Youngs beers in 1990-1991

I've published all the recipes so here's an overview of Young's beers in the early 1990s.

Did I drink any of these beers? Not exactly. As I was living in Australia for some of the period. I did drink some of them slightly later iterations. I definitely tried the Porter once. And probably Special Bitter, too.

First, an explanation of some of the brew-house names. JYLL is John Young's London Lager, PA is Ordinary Bitter and SPA is Special Bitter. Simple, isn't it?

There are ten beers in total. Eleven, really, as in this verion Ram Rod was the same beer as Special, just in bottled form rather than draught. Quite a broad range, covering quite a range of strengths and styles. Though the bulk of the beer they produced was one or other type of Pale Ale. Some of the beers - such as Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Winbter Warmer and Old Nick - were only brewed in small quantities.

Note that all the gravities, other than for Light Ale, end in .8. That's not a coincidence. It's the highest they could get away with rounding it down. Ah, the joys of the old tax system, based on the gravity of the beer before fermentation. 

Weakest of the set is Light Ale at a tad under 1030º and 3% ABV. Which is about typical for the style. Next up the strength tree is John Young's London Lager at around 3.5% ABV. Which is reasonably strong for a UK Lager.

Top of the tree is Old Nick at 1089º and just over 7% ABV. Which was pretty strong for an English beer at the time.

The rate of the attenuation is pretty varied. It's under 70% for two of the stronger beers, Winter Warmer and Old Nick. Not sure if that tells us anything in particular. Special Bitter has the highest degree, at just over 80%. Leaving it at exactly 5% ABV. That's powerful for a post-war UK Bitter. Though I always preferred Ordinary, myself. Not sure why.

All the Pale Ales are reasonably well attenuated, at 75% to 80%. Which is about where you would expect a Bitter to be.

Moving on, there's a large variation in the hopping rates. I'm going here on hops per quarter of malt, which takes the strength of the beer out of the equation. Bottom of the pile is Porter, at just over 2 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. Top of the pile is Old Nick, at 5.62 lbs. The hopping rate for Porter was much higher in pre-WW II, being 7lbs per quarter (336 lbs) compare to 8 lbs for the Pale Ales.

One of the things I like about this period of Young's records is that they include the bitterness level. And a real one, as it was measured in their lab, not calculated. Interestingly, not only does the bitterness level vary per batch, but also across the different fermenters for the same batch. Which I find fascinating. 

Least bitter are Porter and the Light Ale. While at the other end are Export Pale Ale and Old Nick, at 51 and 61 EBU, respectively. Which are pretty high for UK beers. Though, given the relatively low rate of attenuation, Old Nick probably wasn't as subjectively bitter as some of Young's other beers.

Colour also shows a big variation. Obviously, palest in the two Lagers. And darkest in Winter Warmer, Oatmeal Stout and Porter. Interestingly, Porter was the darkest of the bunch, darker even than Oatmeal Stout.

Notice which type of beer is missing? Mild Ale. Best Malt Ale, Young's Mild, was dropped in the 1980s. 

Youngs beers in 1990-1991
Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	colour (EBC)	EBU
1990	JYLL	Lager	1037.8	1011.0	3.55	70.90%	4.20	0.63	8	32.5
1991	Premium Lager	Pilsner	1047.8	1011.0	4.87	76.99%	3.94	0.67	9	30
1990	Light Ale	Pale Ale	1029.5	1007.5	2.91	74.58%	5.00	0.58	15	29
1990	PA	Pale Ale	1036.8	1007.5	3.88	79.62%	4.70	0.67	16.5	36
1990	SPA	Pale Ale	1046.8	1009.0	5.00	80.77%	5.39	1.87	21.5	40
1990	Export	Pale Ale	1066.8	1016.5	6.65	75.30%	4.89	1.29	32	51
1990	Porter	Porter	1040.8	1012.0	3.81	70.59%	2.10	0.38	135	29
1991	Oatmeal Stout	Stout	1055.8	1014.0	5.53	74.91%	3.02	0.69	120	33
1991	Winter Warmer	Strong Ale	1055.8	1018.0	5.00	67.74%	2.50	0.58	85	31
1990	Old Nick	Barley Wine	1086.8	1032.5	7.18	62.56%	5.62	2.18	120	61
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/59.

 

Listen to brewer John Hatch explain how they brewed at Youngs in the 1990s.