Let's Brew Wednesday - 1928 Barclay Perkins IBS

Ah, Barclay Perkins. It may no longer be November, but our series of 1920's Barclay Perkins recipes continues. Today with the granddaddy of all Barclay Perkins beers: Russian Stout. Or IBS as it was so quaintly called within the brewhouse.

You may notice something about this recipe. It isn't very imperial. The classic Russian Stout OG was 1100-odd. Or about as strong as they could make it. But then along came WW I. For some years it wasn't brewed at all. When it did reappear in 1921, it was a shadow of it's former self. Just 1061º. That's weaker than TT, their standard Porter, was in 1845 (1064.5º). But that wasn't the end of true Russian Cough-mixture (as I used to call it in the 1970's). Because in 1924 they started brewing something called IBS Ex. That was at the full traditional strength. I think it's safe to assume the Ex stood for Export. Though whether it really was just for export isn't clear.

There were quite a few differences in the grists of the two variations. The weak version (as you'll see below) used mild ale malt and roasted barley. It's big brother SA malt and black malt. The sugars were different, too. The weaker used No. 3, the stronger No. 2.. Not sure what the reason for these differences was. Though Barclay Perkins did seem to fairly randomly swap between black malt and roasted barley.

That's me ausgebullshitted. I'm still trying to get my head back together after an enjoyable, but knackering, few days in London. I'm happy to be back at all, what with me having the good fortune to fly on blizzard day. Luckily I'd chosen Stansted. Gatwick's still closed.





But enough of me and my mundane travel problems. Let's pass you over to the man with the recipe, Kristen . . . . . .

Barclay Perkins - 1928 - IBS
General info: Bigger, badder and more robust than the OMS stout this Imperial Brown stout has a lot of common factors. The biggest changes are in the amounts of darker malts used. Nearly doubled across the board. The most interesting thing, IMO, is the fact that the difference in alcohol is very slim but the final gravity is quite high. A very interesting 'tradition' brown stout that is dangerously smooth, both for its supping qualities and for its insulin inducing abilities.
Beer Specifics			Recipe by percentages
Gravity (OG)	1.061		26.1% English Pale malt			8.2% Roasted barley
Gravity (FG)	1.021		26.1% Mild malt			7.4% Flaked Maize
ABV	5.33%		10.3% Amber malt			9.9% Invert no3
Apparent attenuation	65.57%		11.3% Brown malt			0.6% Caramel Colorant
Real attenuation	53.72%
IBU	67.2		Mash	90min@153°F		0.85qt/lb
SRM	109			90min@67.2°C		1.77L/kg
EBC	214.6
			Boil	2 hours
	Homebrew @ 70%				Craft @ 80%
Grist	5gal		19L		10bbl		10hl
English Pale malt	3.17	lb	1.445	kg	172.14	lb	66.51	kg
Mild malt	3.17	lb	1.445	kg	172.22	lb	66.54	kg
Amber malt	1.25	lb	0.570	kg	67.92	lb	26.24	kg
Brown malt	1.38	lb	0.629	kg	74.95	lb	28.96	kg
Roasted barley	1.00	lb	0.457	kg	54.45	lb	21.04	kg
Flaked Maize	0.91	lb	0.413	kg	49.18	lb	19.00	kg
Invert no3	19.34	oz	553.3	g	65.58	lb	25.34	kg
Caramel Colorant	1.21	oz	34.6	g	4.10	lb	1.58	kg
					660.54
Hops
Cluster 7% 120min	0.47	oz	13.4	g	29.28	oz	0.707	kg
Goldings 4.5% 90min	1.40	oz	39.6	g	86.61	oz	2.092	kg
Goldings 4.5% 30min	2.41	oz	68.3	g	149.37	oz	3.609	kg
Fermentation	65°F /18.3°C
Yeast	Nottingham ale yeast
	1028 London Ale Yeast  - WLP013 London Ale Yeast
Tasting Notes: Black…moonless. So very dark. Reeks of toasted and roasted malts. Sweeten espresso with Dutch-processed Cocoa. Walkers biscuits and strong tea. Herbaceous hops just on the back end keep this very sweet, mouth filling beer from being cloying. Drink warm or break out the hot pokers. Brilliant!