Let's Brew - 1939 Youngs Ale

You might have noticed a theme in recent blog posts. I've sort of found myself putting together a book about Youngs by accident. I've already got 30,000 words.

When WW II rolled around, Youngs was still brewing their watery Ale. A product of the previous war. How long would it last? We’ll see.

How has it changed since 1932? Hardly at all, if I’m honest. It has the same gravity. And the ingredients are the same. In only very slightly different proportions: a little of the pale malt is swapped for mild malt. There’s also a third less crystal malt.

Speaking of crystal malt, in brewing records there’s never any indication of how dark it is. I mostly plump for a middling dark one of 60 L. Here, I’ve gone for a darker one. Why? Just for variety. To make the recipe different to the one from 1932.

Two types of hops. Both from Kent, harvested in 1937 and 1938. Fairly fresh, then. 

1939 Youngs Ale
pale malt	1.25 lb	20.97%
mild malt	3.50 lb	58.72%
crystal malt 120 L	0.50 lb	8.39%
malt extract	0.25 lb	4.19%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.40 lb	6.71%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.06 lb	1.01%
Fuggles 105 min	0.75 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.75 oz
OG	1028
FG	1006
ABV	2.91
Apparent attenuation	78.57%
IBU	19
SRM	13
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale