The Bass archives

Kafka was a brilliant writer. But his world of constant bureaucratic obstacles and frustration is not one I'd choose to live in. Yet I do.

To complete my ridiculously detailed looked at late 19-th century UK brewing, I really need to look at Bass. One of the classic Burton Pale Ale brewers. It's a key part of UK brewing of the period.

With all the records at the London Metroplitan Archives, I've a pretty good idea of what was going on in the capital from 1800 onwards. That's only a part of UK brewing history. After 1830, what's happening in Burton is of particular interest. The story of IPA. And Barley Wine, as a side quest.

Because of all sorts of weird shit that I neither understand, nor appreciate, I can't look at this material. For no fucking good reason.

I can grasp why Guinness won't let me look at their records. They're still a going concern with some commercial interest in their old records. It pisses me off, but I can see their point of view.

Totally different with the Bass records. The brewery no longer exists. The people with the rights to the old Bass beers - AB Inbev - are happy for me to look at the old records.

So why the fuck can't I? Someone please explain why. 

What is 1930s UK Lager?

I look at the developments in UK Lager between the wars. How exciting is that?

 

Youngs X Ale adjuncts and sugars 1939 - 1945

At the start of the war, Youngs used no adjuncts of any type. That obviously wasn’t going to last the war. And it didn’t. In 1941, they introduced flaked barley. This wasn’t a voluntary decision. Brewers were compelled to use flaked barley by the government. There was plenty of barley, but not enough labour to malt it. Hence the use of flaked barley. Which, at most breweries, replaced flaked maize.

Moving on to the sugars, there are three. Which all appear in almost every iteration of the beer.

The sugar content started the war at a bit over 10%. This fell in the first couple of war years to around 7%.  It then rose to around 10% in 1942 to 1944. Finally bumping up to 14% in the final year of the war. All these changes would have been out of the control of Youngs.  With the government providing rationing the quantity of sugar for brewers could use.

The quantity of malt extract is pretty constant at 2.5% - 3%. And is missing only from one brew in 1941.  I assume its absence is due to a supply problem. Its purpose was simply to provide more enzymes in the mash.

The bulk of the sugar used came in the form of No. 3 invert. Though the exact amount varied quite a bit across the war years. Starting at 7%, then falling to a low of around 3% in late 1940. Rising again, in late 1941 to almost 6.5%, where it remained until the final war year, when it rose to over 10%.

Caramel was less volatile across the war. Starting at around 1%, then falling a little to 0.75% or so. In the final war years, the quantity was a bit lower. Presumably, as less was needed to achieve the required colour with the increased percentage of No. 3 invert. 

Youngs X Ale adjuncts and sugars 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	flaked barley	malt extract	no. 3 sugar	caramel	total sugar
18th Oct	1939		2.21%	7.19%	0.97%	10.37%
17th May	1940		2.91%	4.37%	1.00%	8.28%
2nd Dec	1940		2.95%	2.95%	1.02%	6.93%
30th Apr	1941		3.20%	3.20%	0.93%	7.32%
6th May	1941		2.38%	3.97%	0.79%	7.14%
24th Oct	1941	4.76%		6.35%	0.79%	7.14%
4th May	1942	7.69%	2.56%	6.41%	0.68%	9.65%
8th Jul	1942	7.69%	2.56%	6.41%	0.68%	9.65%
19th Oct	1942	9.61%	2.56%	6.41%	0.68%	9.65%
5th May	1943	5.22%	3.48%	6.96%	0.87%	11.30%
28th Apr	1944	9.52%	3.17%	6.35%		9.52%
5th May	1944	9.29%	3.10%	6.19%	0.90%	10.19%
20th Oct	1944	12.39%	3.10%	6.19%	0.90%	10.19%
2nd Jul	1945	15.79%	3.01%	10.53%	0.75%	14.29%
4th Jul	1945	16.36%	3.03%	10.90%	0.64%	14.58%
Sources:
Young's brewing records held at Battersea Library, document numbers YO/RE/1/8 YO/RE/1/9 YO/RE/1/10, YO/RE/1/11, YO/RE/1/12, YO/RE/1/13 and YO/RE/1/14.

 

Let's Brew - 1884 Lees Porter

I’m quite surprised to see that Lees were still brewing a Porter in 1884. It’s in this period that Porter was starting to become rare outside London.

It’s a good bit weaker than versions from the capital, which had gravities in the high 1050ºs. And were over 5% ABV. The hopping is also much lighter, with London Porters normally weighing in at over 50 IBU (calculated).

