reasonable to assume that one of these companies could have been the brewer.
A.K. is apparently an old term indicating the strength of the beer. (Stronger beers being designated ‘KK’ or ‘KKK’). A.K. beers, which pre-date the Victorian and Edwardian eras were consistently weaker than the standard beers of the time. The terminology is not commonly found today, but the letter ‘X’ is still widely used to denote strength.
Paul thanks for the interesting info about this label. Any thoughts on the symbology on Mystery Label #1