Tuesday 24 July 2018

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1954 Barclay Perkins Sparkling Beer

Lager doesn't get enough love amongst beer geeks, apparently. So here's a Lager recipe to try to perk up your interest.

Barclay Perkins took the plunge into Lager brewing immediately after the end of WW I. In the interwar years, it was one of only six UK breweries that produced Lager. The others were the Alloa Brewery, Jeffreys, Red Tower, Tennant and the Wrexham Lager Brewery. Of those, only Red Tower was in England (Manchester).

Of the several Lagers that Barclay Perkins brewed, Sparkling Beer was the oddest. Introduced just before WW II, it seems to have been exclusively brewed for export. Much seems to have been consumed either by the military or aboard ships. It was also one of the first beers to be canned.

It’s difficult to say what style it’s meant to be. The label makes no mention of the fact it’s a Lager. Based on its amber colour, I guess you could call it a Vienna Lager.

Barclay Perkins certainly went the whole hog when brewing Lager, employing a complicated mashing scheme with multiple rests. Interestingly, their Lagers were their only beers to contain grits. They usually used flaked maize. The grist is pretty simple with, in addition to the grits, just pilsner malt and crystal malt.

East Kent Goldings may seem an odd choice of hops for a Lager. They did sometimes use a mixture of Goldings and Saaz, but I know from earlier brewing records that Saaz were double the price of Goldings.

In addition to the main mash, there was also a cereal mash for the grits:

mash in 122º F stand 20 minutes
raise to 154º F stand 20 minutes
boil 212º F for 5 minutes


Main mash:

mash in 122º F
raise to 154º F stand 30 minutes
raise with grits to 168º F
hold at 168º F 45 minutes
Sparge at 165º F


1954 Barclay Perkins Sparkling Beer
pilsner malt 7.50 lb 71.29%
crystal malt 60 L 1.50 lb 14.26%
grits 1.50 lb 14.26%
caramel 1000 SRM 0.02 lb 0.19%
Goldings 120 mins 1.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins 0.75 oz
OG 1046
FG 1008
ABV 5.03
Apparent attenuation 82.61%
IBU 24
SRM 11
Mash at 154º F
Sparge at 165º F
Boil time 120 minutes
pitching temp 47.5º F
Yeast Wyeast 2042 Danish lager

1 comment:

Edd Mather said...

Hi Ron ,
You forgot the Walker`s of Warrington brewery in Burton on Trent ; Shobnall Rd , Sold to Bass in the early 1920`s (1923/4) , they were brewing Lager there from Ca 1905 until the brewery closed i believe ,
Cheers
Edd