Like many Porters and Stouts from outside the capital, Lees Porter had a simple grist of just pale and black malt. Along with an unspecified type of sugar. There’s also half a packet of something called “black juice”. No idea what that was. Possibly a type of caramel.

There are also 3 lbs of something called “Glycyrrhlize” which seems to be another word for liquorice. It appears to have been added to the copper. Liquorice is an ingredient which crops up now and again in Porter and Stout after 1880, when it became a legal ingredient.

Two types of hops were employed. “Ba” from 1878 and “foreign” with no vintage specified. Not the best quality hops. But I suppose, in a Porter hop, hop character wasn’t that important. 

1884 Lees Porter
pale malt	7.75 lb	86.54%
black malt	0.875 lb	9.77%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.33 lb	3.69%
Strisselspalt 180 min	0.75 oz
Hallertau 60 min	0.75 oz
Hallertau 30 min	0.75 oz
liquorice	0.10 oz
OG	1040
FG	1008
ABV	4.23
Apparent attenuation	80.00%
IBU	25
SRM	30
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	180 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)

 

The Golden Age of UK brewing

1880 to 1914. Let's get that out of the way at the start. No need to build up any artificial tension.

I'm going to present the arguments for it being the Golden Age. Do I really believe it was? Sort of. And I certainly wouldn't be unhappy if a local pub starting selling a beer range from the period. But I'm still reluctant to unequivocally state that it was the best ever period. I'm sure many would disagree.

The points in favour:

1. A wide range of strengths was available.

While average strength was over 5% ABV, there were beers that were significantly weaker. Down as low as 2,5% to 3%, at least in some parts of the country. And, at the other end, there were beers as strong as 11% ABV. And plenty of 8% ABV and more.

2. A wide range of styles was available. 

In an Edwardian London pub, for example, the following draught beers were available:

X Ale Mild
Porter
Pale Ale
Stout
Burton Ale
Strong Burton Ale (in the winter)

Then you had the bottled beers. There was an explosion in the types of bottled beer at the end of the 19th century. New bottling techniques, which allowed the production of non-deposit beer, prompted a massive growth in lighter types of bottled beers. Things like Luncheon Ale, Luncheon Stout, Nourishing Stout and the like.

Most pubs would also stock some of the the few national brands in bottle. Guinness Double Stout or Bass Pale Ale. Classy, relatively expensive beers.

3. Beers were generally of a good technical quality. By the end of the 19th-century, UK breweries were mostly pretty modern and able to produce beer that was bright and free of infection. A century of technical advances left most UK breweries with fairly decent kit. Especialkly the larger ones. 

4.  Adulteration was mostly a thing of the past. The introduction of local health inspectors in the 1870s saw to that. About the only form left was watering beer down. A practice which was still rife in some regions in the 1950s.

5. Large regional variation. Each are of the country retained its own particular take on the styles of the day. With variations in colour, hopping rate, ingredients and degree of attenuation. Travelling around the country would have been great fun.

I can't really think of any negative points. Other than watering. And that was present in pretty much any period you care to pick. 

Which other periods could I have picked? You might have expected me to go for the 1970s, when I started drinking. But I can remember all the bad points. Lots of dreadful keg beer, badly-kept cask beer and a very limited variety of beers on draught.

I'm sure that some will argue that the 2000s or 2010s were a golden age. Well, maybe if you like evil keg.Or IPA. It didn't do it for me.

Be sure to share your thoughts. When was the Golden Age of UK brewing? 

What is mixing beers?

Another short video, this time about mixing beers. 

 

Youngs X Ale malts 1939 - 1945

As with Pale Ale, the hopping rate was up and down during the war. Kicking off at 6 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. But, by the end of the war, it was down to under 3 lbs per quarter. In the intervening years, however, it went up and down quite a bit. None of it voluntary, obviously. Brewers were, at several points, ordered to reduce their hopping rates.

We’ll move on with the malts. That’s going to be really exciting. No, I’m not taking the piss. I really believe that. I do have pretty odd interests, mind.

The big shock is that mild malt formed the backbone of, er, this Mild Ale. Who would have expected that? Everyone, obviously. What is weird, is that sometimes it’s described as X malt, and others as MA malt. Sometimes both in the same beer. I’ll be honest here, I assumed that they were the same thing. How naïve was I?

