Shut up about Barclay Perkins

Saturday, 13 June 2026

What is Kulmbacher?

I chat about Kulmbacher, one of my favourite extinct Lager styles. Strong and heavily hopped - why haven't modern brewers jumped all over this style?

Let's Brew - 1941 Youngs X Ale

A Youngs Brown Ale label featuring a drawing of a ram.

What have two years of war done to Young’s standard Mild?

For a start, it’s whittled off 5º of gravity. Leaving it barely over 3% ABV and not much stronger than Ale had been in 1939. There’s also been a big reduction in the hopping rate, down from 6 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt to just 4 lbs.

The result is a pretty weak and lightly-hopped beer. Looking very much like a post-war version of the style.

The recipe itself hasn’t change much. Other than dropping the pale malt and going to a 100% mild malt base. There’s also been in an increase in the proportion of crystal malt and a reduction in No. 3 invert.

Just one type of hops, Sussex from the 1940 season. Which, as this beer was brewed in May, were from the most recent harvest.

1941 Youngs X Ale
mild malt	5.50 lb	83.33%
crystal malt 120 L	0.675 lb	10.23%
malt extract	0.125 lb	1.89%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.25 lb	3.79%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.05 lb	0.76%
Fuggles 120 min	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.50 oz
OG	1030
FG	1006.5
ABV	3.11
Apparent attenuation	78.33%
IBU	13
SRM	13.5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

Friday, 12 June 2026

Youngs beers in 1940

A Youngs Pale Ale label featuring a drawing of a ram.

A year into the war, what had happened to Youngs beers? To be honest, not very much.

The situation was very dynamic, so it’s worth saying exactly when this snapshot was taken. All these beers were brewed in August 1940, except for XXXX, which is from December.

Things hadn’t yet become so bad that drastic action was required. Just a few tweaks were necessary. That wouldn’t be the case for the whole of the war. For now, there was little change to the beers being brewed. Other than the price.

For example, the cost price of a 36-gallon barrel of X Ale had risen from 49 shillings and 11d in August 1939 to 111 shillings and 9d twelve months later. That more than doubling in price was mostly due to increases in tax.

The most obvious change is a slight reduction in gravities. Most beers lost 1º, the exceptions being A, PAB and XXXX, which were unchanged, and XXX, which fell by 2º.

It’s a similar story with hopping rates. Those for the two Black Beers and the Mild Ales are unchanged. While that of the Pale Ales has been reduced by 1 lb per quarter (336 lbs) of malt.

The rates of attenuation look somewhat higher in this set. I wouldn’t read that much into it, as final gravities varied quite a bit from brew to brew. And even across the different fermenters in a single batch.

Youngs beers in 1940
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
A	Mild	1029	1005.5	3.10	80.90%	6.14	0.71
X	Mild	1034	1005	3.84	85.34%	5.60	0.81
PAB	Pale Ale	1039	1008.3	4.06	78.69%	7.00	1.07
PA	Pale Ale	1047	1012.7	4.53	72.89%	7.00	1.29
P	Porter	1034	1008.3	3.40	75.56%	7.00	0.99
S	Stout	1052	1016.6	4.68	68.04%	7.00	1.52
XXX	Strong Ale	1055	1017.2	5.00	68.77%	5.60	1.31
XXXX	Strong Ale	1081	1036	5.95	55.54%	6.09	2.00
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/9.

Thursday, 11 June 2026

Robust Porter

Sorry. I was a bit tired of transcribing Young's WW II brewing records. (I'm only up to 19 fucking 42. So much more to go. Just as well I'm no longer working. Sorry, employed. I work at this shit for big chunks of the day.)

A deep dive into one of my favourite styles.

My travel videos

A Grodziskie beer advert, in Polish, where a smiling man in a jacket and tie looks lovingly at a tall, slender, effervescent glass of pale beer.

Does any of you like them? I'm not sure I can be arsed to continue taking video.

Maybe I'll continue with the pure beer stuff. Like next week, when I'll be doing some Grodziskie judging in, er, Grodzisk. I can see how that might have some historical value. If I make an effort and interview people.

The more I think about it, that's exactly what I should do. Not just video my breakfast.

Thanks for that. It's really cleared that up in my head. And given me a plan for next week in Grodzisk.

Not been to Poland for 30 years. I'm guessing it might have changed a little bit.

