Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Barclay Perkins Sparkling Beer

Here's a treat for you - another wartime British Lager.

Though you may already have drunk this beer. If you attended the historic Lager festival at Urban Chestnut in St. Louis a couple of years ago. It was one of the recipes I provided. The beer went down surprisingly well.

First appearing just before WW II, Sparkling Beer was a strange beast. Brewed as a Lager, but nothing about its branding revealed that fact. Which is a bit strange.

As it doesn’t appear on any UK Barclay Perkins price lists, I’m pretty sure it was never sold domestically. Rather, it seems to have been designed as a long-life beer for ships’ stores, export and the military. Which is probably why it was often in canned form.

Amber in colour, a style Nazi would probably pin it down as a Vienna Lager. But I don’t think that was the brewery’s aim. Guessing what their aim might have been is another matter.

The grist is an odd mix of lager and crystal malt. With quite a lot of Saaz hops. It’s not very complicated, but doesn’t look much like either a UK of a continental beer. The Saaz were from the 1937 and 1938 harvests, both kept in a cold store.

A strange beer, which one that lived on quite a while after Barclay’s original London Lager brands disappeared.

1939 Barclay Perkins Sparkling Beer
lager malt	9.50 lb	88.37%
crystal malt 80 L	1.25 lb	11.63%
Saaz 90 min	1.25 oz
Saaz 60 min	1.25 oz
Saaz 30 min	1.25 oz
OG	1048
FG	1014
ABV	4.50
Apparent attenuation	70.83%
IBU	39
SRM	10
Mash at	158º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	45º F
Yeast	Wyeast 2042 Danish lager