In case you’re wondering, X malt and mils malt I’ve rolled into just mild malt. Don’t judge me. I can’t be arsed to split the two apart. Mostly because I don’t know what the fucking difference is between them.

Intermittently, some standard pale malt was thrown in. Again – how many times have I said this? – it’s all to do with what was available at the time. Brewers didn’t exactly have a free choice of which ingredients they could use. 

Youngs X Ale malts 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	pale malt	mild malt	crystal malt	enzymic malt	total malt
18th Oct	1939	16.60%	63.07%	9.96%		89.63%
17th May	1940		82.98%	8.74%		91.72%
2nd Dec	1940		84.21%	8.86%		93.07%
30th Apr	1941		83.09%	9.59%		92.68%
6th May	1941		83.33%	9.52%		92.86%
24th Oct	1941		78.57%	9.52%		88.10%
4th May	1942	55.75%	19.22%	7.69%		82.66%
8th Jul	1942		74.97%	7.69%		82.66%
19th Oct	1942		73.05%	7.69%		80.74%
5th May	1943	36.52%	36.52%	10.43%		83.48%
28th Apr	1944		71.43%	9.52%		80.95%
5th May	1944	21.68%	49.55%	9.29%		80.52%
20th Oct	1944		65.03%	9.29%	3.10%	77.42%
2nd Jul	1945	18.05%	42.86%	9.02%		69.92%
4th Jul	1945	16.36%	45.44%	7.27%		69.06%
Sources:
Young's brewing records held at Battersea Library, document numbers YO/RE/1/8 YO/RE/1/9 YO/RE/1/10, YO/RE/1/11, YO/RE/1/12, YO/RE/1/13 and YO/RE/1/14.

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1884 Lees Bitter

Interestingly, Lees called this beer Bitter in the brew house and not Pale Ale. Which is what it would have been called in most breweries.

It’s a little bit weaker than a London Stock Pale Ale, but not by much. So was this a stock Pale Ale? I’m genuinely not sure. My guess would be no, but I can’t be sure. Despite the gravity and heavy hopping.

The grist is pretty simple. Just one type of pale malt and an undefined type of sugar. The pale malt came from Newark, from the Gilstrap maltings, to be precise. I’ve guessed No. 2 sugar, just to hedge my bets.

As a Pale Ale, you’d expect the hopping to be heavy. And it is: 19 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. That’s right up there in IPA territory.

There were lots of different hops. Seven in total. Three English – Farnham, Worcester and Kent, all from the 1883 harvest. American, also from 1883, “Chams” 1882 from 1882, and “Bur” from 1882 and 1883. Not sure where those last ones were from.

1884 Lees Bitter
pale malt	12.75 lb	98.08%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.25 lb	1.92%
Fuggles 190 min	2.50 oz
Fuggles 60 min	2.50 oz
Goldings 30 min	2.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.50 oz
OG	1057
FG	1018.5
ABV	5.09
Apparent attenuation	67.54%
IBU	92
SRM	5.5
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	190 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)

 

What is Dutch Bokbier?

Another of my little videos, this time looking at Dutch Bokbier.  A style that I have quite a soft spot for.

 

Youngs X Ale 1939 – 1945

Let’s take a look at the other main Youngs beer, X Ale. Part of the other wartime parti-gyle.

Ooh look, there’s a shock: the gravity dropped from 1035º to 1028.7º over the course of the war. Between 1939 and 1945 was 18%. Which is a lot more than for Pale Ale, where the fall in gravity was just 10%. Though the fall for Pale Ale was unusually small. The average decline in UK gravity over the was 18.5%. 

An increased rate of attenuation, however, means that the ABV only fell from 3.6% ABV to 3.2% ABV. Still enough alcohol to get you a bit pissed. If you put in a little effort. You just needed to be determined enough.

I’ve highlighted the changes in bold to make them more obvious.

As with Pale Ale, the hopping rate was up and down during the war. Kicking off at 6 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. But, by the end of the war, it was down to under 3 lbs per quarter. In the intervening years, however, it went up and down quite a bit. None of it voluntary, obviously. Brewers were, at several points, ordered to reduce their hopping rates. 