Beer in Vietnam

My mate Charles Guerrier told me that Vietnam was the best place for beer in Southeast Asia. And Saigon in particular. So I was very optimistic of the beer I would find there.

Which wasn't something I felt in Bangkok. Admittedly, I wasn't really hanging out in beer places. And the choice was limited to the local Lager or stuff imported from Europe. I went for the former. As what's the point in travelling thousands of miles and drinkinmg beer you can get at home?

As I was stopping slap bang in the centre of Saigon, there were beery options close to my hotel. I wasn't going to miss out on those.

The first place I tried was East West Brewing. A brewpub. Sort of. As, due to council restrictions, it no longer brews on site. Despite the shiny equipment at the back. Which is a shame.

Inside East West. In the foreground are high tables, behind that, comfortable chairs and settees. In the middle ground are several long tables, with diners at two of them. In the background are a shiny stainless steel brewhouse and fermenting vessels.

East West's beers, wherever they might be brewed, are still pretty good. All very much in mainstream modern styles: Pale Ale, IPA, Hefeweize, Witbier, Lager, Pilsner, Vanilla Porter, Imperial Stout, Belgian Dark and Belgian Blonde. (At least, that's what they had on draught when I was there. I'm sure that it varies somewhat.) A good spread of styles, strengths and colours. Not just twenty types of fucking IPA.

Any guesses what I went for? Imperial Stout, obviously.

I met with Nhi Mai, brewer at East West. A smart young woman, who explained some of the vagaries of brewing Saigon. Such as the council forbidding brewing in the city centre on account of the waste water.

Inside Pasteur Street. There's a row of tables to the leftwith large windows behind them. In the background is a wall with three beer posters. A few men are sitting at tables. Lots of small Vietnamese flags hang from the ceiling.

We shared a few beers in both East West and another nearby former brewpub, Pasteur Street, conveniently just 150 metres further along the same street. They also brew quite a few typical styles: Lager, Blonde Ale, Irish Stout, Pale Ale, Jasmine Amber, Session IPA, Pomelo IPA, Jasmine IPA, Double Jasmine IPA, and Imperial Chocolate Stout. Rather more IPA-heavy than East West.

What did I choose? No, it wasn't the Imperial Stout. I was being sensible and just had a Double Jasmine IPA, at a mere 8.5%. (I did, however, try the Imperial Stout when I returned the next day.)

A tulip pint of IPA sitting on a table. In the background there's a street with several figures and a parked scooter.

The beers from both breweries were all technically good and pretty decent examples of the styles. Better than some of the beers I've had in Holland or the USA, for example.

I was pretty impressed. And I only scratched the surface. Ho Chi Minh has many more breweries and beer bars. I can heartily recommend it.

East West Brewing
181 Lý Tự Trọng,
Bến Thành,
Hồ Chí Minh.
https://eastwestbrewing.vn/taproom/ho-chi-minh

Pasteur Street Craft Beer
112 Lý Tự Trọng,
Hồ Chí Minh.
https://pasteurstreet.com/

A companion video:

Wednesday, 10 June 2026

Bangkok and Saigon food

Someone suggested that I post about the food that I ate in Thailand and Vietnam. Being a lazy git, I've done it in the form of a short video.

I had lots of excellent food in both countries. Mostly local stuff. But who can resist a bacon baguette for breakfast? Or to top up when the meal wasn't quite filling enough.

What I forgot, was to video the banh mi that I had in Vietnam.Excellent stuff. If slightly weird, as they all contained pate. Making it a true fusion dish of French and Vietnamese cuisine.

In Bangkok, once I realised I had to ask for the food "just a little spicy" if I wanted to get it spiced, but not crazily spiced. Every meal I had came with a fried egg. You can never go wrong with a fried egg on top of stuff.

What are Licht and Donker Lagerbier?

For the first time I stray outside the UK with one of my videos, taking a look at the cheap and cheerful pale and dark 3.5% Dutch Lagers from before WW II.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Youngs Stout

A Youngs London Stout beermat featuring a moustache and a bowler hat with a drawing of a ram on it.

When war broke out, Youngs were still parti-gyling a Stout with their Porter. Though, in addition to those two beers, they also magicked up Oatmeal Stout at 1046º and Family Stout at 1037º. Presumably, by blending the two base beers.

As brewed, the Stout is a typical 8d per pint draught London Stout. There were two types of draught Stout in London, 7d per pint at around 1048º and 8d at 1054º. With some brewers, such as Truman, brewing beers in both classes.

