Let's Brew - 1941 Youngs X Ale

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

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Youngs X Ale

Youngs strongest Mild, X Ale, was fairly weak, by London standards. Just 1035º and 3.7% ABV. Where some brewers had versions over 4% ABV. Barclay Perkins, for example.

I’m being lazy again, taking the X Ale that was parti-gyled with the Ale above. Saves time writing the recipe. While also given you a realistic view of the relationships between the beers in a parti-gyle. At least, that’s my excuse.

It’s not all that dark. Though Mild did come in a variety of shades in London in the 1930s. All of Barclay Perkins Milds came in semi-dark and dark versions. As brewed, they were semi-dark. The dark versions were created by adding caramel at racking time.

Youngs brewed bucketloads of this beer. Mild was still very popular in London. 

1939 Youngs X Ale
pale malt	1.50 lb	19.82%
mild malt	4.75 lb	62.75%
crystal malt 120 L	0.50 lb	6.61%
malt extract	0.25 lb	3.30%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.50 lb	6.61%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.07 lb	0.92%
Fuggles 105 min	1.00 oz
Fuggles 30 min	1.00 oz
OG	1035
FG	1007
ABV	3.70
Apparent attenuation	80.00%
IBU	25
SRM	14.5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

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

 

What is Mild Ale?

I explain  Mild Ale - briefly - in this video.

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1960 Youngs SX Ale

The relative popularity of Mild is demonstrated by Youngs brewing two of them. This being the stronger of the pair.

Not that it’s that much stronger. Just 3º of gravity. And 0.2% ABV. So minimally stronger, really. Far smaller quantities were brewed than standard X Ale. For example, in this parti-gyle there were 241 barrels of X and just 45 barrels of SX.

The recipe, obviously, is identical to X Ale. Just the quantities are slightly larger. I find the inclusion of malt extract. Specifically, diastatic malt extract. Presumably, the enzymes are the reason for its inclusion.

Same hops as in X Ale. English from the 1958 and 1959 harvests.

1960 Youngs SX Ale
mild malt	5.00 lb	68.38%
crystal malt 150 L	0.67 lb	9.16%
flaked maize	1.00 lb	13.68%
pale malt extract	0.1875 lb	2.56%
No. 3 invert	0.33 lb	4.51%
caramel 500 SRM	0.125 lb	1.71%
Fuggles 105 min	1.33 oz
OG	1034
FG	1007
ABV	3.57
Apparent attenuation	79.41%
IBU	20
SRM	19
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

 

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

Let's Brew - 1960 Youngs X Ale

At the start of the 1960s, Youngs were still brewing pretty large quantities of Mild. By the end of the decade, they were making rather less. As Mild rapidly fell out of favour in London.

It’s a fairly typical Mild of the period, being dark and pretty watery. The grist is quite simple, just mild and crystal malt along with some flaked maize and sugar. At least, I think it’s flaked maize. It just says “flakes” in the brewing record. In the 1980s and 1990s, that was flaked torrefied barley. I’m guessing that in these earlier records, it means the more usual flaked maize.

There were two types of sugar: No. 3 invert and CDM (Caramelised Dextro-Maltose). For the latter, I’ve substituted straight caramel. Which should be close enough. Unless, by some miracle, you can get hold of real CDM.

Two types of English hops, one from the 1958 harvest and one from 1959. 

1960 Youngs X Ale
mild malt	4.50 lb	67.75%
crystal malt 150 L	0.50 lb	7.53%
flaked maize	1.00 lb	15.05%
pale malt extract	0.1875 lb	2.82%
No. 3 invert	0.33 lb	4.97%
caramel 500 SRM	0.125 lb	1.88%
Fuggles 105 min	1.25 oz
OG	1031
FG	1005.5
ABV	3.37
Apparent attenuation	82.26%
IBU	19
SRM	18
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

 

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

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1996 Youngs Best Malt Ale (2)

Brewed just nine days later than the previous Best Malt Ale was this very different version. Higher in gravity and with a very different grist.

Interestingly, despite the higher gravity, a lower degree of attenuation leaves it barely stronger in ABV terms.

Brewed single-gyle, this iteration has basically the same grist as Winter Warmer. Except that there’s no torrefied barley. And looks more like versions from the late 1970s. As with most Dark Milds, there’s no malt darker than crystal. With much of the colour coming from sugar.

They were obviously playing around with the recipe as the hopping rate is much higher than the version brewed a few days earlier. Almost double, in fact. So much so, that I didn’t need to adjust the quantities of hops for once. A much longer boil also boosted the bitterness level.

The hops themselves were two English types, with no vintage indicated.

1996 Youngs Best Malt Ale (2)
pale malt	5.50 lb	76.07%
crystal malt 150 L	0.67 lb	9.27%
glucose	0.75 lb	10.37%
molasses	0.25 lb	3.46%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.06 lb	0.83%
Fuggles 125 min	1.75 oz
OG	1034
FG	1011
ABV	3.04
Apparent attenuation	67.65%
IBU	27
SRM	15
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	125 minutes
pitching temp	64º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

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

Let's Brew - 1996 Youngs Best Malt Ale

I’m not exactly sure when Youngs dropped their Mild. Sometime between 1983 and 1986. Then, in 1996, there was an attempt to revive it. I have three examples from that year, and all three are different.