Youngs X Ale 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
18th Oct	1939	1035.0	1007.8	3.60	77.84%	6.19	0.85
17th May	1940	1034.0	1007.2	3.55	78.82%	5.87	0.78
2nd Dec	1940	1034.0	1010.0	3.18	70.67%	4.80	0.63
30th Apr	1941	1031.0	1005.5	3.37	82.13%	3.88	0.48
6th May	1941	1030.0	1006.6	3.09	77.84%	4.02	0.49
24th Oct	1941	1030.6	1008.9	2.88	71.03%	4.02	0.51
4th May	1942	1030.0	1005.5	3.24	81.53%	3.34	0.43
8th Jul	1942	1029.2	1008.3	2.76	71.54%	4.49	0.56
19th Oct	1942	1029.9	1005.5	3.22	81.47%	3.47	0.45
5th May	1943	1029.8	1007.8	2.92	73.97%	4.32	0.67
28th Apr	1944	1028.4	1005.0	3.10	82.44%	4.45	0.52
5th May	1944	1028.2	1007.8	2.70	72.50%	4.95	0.57
20th Oct	1944	1028.8	1005.5	3.08	80.76%	4.54	0.55
2nd Jul	1945	1028.8	1005.5	3.08	80.76%	3.83	0.47
4th Jul	1945	1028.7	1004.4	3.21	84.56%	3.79	0.46
Sources:
Young's brewing records held at Battersea Library, document numbers YO/RE/1/8 YO/RE/1/9 YO/RE/1/10, YO/RE/1/11, YO/RE/1/12, YO/RE/1/13 and YO/RE/1/14.

 

Youngs PA boiling and fermentation 1939 - 1945

Let's look a couple of the processes. Namely, boiling and fermentation.

Beginning with the boiling times. At the start of the war, both coppers were boiled for two hours. That lasted until 1944, when the time was reduced to 1.75 hours.  I think I can guess the reason why. Saving fuel. Which was probably coal, at this point.

During the war, the UK struggled to produce enough coal and measures were taken to reduce its use. For example, by limiting how much hot water you could have in a bath. Reducing the boiling times at breweries is an obvious way to reduce coal usage. It’s only a surprise that brewers weren’t induced to do this earlier in the war.

Noving on to fermentation, the pitching temperature seems to have been dropped a little from 60º F to 58º F. I’m not sure why that might have been. I can’t see how that might have saved fuel or anything like that.

Maximum fermentation temperatures are all over the place. From as low as 64.5º F to a high of 73.5º F. There doesn’t seem to be any particular trend of up or down, just random variation. Though most brews had a high of 67-68º F.

Most fermentations lasted seven or eight days, though a few were a bit shorter. There doesn’t seem to have been any change in this, even though PA became weaker.

I’ve included the dropping time. For once. This is when the wort was dropped from a deep cylindrical vessel to a shallow square. The time varies between 1.5 and 2 days. This also doesn’t seem to have changed during the war years.

Youngs PA boiling and fermentation 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)	dropped after (hours)
27th Jul	1939	2	2	60º F	73.5º F	8
22nd May	1940	2	2	59.5º F	65º F	8
1st May	1941	2	2	58º F	67º F	7	44
3rd Jul	1941	2	2	58º F	69º F	7	36
8th Jul	1941	2	2	58º F	70.25º F	8	35
23rd Oct	1941	2	2	58º F	66º F	8	47
7th May	1942	2	2	59º F	65.5º F	8	36
9th Jul	1942	2	2	58º F	64.5º F	6	39
20th Oct	1942	2	2	58º F	67.5º F	8
30th Apr	1943	2	2	58º F	65.25º F	7	55
20th Jul	1943	2	2	58º F	66º F	8	36.5
1st May	1944	1.75	1.75	58º F	67º F	6	37.5
8th May	1944	2	2	58º F	68º F	8	41.5
19th Oct	1944	1.75	1.75	58º F	67º F	8	41.75
8th May	1945	1.75	1.75	58º F	68º F	7	37.5
3rd Jul	1945	1.75	1.75	58º F	66.25º F	4	37.5
12th Jul	1945	1.75	1.75	58º F	67º F	7	37
Sources:
Young's brewing records held at Battersea Library, document numbers YO/RE/1/8 YO/RE/1/9 YO/RE/1/10, YO/RE/1/11, YO/RE/1/12, YO/RE/1/13 and YO/RE/1/14.

 

What are beer houses?

A short video about the forgotten other type of pub: the beer house. Pubs which were only allowed to sell beer.

 

Back to Amsterdam

I rise at 7:30. I start packing and write up notes for the last two days. I couldn’t be arsed yesterday and am now rather behind. Bad Ronald.

I breakfast with Chris at 9:00. Just for a change, I go for a bowl of fruit. Getting a bit bored with the bacon and egg sandwich.

