Whitbread Stock Ales in the 1830's

I almost forgot that I still had the second part to do. That's what happens when you get distracted. As I often am.

Let's begin with a bang on a drum I never get tired of beating. A bit like the kids*. Ale is the style, Mild and Stock just the level of conditioning. I understand constantly repeating this must get annoying for regular readers. It's for the benefit of newcomers. They weren't really seen as different styles, just slightly different versions of basically the same thing.

At this point, the 1830's, London brewer's weren't using multiple K's to designate their Stock Ales, but a number of X's and a single K. Whitbread changed to multiple K's in November 1864. Not sure why I've told you that. Not the most fascinating fact I've ever passed on. Feel free to forget it again immediately.

There's very little difference between the equivalent Stock and Mild Ales. Less than I'd expected, if I'm truthful. The OG's are the same, as ere the FG's. With again the phenomenon of little difference in FG between the stronger and weaker beers of the range. And attenuation averaging about 65%. Though that might be a bit deceptive. For the Stock Ales, I don't have a true racking gravity, just the gravity at the end of primary fermentation. Doubtless it was lower by the end of the storage period.

I'm not sure if Whitbread vatted their Stock Ales or just matured them in trade casks. As a Porter brewer, I'd be inclined to guess that they vatted. However, an image from Bernard's Noted Breweries of great Britain and Ireland from about half a century later clearly shows trade casks marked KK and KKK maturing in a cellar at Watney's. And they'd been a Porter brewer, too. That could just have been a change over time, as Porter brewers had mostly ripped out their vats in the 1870's. This is all a bit vague, isn't it?

Where I didn't find the difference I expected was in the hopping rate. When I've looked at this for other breweries, for example Barclay Perkins, the Stock version usually had about 50% more hops per barrel than the equivalent Mild Ale. Here it's much less, as these tables show. The first is the OG and average hopping rate of the X Ales we looked at last time:

beer	OG	hops lb/brl
XX	1091	2.53
XXX	1102	2.92
XXXX	1114	3.40

The second of the average hopping rate of the Stock Ales and the percentage difference with the equivalent X Ale:

beer	hops lb/brl	% more than X equivalent
KXX	2.91	13.07%
KXXX	3.34	12.80%
KXXXX	3.97	14.49%

Just 13-14% more hops in the Stock versions. That seems very low to me. And I have no explanation whatsoever for it.

Almost forgot about the recipes. In my defence, they are pretty dull. 100% pale malt, probably from Hertfordshire. Presumably all English hops, as only the grower is specified. Most likely from Kent.

I'm almost done with Whitbread's Ales in the 1830's. Just one more post to go.

Whitbread Stock Ales in the 1830's
Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	Pitch temp	max. fermentation temp	length of fermentation (days)
1836	KXX	Stock Ale	1089.7	1032.7	7.55	63.58%	6.55	2.72	2	2	3	63º	73º	4 + 4
1837	KXX	Stock Ale	1090.0	1032.7	7.59	63.69%	7.60	2.95	2	2	3	59º	77º	5 + 3
1838	KXX	Stock Ale	1091.7	1029.6	8.21	67.67%	8.05	3.05	2	2	3	60º	72º	4 + 4
1837	KXXX	Stock Ale	1100.3	1033.2	8.87	66.85%	7.65	3.26	2	2	3	59º	76º	7 + 4
1838	KXXX	Stock Ale	1099.7	1036.0	8.43	63.89%	7.64	3.33	2	2	3	60º	75º	4 + 4
1839	KXXX	Stock Ale	1102.2	1036.8	8.65	63.96%	7.64	3.44	2	2	3	60º	77.5º	5 + 3
1837	KXXXX	Stock Ale	1112.7	1036.6	10.08	67.57%	8.07	3.95	2	2	3	59º	75º	6 + 3
1838	KXXXX	Stock Ale	1113.8	1034.9	10.44	69.34%	8.13	4.00	2	2	3	60º	76º	5 + 2
1839	KXXXX	Stock Ale	1114.4	1041.0	9.71	64.16%	7.80	3.97	2	2	3	59º	79º	5 + 2
Source:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/001, LMA/4453/D/01/002 and LMA/4453/D/01/003 .

* The first thing Andrew said to his Mum when we got back from a short trip to Britain recently was "Dad hit me." I'd accidentally brushed his nose with my hand when we were mucking around. The way he told it, I'd deliberately smashed my fist into his face.