Saturday 20 August 2011

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.

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