Wednesday 21 March 2012

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1913 William Younger No. 3

Sorry for the interruption in Let's Brew instalments. A variety of factors, too dull to mention here, were responsible. But I can guarantee you that there will be at least two Wednesdays in a row with recipes. Even better than that, with William Younger recipes.

No. 3 is a funny beast. I can remember it being described as a dark Bitter in the 1970's. I suppose that's no worse than mistaking its 19th-century incarnation for a Pale Ale, which some have. Burton, however odd that sounds for a beer brewed in Scotland, seems the best way to describe it. It shares many features with London KK and, when sold in London, filled the same slot on the bar. Of course, you could just call it a Scotch Ale, however confusing that phrase might be. Though, as you can see in the image to the right, that was what Younger themselves described it as.

Then there's the character of the beer itself. I wish I could tell you what colour the finished version of this beer had. I suspect several different ones, based on my experiences with other Scottish brewers. My guess would be that it was coloured up with caramel several ways to meet the expectations of different markets. But, until I track down a document with colouring details, that's just speculation.

Sometime between 1898 and 1912 there were radical changes made to No. 3's character. The gravity was knocked down a bit, from 1076º to 1067º, but that wasn't the biggest change. That was in the hopping, which dropped from 3 pounds per barrel to just over 1 pound. That's such a drastic change that I wish I had logs for some of the intervening years. I can't believe the drop happened all in one go. It would have been too drastic a change.

New versions of No. 3 also appeared in the same period. The enigmatic No. 3a, which retained a gravity of over 1070º. No. 3 Sc (presumably meaning Scotch or Scottish) which appears to be exactly the same as the standard version. Finally No. 3 btg, the bottling version, which was a touch higher in gravity, 1070º, and the most heavily hopped at 1.75 lbs per barrel.

Weirdly, in the 1930's the hopping rate went up again, even though the gravity had fallen a good bit more. Anyone who drank No. 3 over 30 years would have experienced some very different beers in his glass.






That's me done for now, and here comes Kristen with the recipe . . . . . . .









Kristen’s Version:

So we are moving a bit more forward in time. Up to the turn of the century. Both of these next logs were included in the 1909 book. Each is slightly different as I learn more I make sure and update calculations and such. They are only a bit off though. The big thing you’ll notice about both of these is the amount of adjuncts.

They used grits, which I would personally use instead of flaked maize as the character is quite different. However you’ll have to cook them up first to use them. Its not that much effort really. Just treat them as you would when you are cooking up polenta (www.lmgtfy.com). Then add them to your mash. Take into account the temperature they bring over being hot or cold. The second bit is the use of caramel. Use it as you wish.

The hops were pretty much 100% Cluster however feel free to play around with these as you see fit. Goldings always do a great job. Bullion work pretty nicely as did Challenger. This ferments pretty cool so take note and make sure the yeast doesn’t drop out.

14 comments:

Oblivious said...

wow 47% maize, is that correct it looks like a massive percentage

Ron Pattinson said...

Oblivious, yep, that's correct. They used a shit-load of grits in all their beers in this period.

dana said...

Ron, this puts your comments about the claims of the Younger's adverts into a great deal more context. I might have to brew this just to see what it was like.
Kristin, I just put the Younger's 1868 no. 3 export in secondary. Yes, I do brew some of these beers and appreciate every let's brew post. Thought you'd want to know.

Ron Pattinson said...

Dana, it had me wondering, too. I've never seen beers with so much maize.

Glad to know someone is brewing these beers.

Bikeraggie said...

I too brew some of these beers. Thank you very much for continuing the series.

I just finished the keg of a Pale Ale base on one of the grists you published and I am about to tap the second keg of an 1849 Porter :)

This No 3 is so unlike anything I have ever made that I think I am going to have to try it soon.

Kristen England said...

Maize vs grits is pretty different. If u can, go the extra mile and cereal cook grits. If not the maize will be close just that flaked maize is always more corny to me than grits.

I'm glad u guys are trying things out! It's funny how many times I've said myself, 'Wow, this is nothing like I've done before!'

Also, flaked maize is pretty easy to work with but if you wanted you could use a bit of rice hulls if you are the worrying type.

Jeff Renner said...

It will help to handle the grits if you do a proper cereal mash before cooking them. Very easy. Mash the grits with about 10% six-row at ~150F for 20 minutes, then bring them to a boil, stirring to be careful not to scorch them. Watch out for the ejecta from bubbles - it can stick to your skin and scald like napalm. Then after 25 minutes or so, add it to the main mash.

This will keep the cooked grits liquid and easy to incorporate into the main mash. In this case, since you want to keep the entire mash temperature high, you should let them cool to 160F before adding them to the main mash, also at 160F. If you did this without doing a cereal mash first, the grits would stiffen.

Kristen England said...

Jeff,

Napalm Ejecta....I'm stealing that name for a beer!

Derek Hyde said...

If you showed me this recipe blind and asked me to guess the style, I'd probably say "American Malt Liquor"!

dana said...

where's the color come from? Surely not the invert #1

Kristen England said...

Most of the color comes from caramel added. I say so in the write up and in the recipe.

Caramel to add: 12 srm

dana said...

Thanks! I missed that detail.

Anonymous said...

Kristen,what sort of water treatment do you use would Burton be a good start

Mike Karnowski said...

The hops in this recipe are quite different from the recipe for the same beer in 1909 Beer Guide which has 1.33 oz Cluster at 120 mins, .64 oz at 30 and 1.03 oz for dry hops. That works out to around 53 IBUs. I brewed this up and was very dissapointed in the flavor, very much like an American malt liquor, the caramel works out to around a tablespoon which did fuck all for the color which is piss yellow. I have brewed many beers from Ron's books and they have all been fantastic but this one is a stinker...