Sunday 16 August 2020

Barclay Perkins Ale hops before WW II

Finally, we get to the hops. Always fascinating. With the odd exception, they were all English.

That Saaz were used to dry hop PA Export, a really top-class beer, demonstrates the regard in which they were held by British brewers. The same goes for Styrian Goldings.

But the overwhelming majority if the hops were from Kent and the classic English varieties of Fuggles and Goldings. You can discern a class divide in the hopping. The Mild Ales are all Fuggles, the Pale Ales a mix of Fuggles and Goldings and the expensive beers all Goldings, at least in the copper.

The vast majority of the hops were from the two most recent harvests and the older ones had all been cold stored. That’s what the CS in the table signifies. Cold storing greatly reduced the decline in alpha acid, especially during the first 18 months.

Barclay Perkins Ale hops before WW II
Year Beer Style hops
1936 DB Brown Ale Worcester (1935 CS), MK (1935 CS), MK Goldings (1934 CS)
1939 A Mild MK Fuggles (1938 CS), Kent  Fuggles (1938), MK  Fuggles (1937 CS)
1939 X Mild MK Fuggles (1938 CS), Kent Fuggles (1938), MK  Fuggles (1937 CS)
1939 XX Mild MK Fuggles (1938 CS), Kent  Fuggles (1938), MK  Fuggles (1937 CS)
1939 IPA (bottling) IPA MK Fuggles (1938 CS), Kent W (1938), MK Goldings (1937 CS); Styrian dry hops
1939 XLK (bottling) Pale Ale MK Fuggles (1938), Kent W (1938), MK Goldings (1937 CS); no dry hops
1939 XLK (trade) Pale Ale MK Fuggles (1938), Kent W (1938), MK Goldings (1937 CS); EK Goldings (1938) dry hops
1939 PA Pale Ale MK Fuggles (1938), Kent W (1938), MK Goldings (1937 CS); Styrian Goldings (1938) dry hops
1936 PA Export Pale Ale EK Goldings (1935 CS), MK Goldings (1934 CS); Saaz (1935 CS) dry hops
1936 KK Strong Ale Kent (1935 CS), MK Goldings (1934 CS); EK (1935 CS) dry hops
1937 KK (bottling) Strong Ale MK Fuggles (1936 CS), EK Goldings (1935 CS); Saaz (1936 CS) dry hops
1936 KKKK Strong Ale EK Goldings (1935 CS), MK Goldings (1934 CS); EK Goldings (1935) dry hops
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/621 and ACC/2305/01/623.



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