Wednesday 13 February 2019

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Truman Pale 1B

The bottling version of Truman’s No. 1 Pale Ale was the brewery’s flagship beer. After WW II it would be dubbed Ben Truman Pale Ale and eventually find infamy as a crappy keg beer in the 1960s. When that sort of thing was all the rage.

It was also the brewery’s classic IPA in the 19th century, weighing in at 1067º. The winds of time naturally eroded that somewhat, but it retained a reasonable gravity. With its gravity of over 1050º, it’s a typical interwar Best Bitter. Though, as the B suffix denotes, this was a beer intended for bottling.

The grist is much like the other beers from Truman’s Burton brewery. The base is a combination of pale and high-dried malt, though with rather less of the latter than their Mild Ales. The remainder of the grist consists of flaked maize and invert sugar. I’ve guessed No. 1 invert, but it could just have easily been No. 2.

The hops are, again, all English from the 1937 and 1938 harvests.


1939 Truman Pale 1B
pale malt 9.00 lb 75.00%
high dried malt 1.50 lb 12.50%
flaked maize 1.00 lb 8.33%
No. 1 invert sugar 0.50 lb 4.17%
Fuggles 90 mins 1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins 0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins 0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops 0.50 oz
OG 1053.5
FG 1013.5
ABV 5.29
Apparent attenuation 74.77%
IBU 30
SRM 6
Mash at 151.5º F
Sparge at 160º F
Boil time 90 minutes
pitching temp 59.5º F
Yeast Wyeast 1028 London Ale (Worthington White Shield)

7 comments:

Fuggled Mind said...

What would be a good substitute for high dried malt?
Would it be something like Vienna, Munich or a light amber?

Ron Pattinson said...

Fuggled Mind,

I usually suggest dark Munich.

Kevin said...

@Fuggled Mind: Here is a bit from an earlier SUABP post called Malts Circa 1900...
"High-dried malt. Kilned at a much higher temperature than pale malt and sometimes made from lower-quality barley."

In a Let's Brew Wednesday post from 2012 (1934 Vassar Double Ale) it was explained this way. Note that when it says Munich is the wrong kind of malt here - he means for that particular recipe....

"Malt
Yes, you see the ‘high dried malt’ correctly. That’s what it is. Some times its listed as Amber, sometimes just the HD stuff. Here’s the gig. You want a tasty HD malt that has plenty of flavor and aroma and will finish fat…if possible. Fatter I guess. Munich is straight out, just the wrong type of malt for the flavors here. Vienna is the next easy choice as people can get it pretty commonly. However, what we really want is an enzymatic Amber malt. But there is no such thing, the internet says so. Oh, wait, that’s right, most of the interwebs is bullocks, the rest is porno. So, yes, there is a high dried enzymatic Amber malt. MFB. Special aromatic. If you want to get this beer close, that’s what I used. If you want to get close and still make your life easy (read be lazy) use 70% Vienna and 30% UK Amber. Basically bringing up the FG so the yeast doesn’t have to do it all by its self.
"

I just follow Ron's suggestion and use dark Munich.

Fuggled Mind said...

It's one that I'd like to brew. I'll be brewing your recipe for the 1940 Whitbread London Stout tomorrow. Cheers

Unknown said...

I had the same question and did a search of this blog. In the "Let's Brew Wednesday" post on FRIDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2012 for the Vassar 1834 Double Ale which calls for 100% High Dried malt, Kristen wrote:

"Yes, you see the ‘high dried malt’ correctly. That’s what it is. Some times its listed as Amber, sometimes just the HD stuff. Here’s the gig. You want a tasty HD malt that has plenty of flavor and aroma and will finish fat…if possible. Fatter I guess. Munich is straight out, just the wrong type of malt for the flavors here. Vienna is the next easy choice as people can get it pretty commonly. However, what we really want is an enzymatic Amber malt. But there is no such thing, the internet says so. Oh, wait, that’s right, most of the interwebs is bullocks, the rest is porno. So, yes, there is a high dried enzymatic Amber malt. MFB. Special aromatic. If you want to get this beer close, that’s what I used. If you want to get close and still make your life easy (read be lazy) use 70% Vienna and 30% UK Amber. Basically bringing up the FG so the yeast doesn’t have to do it all by its self. "

John said...

What about Simpsons Imperial Malt? The only thing is I can't determine if it has any enzymatic power or not.

Iain said...

Brewed this back in March and just had the last bottle this evening. It’s a cracking beer, even if I didn’t quite stick to the original recipe (used dark Munich and light brown sugar in place of HD malt and invert). It’s the kind of beer you want to sip and appreciate the nuances, but it somehow keeps disappearing down your gullet faster than you mean it to. Thanks, Ron. Hoping next time you swing by Austin I’m prepared and can come say hi.