Let's Brew Wednesday - 1868 William Younger No. 3 Export

It's a very special beer today. One with which I have a special rela . . . .. hang on, already done that one twice. I need to think of a new spiel. er . . er ...

I've not had chance to try the revived Younger's No.3. I'm very much looking forward to it. When I was in Glasgow (god, almost two years ago) I had a pint of No.3. in the State Bar, just of Sauchiehall Street. I'd dumped the family in the Wetherspoons opposite. Can't remember who had brewed it. Some new Scottish brewery. Quite nice, it was.

The revived No. 3 won't taste anything like this beer, that's for sure. General beeriness aside. This is a very different puppy. Bigger. Bolder. And an awful lot paler.

I'd like No. 3 to get the respect it deserves as one of the classic Scotch Ales. But surely Scotch Ales don't really exist outside of Belgium and American homebrewers' fantasies? Ever the contrary bastard, I'd argue Younger's No.1 and No. 3 were beers famous enough and long-lived enough to warrant being called a style. Or two styles. Give me a while and I'll write up some style guidelines for them.

Talking of style guidelines, guess what BJCP's used to give Younger's No. 3 as an example of?. Go on, guess. 80/-. Eighty effing shilling. Blind as well as clueless, whoever came up with that one.

Pale and hoppy - exactly what you'd expect from a Scotch Ale. A Scotch Ale from the 19th century. That's if you've been paying the slightest attention to what I write. Younger's seem to have had a real thing for Saaz. I suppose that's makes their beers Bohemian Scotch Ales. Remember that I coined that one first. I've started making up the most ridiculous style names I can. They'll call me a visionary ten years from now.






I've wasted enough of your time. Let's go over to Kristen for the real stuff . . . . .

Kristen’s Version:

Introduction:
This 1868 set will have a lot in common with the later 1879 set we’ve done the past few weeks. Very straightforward.


Ingredients

Grist – A few pale malts. Do you r best to find your favorite combo of UK and continental pale. I really like the Dingmanns pale malt and Optic English malt. Great combo for this beer.

Hops – You really can any low alpha acid hop to replace the Goldings. However, you need some very fresh Saaz for the end. Feel free to replace them with any of the new Saaz hybrids. Sterling work very well here.

Yeast – Whiteshield. Wonderful yeast that will bring out  the hops and not dry out too much.