Let's Brew - 1911 Russell Pale Ale

There’s quite a jump in strength between the middle and strongest of Russell’s Pale Ales. A full 15º.  While between the weakest and middle there was just 4.5º. Why would that be? I reckon because there was a difference in type. The first two being Running beers, while Pale Ale looks like a Keeper.

There’s less maize in the grist, but also more sugar. That, along with the lack of caramel, tells me that they were trying to keep the colour as pale as possible. There’s a second type of sugar along with the invert: “priming 20 e1”. No idea what that might be so I’ve just bumped up the No. 1.

The hopping rate is a fair bit higher than in Light Dinner Ale. 10.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt compared to 8lbs. Another indication that this might be a Keeper. True to form, the hops were all English, a third from 1908 and two thirds from 1910.

Not sure if this was a full-on Stock Pale Ale. Perhaps a semi-stock having six months of so with Brettanomyces. 

The FG, as with all Russell’s beers, is a guess. There’s no record of the fermentation in the logs. 

1911 Russell Pale Ale
pale malt	10.00 lb	86.96%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	4.35%
No. 1 invert sugar	1.00 lb	8.70%
Fuggles 90 mins	1.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.75 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1061
FG	1015
ABV	6.09
Apparent attenuation	75.41%
IBU	56
SRM	7
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1768 English Special Bitter