Scottish IPA again

Serendipity. Sounds like the chorus of a Disney song. It came to my aid again this week.

Wandering in an idle daze through the web, I stubbed my toe on this pavement: Historical Extreme Beers. It's a powerpoint of presentation given by Mitch Steele of Stone to an American homebrewers' conference. "What's so interesting about that, Ron?" One of the images. An image that's cracked some of William Younger's beer codes.

Let's take a peek.

XP is India Pale Ale. Brilliant! It pops up in Younger's brewing records all over the place. I knew it was some sort of Pale Ale, but hadn't realised it was marketed as India Pale Ale. Dead handy to know.

The other descriptions are just as useful. X, XX and XXX were Mild Ales as I'd suspected. Hadn't known XXXX was Stock Ale, though. Then there are the beers called Edinburgh Ale. The numbered Ales. Combined with the Edinburgh Mild Ales they form a range of beers very similar to the Burton Ales of Bass.

Let's compare the two:

Bass beers in 1879
Beer	style	price/barrel	OG
India Pale Ale	IPA	60	1060
No. 1	Burton Ale	84	1110
No. 2	Burton Ale	72	1090
No. 3	Burton Ale	60	1085
No. 3a	Burton Ale (Old Ale)	66	1085
No. 3b	Burton Ale (Bottling)	66	1075
No. 4	Burton Mild Ale	54	1070
No. 5	Burton Mild Ale	48	1065
No. 6	Burton Mild Ale	42	1060
Source:
Bass price list

William Younger beers in 1883
Beer	style	price/barrel	OG
XP	IPA	54	1054
XXP	Export IPA	60	1060
No. 1	Edinburgh Ale	84	1101
No. 2	Edinburgh Ale	72	1086
No. 3	Edinburgh Ale	60	1074
XXXX	Edinburgh Stock Ale	60	1079
XXX	Edinburgh Mild Ale	54	1066
XX	Edinburgh Mild Ale	50	1057
X	Edinburgh Mild Ale	42	1047
Source:
William Younger brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
William Younger price list

You have to admit that they're very similar. The numbered Ales have exactly the same price and the gravities aren't much different either. I know I keep banging on about this, but the evidence continues to pile up that Burton Ale and Edinburgh Ale were pretty much the same thing.

The similarities don't stop with the Ales. Younger's Export IPA also bears an uncanny resemblance to Bass's IPA.

I've rambled off my path again. Before I step off a cliff, let's get back on track. Scottish IPA. That's what I'm meant to be talking about.

Now I've looked at the price list again, I'm uncertain as to the description of XXP. I first assumed it was Export India Pale Ale. But the way that "do." is placed, it could also be Export Pale Ale. Ignoring that doubt, here's a table of Younger's IPAs:

William Younger IPAs
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenuation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	Pitch temp	dry hops (oz / barrel)
6th Oct	1851	XP	IPA	1058	1020	5.03	65.52%	15.00	6.67	1.25
9th Oct	1851	XXP	IPA	1072	1018	7.14	75.00%	24.00	8.18	1.25
	1858	XP	IPA	1054	1014	5.29	74.07%	14.80	4.40	1.66	2.5
	1858	XXP	IPA	1059	1016	5.69	72.88%	21.05	5.00	1.75	2
	1868	XP	IPA	1051	1013	5.03	74.51%	12.22	3.40	2	2.25
	1868	XXP	IPA	1055	1014	5.42	74.55%	11.67	3.29	2	2.25
2nd June	1879	XP	IPA	1052	1016	4.76	69.23%	11.74	2.73	1.75	2.25	59.5º	10.67
29th May	1885	XP	IPA	1054	1013	5.42	75.93%	11.50	2.84	2	2.5	59º	9.28
22nd Oct	1879	XXP	IPA	1058	1014	5.82	75.86%	9.19	2.41	2.5	2.5	58º	7.49
24th Oct	1879	XP	IPA	1051	1014	4.89	72.55%	7.94	1.86	2.5	2.5	60º	6.62
30th Oct	1879	XXP	IPA	1058	1016	5.56	72.41%	8.65	2.56	2.5	2.5	60º	6.78
10th Nov	1879	XP	IPA	1051	1012	5.16	76.47%	8.00	1.90	2.5	2.5	60º	13.46
11th Nov	1879	XXP	IPA	1058	1015	5.69	74.14%	9.44	2.62	2.5	2.5	60º	7.02
16th Sept	1880	XP	IPA	1052	1013	5.16	75.00%	9.68	2.13	2.5	2.5	59º	9.42
20th Sept	1880	XXP	IPA	1060	1019	5.42	68.33%	10.56	2.81	2.25	2.25	59º	5.45
7th Dec	1880	XXP	IPA	1059.5	1018	5.49	69.75%	12.90	2.99	2.25	2.25	59º	11.70
9th Dec	1880	XP	IPA	1052	1012	5.29	76.92%	11.11	2.34	2.25	2.25	60º	11.13
11th Apr	1881	XP	IPA	1053	1015	5.03	71.70%	10.00	3.04	2.25	2.5	59º	11.14
15th Apr	1881	XXP	IPA	1060	1012	6.35	80.00%	17.14	3.89	2.33	2.67	58.5º	16.06
3rd May	1881	XP	IPA	1054	1014	5.29	74.07%	9.23	3.06	2.25	2.75	59º	0.00
29th Aug	1881	XP	IPA	1053	1018	4.63	66.04%	7.69	2.30	2.33	2.67	59º	11.40
Source:
William Younger Brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive

I can't discuss Scottish beer without mentioning hopping. The IPA's of the 1850's above, with 4 to 8 pounds of hops per barrel could not be described as lightly hopped. The hopping rate falls in the later examples, but the half pound to a pound of dry hops per barrel would have made them pretty hoppy nonetheless.

I've included the boil times and  pitching temperature so you can see that neither were they fermented cold nor boiled for ages. Because these things can never be said too often. I realise it's like the old lady piddling in the sea. But I have to do something.

It seems to be turning into IPA week. Purely accidental, I assure you.