I won’t go into details of the recipe, as it’s identical with the Porter above, with which this beer was parti-gyled.

The degree of attenuation isn’t great and that seems to be deliberate, as it’s similar in every example I have. Implying that they were aiming for quite a heavy body. Which makes sense for a Stout.

Pretty sure this wasn’t aged to any extent. Maybe a couple of weeks in the trade cask, but no more.

1939 Youngs Stout
mild malt	6.75 lb	58.06%
black malt	0.875 lb	7.53%
amber malt	1.25 lb	10.75%
crystal malt 120 L	0.875 lb	7.53%
flaked oats	0.625 lb	5.38%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.625 lb	5.38%
caramel 500 SRM	0.625 lb	5.38%
Fuggles 120 min	1.75 oz
Fuggles 30 min	1.75 oz
OG	1053
FG	1016.5
ABV	4.83
Apparent attenuation	68.87%
IBU	40
SRM	43
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

Tuesday, 9 June 2026

Whitbread's bottled beers in 1934

Time to look at the bottled beers in Whitbread’s 1934 price list. Which includes, in addition to the four beers brewed in their Chiswell Street brewery, several produced elsewhere. Which is handy, as it gives a better idea of the beers actually available in a London pub.

A Whibread bottled beer price list from 1934.

The four Chiswell Street beers are the first in list. There appear to be four beers: London Stout, Oatmeal Stout, India Pale Ale and Double Brown. Though the two Stouts were, in reality, identical.

The two Forest beers came from the Forest Gate brewery, which Whitbread bought in ????. One of their main reasons for purchasing the brewery was to get hold of modern, sediment-free bottling technology. Whitbread having stuck with bottle-conditioning until after WW I.

Based on the price, I’m guessing that the two Forest beers were around 1040º. Hang on. I have an analysis from 1934. It gives the OG as 1039º. So, my guess was pretty close.

Pioneer Ale and Stout were brands of the Lovibond brewery. Not sure why Whitbread were selling them, as I can’t find any connection between the two breweries. I know from analyses in the Whitbread Gravity Book that both beers were around 1030º.

As already mentioned, Mackeson Milk Stout was being sold at a premium. Based on its gravity in the mid-1050ºs , it falls in the 9d per pint class. But it was sold for 10d per pint.

Something similar is happening with Guinness Extra Stout and Bass Pale Ale. Both of those also had gravities in the mid-1050ºs, but also retailed at 10d per pint. Which was a 1d per pint premium over the expected price.

Both Bass and Guinness were widely available in other brewers’ tied houses. Usually being bottled by the other brewery, too. The premium charged reflects the renown of the two beers.

In addition to the above prices, a deposit was charged on the bottles of 1d per half pint, 2d per pint and 3d per flagon. Which, especially in the case of cheaper beers, was a considerable percentage of the total price paid.

Whitbread's bottled beers in 1934
	Per doz. Botts		Per doz. Half-botts	crates of four flagons
	Wholesale	Retail	Wholesale	Wholesale	Retail
London Stout	6/1d	8/-	—	3/10d	5/-
do. ("Special Whitbread")	—	—	3/6d	—	—
Oatmeal Stout	6/1d	8/-	—	3/10d	5/-
India Pale Ale	5/4d	7/-	—	3/4d	4/4d
do. ("Small Whitbread")	—	—	3/1d	—	—
Double Brown	7/-	9/-	4/-	4/5d	5/8d
(A fine strong ale)
FOREST ALE AND STOUT
Oatmeal Stout	5/4d	7/-	3/1d	3/4d	4/4d
Brown Ale	5/4d	7/-	3/1d	3/4d	4/4d
PIONEER ALE AND STOUT
Family Stout	4/6d	6/-	—	2/10d	3/8d
Family Ale	4/6d	6/-	—	2/10d	3/8d
MACKESON'S MILK STOUT
Milk Stout	7/8d	10/-	4/2d	4/10d	6/-
Bass	8/8d	10/-	5/-
Guinness	8/8d	10/-	5/-
Bass Barley Wine in nips
Source:
A 1934 Whitbread price list.

Monday, 8 June 2026

What is East India Porter?

Always a good one, East India Porter. And a lovely beer, if you're lucky enough to find one. I very briefly tell the style's story.

London bottled beers in the late 1930s

Now we’ve finished with the draught beers, let’s have a look at the bottled ones.

