Let's Brew Wednesday - 1885 Kirkstall XXX

Here’s the strongest of Kirkstall’s Mild Ales, XXX. I get the definite impression some beers have been dropped. Why else jump straight from X to XXX?

In terms of strength, it’s around the same gravity as an XX Ale from a smaller London brewery, but well below that of one from a large London brewery. It’s a good bit weaker than the XXX Ale from Harvey, which was 1075º.

Brown malt is the unusual ingredient in the grist. It turns up occasionally in late 19th-century Milds, but was by no means common. Look back a page, and you’ll see that Kirkstall X was coloured with a little black malt. Why did they use brown malt here? The colour of the two beers ends up pretty similar.

No sugars or adjuncts are present, other than a little caramel. I wonder how long that lasted? I’d put money on both being present in Kirkstall’s beers by the time WW I rolled around.

Loads of different hops again: English 1884, Sussex 1884, Kent 1883 and Foreign 1884. I’ve guessed that the “foreign” were American.

1885 Kirkstall XXX
pale malt	14.75 lb	95.47%
brown malt	0.67 lb	4.34%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.03 lb	0.19%
Cluster 150 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 150 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1066
FG	1017
ABV	6.48
Apparent attenuation	74.24%
IBU	55
SRM	10
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	165 minutes
pitching temp	57.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale Timothy Taylor