Wednesday 15 April 2015

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1954 Lees Golden Brew

Yes, the 1950's are still alive and kicking. At least here.

I hope you're enjoying these solo recipes. I know Kristen throws in more brewing notes. But these are better than nothing. Which is what the alternative is.

I must admit that I've an ulterior motive in starting this series of 1950's recipes. Two ulterior motives, really. Not sure I'm ready to tell you them both yet. That's just the secretive sort of twat I am. I've started to accumulate so much stuff from the 1950's that I feel a book coming along. It seems ages since my last.

Not totally worked out all the details yet. I'll probably cover 1945 to 1960. It's a fairly interesting period. It's when the beers I drank as a young man coalesced into the form I recognise. The working title is "Victory!". Though that may change.

Right, on with Golden Brew. It ties in quite nicely with some of the stuff I've written about the Strong beers of the 1950's. It seems to have appeared at the classic time for post-war strong beers: the 1953 Coronation. The colour, too, as it belongs to the new breed of pale Strong Ales or Barley Wines. Though just checking back on Gold Label, that only seems to have become pale in 1955.

This is a dead, dead simple recipe. Pale malt and sugar and that's it. This is going to be quick. The sugars are a combination of invert and proprietary sugars. I've simplified it down to No. 2 invert. Once again, I've no idea of the hop varieties. Anything English you fancy, really.

Er, that's it.




Over to Ronald . . . .





 
1954 Lees Golden Brew
pale malt 13.25 lb 82.81%
No. 2 invert 2.75 lb 17.19%
Northern Brewer 90 min 2.00 oz
Goldings 30 min 1.00 oz
OG 1078
FG 1020
ABV 7.67
Apparent attenuation 74.36%
IBU 41
SRM 11
Mash at 150º F
Sparge at 170º F
Boil time 90 minutes
pitching temp 60º F
Yeast Wyeast 1318 London ale III


Wyeast have a weird idea of British geography. London ale III is Boddington's yeast. By no stretch of the imagination in the London area.

3 comments:

Matt said...

I don't know if you've read it Ron but the plot of Waterland by Graham Swift involves a bottle of Coronation Ale (1936 I think).

Unknown said...

I'm sure you've touched on this previously, but were beers left to free rise in temperature after pitching at their given pitching temperatures?

Ron Pattinson said...

Jon Burris,

temperatures were allowed to rise, but were controlled. Towards the end of fermentation they were lowered. Typically, maximum fermentation temperatures were 68-70º F.