Before we start, you may notice that there are no Strong Ales in the table. Not because they didn’t exist, but because Whitbread and Truman didn’t analyse them. Or just the odd example. Too few, in any case, to be meaningful.

Another note, bottled beers were 1d per pint more expensive than the equivalent draught beer. At least, when sold in pint bottles. A 7d draught beer cost 8d per pint bottle, 15d per quart bottle and 4.5d per half-pint bottle.

Starting at the top, there are three classes of Brown Ale, around half the breweries made a 7d version and half an 8d version. Note that Mann Crossman, the originator of the style, made a beer in the 8d class. Watney had both 7d and 8d beers.

The only beer in the 9d class was Whitbread Double Brown. They also had Forest Brown, a beer in the 7d class. Eventually, after WW II, that would become the only Brown Ale Whitbread brewed.

Pale Ales come in four price classes, 6d, 7d, 8d and 9d. Though the overwhelming majority are 7d beers. With only two 6d beers, and one each of 8d and 9d ones. I’m not sure what this tells us. Though many would be selling a 10d bottled Pale Ale that they didn’t brew themselves. We’ll come to that later.

Interesting that the most popular category of both draught and bottled Pale Ales was the 7d one. Though a bottled 7d Pale Ale was the same strength as a 6d draught one.

The Stouts come in the largest number of price categories, five in total. Though only Whitbread’s Pioneer Stout was in the 6d category. By far the most common was 8d Stout, produced by everyone but Wenlock.

Half the brewers made both a 7d and an 8d Stout. Which is a testament to the popularity of bottled Stout. While Barclay Perkins had Stouts in three different price categories. And Whitbread in four. Though not the same ones.

Whitbread’s Stout in the 9d class was Mackeson Milk Stout. Which obviously sold at a premium as, despite having a gravity in the mid-1050ºs, a pint bottle cost 10d. As we’ll see later, pretty well everyone was selling a bottled Stout that cost 10d per pint. Just not one they brewed themselves.

The one beer in the most expensive class is Imperial Russian Stout.

What does all this tell us? That each brewery had a bottled Brown Ale, a Pale Ale, and a couple of Stouts in their range.

London bottled beers in the late 1930s

type

price per pint

M C

Brown Ale

1036

Brown Ale

1042

Brown Ale

1054

1036

1042

1048

1054

Stout

1036

Stout

1042

Stout

1048

Stout

1054

Stout

>10d

>1070

Sources:

A Whitbread 1934 price list

Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.

Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.

Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/8.

Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/01/622.

Brewery key:
BP	Barclay Perkins
Ch	Charrington
C	Courage
F	Fullers
M C	Mann Crossman
M	Meux
TW	Taylor Walker
T	Truman
Wa	Watney
We	Wenlock
Wh	Whitbread
Y	Young

Sunday, 7 June 2026

What is Milk Stout?

I'm not letting up with these videos. This new one is about Milk Stout. A really weird style that somehow has come back to life. I never expected that.

My next book

A Federation Special Ale label org. gravity 1041.

I carefully reviewed all your opinions on which book I should complete first. And completely ignored them. You wanted "Free!". Which, if I'm honest, is the book I would have voted for. I've gone for "Youngs!"

Why? Don't ask me why. You bastard. I'm old and grumpy. I can do what the fuck I want. What are going to do? Get me sacked?

If you insist, it's mostly a case of I've started so I'll finish. I'm working my way through the Young's records and want to put them to use. If I don't press on now, I won't really make use of the material. Does that make sense? Probably not.

Turning to the book itself, there are currently 41,000 words and 150 pages. Only 60 recipes at the moment. That will grow. Considerably.

"Free!" remains a sort of priority. Once "Youngs!" is out of the way, I'll be back on that full time.

The next book I actually release will probably be "Tour! vol VI" or "Shut up, Dad!". Or maybe I should finally release "America!". So many decisions.

Saturday, 6 June 2026

Let's Brew - 1939 Youngs Porter

A Youngs Porter pumpclip featuring a drawing of a ram.

The biggest surprise about this beer is that it exists at all. These were the very final days of London Porter. In a couple of years, it would have totally disappeared from London pubs.

With a gravity in the mid-1030ºs, it’s a typical 5d per pint beer. Which is the price class that was usual for London Porter in its final days.