A car to take me to the airport is scheduled at 10:00. I pack my stuff and check out at 9:45. I wait at one of the outdoor tables with Chris.

It’s quite a long drive to the airport. Up into the hills again. The weather isn’t great: cloudy with intermittent rain.

I roll up at the Copa Air check-in desk.

“Have you paid for a check-in bag?” The nice lady at the desk asks.

“I get one for free.” I reply.

She doesn’t argue. For which I’m very grateful. 

At immigration, another nice young lady grabs hold of me, leads to an automatic gate and shown how to use it. They treat us oldies really well in South America.

I go to the duty free and get a bottle of Medellin 8. Andrew will kill me if I don’t bring any Medellin rum back. Some chocolate seems a good idea, too. I also get some coffee.

Great. I’m feeling crap. It feels like I might be catching Chris’s cold. Seeing a chemists, I get some cold medicine. Hopefully, that will make me feel better.

Still having some time, I get myself a coffee and find a seat. Feel better after a while. Is it the medicine or is it the coffee? I don’t really give a shit, as long as I don’t feel so crap.

Or maybe I’m just getting used to the altitude. Here at the airport, it’s over 2,000 metres. Perhaps that’s the reason I was feeling crap.

I’m in boarding group 4. When I troll up at the gate, they’ve already boarded zone 1. But, as an oldie person, I can walk straight on. I really could get used to being old in South America.

The flight is full, but thankfully short. Just as well, given the lack of legroom. Anything much over a hour would start to be agony.

I can’t see any signs for the lounge in Panama City airport. But I spot something on the first floor that looks like a lounge. And it is. Two lounges, to be precise. I have access to the Copa Air one.

It takes a while to get in, as my boarding pass doesn’t have ”Gold” printed on it. Thankfully, I check out. 

A group of women with “Girls weekend away“ T-shirts sits next to me. I wonder where they’re off to? Probably not Amsterdam.

At the bar, there’s Flor de Cana 18 year. That’ll do nicely. 

There’s no hot food, but lots of small sandwiches. And lots of seating. Obviously, I take advantage of the rum. Where the measures are decent, after I ask for just a little ice. I grab a few sandwiches, too.

The gate isn’t too far. Though, I have to wait there standing for longer than I’d like before boarding. My oldie legs can’t do with too much standing.

The flight is packed. As fucking always.

The first meal isn’t too shit. Chicken with mashed spuds. Washed down with red wine.  I get my head down straight after eating. And get a reasonable-ish sleep for a few hours.

  

When the lights come back on ninety or so minutes out of Amsterdam, I watch sone episodes of the Simpsons.

The breakfast is, er, indescribable. Quite literally. It looks like rounds of beef in gravy. Brown. I bite into one round and it’s sweet and doughy. I think it must be pancakes, but I’m not totally sure. I just eat the fruit. And drink orange juice and coffee.

We’re quite a way from passport control “next toilet 250 m” a sign says. Never seen a sign like that in Schiphol before. I wonder if there have been some “accidents”, which prompted the sign.

There’s not much of a queue at the automatic gates. And my bag comes out pretty quickly. I’m soon bouncing along the motorway in a cab.

Dolores, as always, is ready with tea.
 

Let's Brew - 1884 Lees K

There was also a stronger Mild at Lees. With an equally enigmatic name as its weaker sibling U.

This one is very similar in strength to a London X Ale. And relatively dark. Though I’m not totally sure about the colour, as I don’t really know how much black malt was used. The quantity is given as two “canfulls” I’ve guessed that to be about half a quarter. I could well be wrong.

Usefully, the type of sugar is given in the brewing record. Two types, actually. Not that it helps me much. As I’ve no idea what they are. “Audax” and “Burnel” (I think). The second sounds like a manufacturer’s name.

There are lots of hops. An awful lot of hops. Nine types in total. Ba 1878, Ba 1882, Chams 1882, Bur 1882}, Russ 1882, Light 1883, Poperinge 1883, Sussex 1883, Kent 1883. Not sure where they’re all from, though there seem to be quite a few foreign hops. 

1884 Lees K
pale malt	12.50 lb	95.57%
black malt	0.25 lb	1.91%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.33 lb	2.52%
Strisselspalt 180 min	1.50 oz
Hallertau 60 min	1.25 oz
Fuggles 30 min	1.25 oz
OG	1057
FG	1017
ABV	5.29
Apparent attenuation	70.18%
IBU	44
SRM	15
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	180 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)