Wednesday 14 September 2016

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1949 William Younger No. 3 Btlg

No. 3 is a personal favourite of mine. Having drunk when it was still brewed by William Younger has left me with a lingering affection for the beer.

Which explains why I keep bothering you with recipes for it. I’m hoping eventually I’ll get some in my glass. Though this is quite a tame looking version, what with its low level of hopping and modest OG.

As I’ve been explaining, foreign hops disappeared for the most part from British beer after WW II. For the simple reason that they weren’t required any more. The UK was capable of growing all the hops it needed. Which certainly hadn’t been true for the second half of the 19th century and some of the early 20th. You occasionally see classy continental hops like Saaz or Hallertau, but US hops had disappeared entirely from British beer.

It’s strange that Younger’s grists actually appear to have improved in quality due to government restrictions. The 1933 version of No. 3 contained 41% grits. I wonder if drinkers noticed? If they did, they’d probably have complained that the beer didn’t taste like it used to. During the whole interwar period Younger’s beers had crazy levels of grits in them. People must have got used to it.

I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the colour listed. Third-party analyses I have of the beer put the colour somewhere in the 20’s on the SRM scale.

1949 William Younger No. 3 Btlg
pale malt 9.75 lb 88.64%
flaked barley 1.25 lb 11.36%
Fuggles 90 min 0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 min 0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 min 0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops 0.25 oz
OG 1047
FG 1012
ABV 4.63
Apparent attenuation 74.47%
IBU 22
SRM 4
Mash at 153º F
Sparge at 160º F
Boil time 75 minutes
pitching temp 61º F
Yeast WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

3 comments:

Terrell K. Williams said...

One question, the recipe calls for Fuggles added at 90 min, however the boil time is 75 minutes. Is the boil time 90 minutes? Thanks. I'm thinking about brewing this one.

Alistair Reece said...

That looks like a fun recipe, I will brew it after my next bitter and do a write up for Fuggled.

Ron Pattinson said...

Terrell K. Williams,

that should be a 75 minute addition.