Moving onto the grist, it’s much the same as in 1932. With four malts: mild, amber, black and crystal. A slightly odd combination for a London brewer. Where mild/pale, brown and black malts were more usual. The lack of brown malt is notable, as that was the signature flavour of London Black Beers.

The sugars are a bit of a problem, as there’s a proprietary sugar described as “OM”. I’m guessing that this is a sugar specifically designed for Oatmeal Stout. As a substitute, I’ve upped the No. 3 invert and flaked oats.

There were two types of Kent hops, one from the 1938 and one from the 1939 harvest.

1939 Youngs Porter
mild malt	4.75 lb	61.29%
black malt	0.50 lb	6.45%
amber malt	0.75 lb	9.68%
crystal malt 120 L	0.50 lb	6.45%
flaked oats	0.75 lb	9.68%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.50 lb	6.45%
Fuggles 120 min	1.125 oz
Fuggles 30 min	1.125 oz
OG	1035
FG	1011
ABV	3.18
Apparent attenuation	68.57%
IBU	29
SRM	23
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

Friday, 5 June 2026

What is underlet mashing?

Another little video prompted by a viewer request. I explain underlet mashing, a favourite technique of English brewers for more than a century.

More price list fun

To follow on from my post about London draught beers in the 1930s, here's Whitbread's price list from 1934.

A Whitbread draught beer price list from 1934. Covering Porter, Stout, Light Ale, X Ale, Pale Ale and '33.

As it includes the prices for various cask sizes, it must be a trade list, That is, for publicans. Though it does include the public bar price per pint. In the posher rooms, such as the saloon or lounge, 1d more per pint would have been charged.

To put the cask into context, in 1914, a 36-gallon barrel of X Ale cost 36/- That was for a beer of 1050º. While 1934 X Ale was 1036º. That's about 2.5 times more expensive and 28% weaker. Quite a change. The reason? Extra tax piled on as a result of WW I.

What else can I spin out of this scrap of source material? The final line. Where XXX is crossed out, replaced by 33. A more expensive beer.

Why is the new beer call '33? Because that's when the disastrous tax increase of 1931 was reversed. To celebrate. Whitbread bumped up the gravity of their Burton Ale from 1045º to 1061º*. While also bumping up the price by 1d per pint. I think I would have been able to live with that. But I'm a pisshwead, as Mikey keeps reminding me.

Interesting that Porter and Stout come first on the list. That must be a hangover of Whitbread's time as an early Porter brewer. And one of the largest.

Oh, the Light Ale. That was dark. A piss-weak Dark Mild. Slightly confusing, the name.

* Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/099 and LMA/4453/D/01/100.

Thursday, 4 June 2026

Scottish brewing myths debunked

Another short video, this time debunking the most popular myths about Scottish brewing A subject very dear to my heart.

London draught beers in the late 1930s

Lucky old London had a pretty decent range of draught beers available in the 1930s. Around a dozen, split over Mild Ales, Pale Ales, Burton Ales, Porters and Stouts.

Were all the London brewers knocking out a dozen different draught beers? No, they weren’t. I haven’t found one brewery that produced every single type. My favourite Barclay Perkins comes closest with nine.

One slight caveat: for brewers where I don’t have brewing records, there may well be some beers missing. In those cases, I’m dependent on the Whitbread and Truman Gravity Books. And which beers those two brewers bothered to get analysed.

Only one type of beer was produced by every brewery: 7d Pale Ale. The equivalent of Ordinary Bitter. All but Fullers produced a 5d Mild Ale. Unsurprising, as X Ale was the most popular type of beer. Unless they blended it up from the other two Mild Ales.

Most brewers also had a cheaper, 4d Mild Ale. It’s an interesting one, that. As I know that the quantities brewed by Whitbread and Barclay Perkins were pretty modest. Far less than of the 5d version. It’s interesting that continued to brew it, even though the market was quite small. Without parti-gyling, it probably wouldn’t have been financially viable.

It’s fascinating that ten of the twelve breweries were still making a Porter. Despite sales collapsing disastrously after WW I.

The more expensive type of Burton Ale, the 8d version, was pretty popular, too. Every brewery produced at least one Burton Ale. And several brewers made both a 7d and an 8d version.

Fullers was unique in having no draught Stout. Really odd, that. Every other brewer had one either in the 7d or 8d class.

Every brewery had at least one of these types: Mild Ale, Pale Ale, Burton Ale, Porter/Stout. Which I suppose makes sense, as that would be the typical range of draught beers in a London pub.