Wednesday 29 September 2010

Let's Brew Wednesday - Lees 1952 Stout

It seems like ages since the last Let's Brew. Probably because it has been ages. I should have published this last week. But somehow managed to forget.

Lees Stout this time. For a long time, Lees didn't brew a Stout at all. When they did start making one again, it was a very different beer. The pre-war Stout had an OG of over 1050, you'll see this one is notably weaker. And a good bit more sugary.

English Stouts changed considerably during the 20th century. They became, weaker, less hoppy and sweeter. By the 1950's, Stout was also becoming pretty much exclusively a bottled beer. In 1956, Lees changed their Stout, upping the sugar content to over 40%. About a third of the sugar was in the form of lactose, which boosted the FG to 1024 and reduced the ABV to 2.25%. Many breweries did something similar, though some did still continue to brew drier, more attenuated Stouts. Ironically, around the same time Guinness did the exact opposite, increasing the attenation to make their Stout even drier.


That's me done, so over to Kristen . . . .




JW Lees - 1952 - Stout
General info: Stout! Really? Not really that stouty of a stout? Looks very much to me like a Guinness-y type stout with much less hop. Maybe more like a Murphys. Oats instead of flaked barley. No roasted barley!? Now how can it be a stout? 20% sugar? Ok, now this is looking more and more like a dark mild to me. Seems actually quite close to their mild. Where do we draw the line? More importantly, does it really matter?
Beer Specifics

Recipe by percentages
Gravity (OG)
1.038

52.6% English 2 Row
4.8% Oats
Gravity (FG)
1.011

5.7% Crystal 75L
20% Invert No1
ABV
3.59%

5.5% Chocolate malt

Apparent attenuation
70.85%

5.7% Brown malt

Real attenuation
58.04%

5.5% Black malt

IBU
17.5

Mash
90min@147°F
1.08qt/lb

SRM
51


90min@63.9°C
2.26L/kg

EBC
100.5










Boil
1.75 hours













Homebrew @ 70%
Craft @ 80%
Grist
5gal
19L
10bbl
10hl
English 2 Row
3.81
lb
1.732
kg
206.43
lb
79.76
kg
Crystal 75L
0.41
lb
0.189
kg
22.47
lb
8.68
kg
Chocolate malt
0.40
lb
0.183
kg
21.77
lb
8.41
kg
Brown malt
0.41
lb
0.189
kg
22.47
lb
8.68
kg
Black malt
0.40
lb
0.183
kg
21.77
lb
8.41
kg
Oats
0.35
lb
0.159
kg
18.96
lb
7.32
kg
Invert No1
1.45
lb
0.660
kg
78.64
lb
30.38
kg









Hops








Fuggle 5.5% 90min
0.41
oz
11.7
g
25.53
oz
0.617
kg
Fuggle 5.5% 30min
0.41
oz
11.7
g
25.53
oz
0.617
kg









Fermentation
63°F /17.2°C















Yeast
Manchester ale

1318 London Ale Yeast III   -









Tasting Notes:
Dark. Check that. Pretty damned dark. Big rich dark malt. Espresso, mocha, hints of cocoa and toasted bread crumbs. Touches of raisins and figs. Not thin but crisp. Quite mouth filling for being such a light beer. Side-by-side, it’s good from a bottle, really great from a cask. Simply, a delicious, elbowy little 'stout'.

3 comments:

Ant Hayes said...

Where's the lactose?

Ron Pattinson said...

Ant Hayes, there was no lactose in this version.

Kristen England said...

The next lot coming up have butt loads of lactose in them. Quite sweet indeed.

This one is similar to the Lees 1952 Mild but a little more sharp and dark flavored.