This is the weirdest of the bunch. Being parti-gyled with Oatmeal Stout. Making this, effectively, a watered-down Stout. Not wanting a huge quantity of Mild – this batch was just 39 barrels – it made sense to parti-gyle it. Though Winter Warmer would have been a more sensible choice.

The grist is rather odd for a Mild, containing both roast barley and flaked oats. It must have been quite different in character from the 1980s version. Were there still any Mild drinkers around who remembered the earlier beer? There must have been, as the beer had only been gone for a decade or so.

There were two types of English hops, as in most of their beers. I’ve increased the amounts to get the right bitterness level. 

1996 Youngs Best Malt Ale
pale malt	5.50 lb	78.97%
roast barley	0.50 lb	7.18%
flaked oats	0.50 lb	7.18%
glucose	0.33 lb	4.74%
molasses	0.125 lb	1.79%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.01 lb	0.14%
Fuggles 70 min	1.50 oz
Goldings 10 min	0.50 oz
OG	1031
FG	1008.5
ABV	2.98
Apparent attenuation	72.58%
IBU	25
SRM	15
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	78 minutes
pitching temp	61.5º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

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

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1913 Adnams X Ale

Moving forward in time a couple of decades, we find a new version of X Ale. Which looks very much like a modern Mild. And is not very typical of the style pre-WW I.

A gravity of just 1033º was low even for a Mild Ale brewed way out in the sticks. Even a very high degree of attenuation leaves it not much over 3.5% ABV

Simple is an understatement when it comes to the recipe. Just base malt, sugar and caramel colouring. And really just one type of base malt. I can’t imagine that it was a very full-bodied beer. That’s about all I can say. I assume that the caramel had a dark colour as it was called “tintose”.

Two types of hops. Worcester from the 1911 harvest and English from 1912. Hopped at a puny rate of 3.75 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt.

My guess is that a Mild like this would have been consumed just a couple of days after racking. 

1913 Adnams X Ale
mild malt	5.75 lb	84.31%
glucose	1.00 lb	14.66%
caramel 5000 SRM	0.07 lb	1.03%
Fuggles 105 mins	0.33 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.33 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.33 oz
OG	1033
FG	1005.5
ABV	3.64
Apparent attenuation	83.33%
IBU	13
SRM	23
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP025 Southwold

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1897 Fremlin X

Since I've been boring you stupid with details of Fremlin's beers, I may as well round it off with a recipe.

Very unusually for the 19th century, Fremlin brewed bugger all Mild Ale. They really were, as they advertised, a Pale Ale brewer.

This looks pretty much like bog-standard Mild Ale of the period. Though quite pale.

It’s a reasonably simple recipe. All base malt, but of three types: one of Californian high-dried and two of English pale malt. Plus a sugar described as “cane”. I’ve assumed that means raw cane sugar rather than pure sucrose.

All English hops, three from the 1896 harvest and one from 1897. 

No ageing, of course. 

1897 Fremlin X
pale malt	4.00 lb	39.02%
Munich malt 20L	4.00 lb	39.02%
raw cane sugar	2.25 lb	21.95%
Fuggles 120 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1050
FG	1015
ABV	4.63
Apparent attenuation	70.00%
IBU	37
SRM	9
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

Let's Brew - 1893 Cannon X

Like some other brewers in Kent, Cannon only brewed one Mild Ale. In this case, with the logical designation X.

This beer is a great demonstration of how much the timing of Mild becoming darker varied. At the nearby W.E. & J. Rigden brewery Mild was already semi-dark in 1884. Here, Mild is still pale a decade later.

There really is nothing to the grist. Well, as near to nothing as you can get. A single type of pale malt. Leaving a pretty pale colour.

The rate of attenuation isn’t great. It must have had a fairly full body with that finishing gravity of 1016º. Which I assume was deliberate. As it was pretty much exactly the same for every batch of X.

Equal amounts of two types of hops, Californian and East Kent, both from the 1891 harvest.

To complicate matters, six barrels of KK were mixed with the 50 barrels of X at racking time. 

1893 Cannon X
pale malt	11.50 lb	100.00%
Cluster 90 min	1.25 oz
Goldings 30 min	1.25 oz
OG	1050
FG	1016
ABV	4.50
Apparent attenuation	68.00%
IBU	38
SRM	4.5
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1893 Cannon XXX

The Cannon brewery of Maidstone, in case you're wondering. One of the breweries whose records I snapped on my recent trip to, er, Maidstone. 

 Unlike many other rivals in Kent, Cannon brewed multiple Milds. Though they slipped XX and jumped straight to XXX.

The difference in gravity – 11º - probably justifies that jump. While a decent level of attenuation leaves it well over 6% ABV. Mild, indeed.

Quite a boring grist as it’s all malt. Just base malt. Though there were two types. Described as “Queen St,” and “Cannon:”, presumably referring to the maltster.

Only a single type of hops: East Kent from the 1892 harvest. Reasonably fresh and relatively expensive. Of a notably higher quality than those in X.

Would have been drunk within a few weeks of racking. I think. Unless this was an Old Ale. It is quite heavily hopped.

1893 Cannon XXX
pale malt	14.25 lb	100.00%
Goldings 90 min	2.25 oz
Goldings 30 min	2.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1061
FG	1014
ABV	6.22
Apparent attenuation	77.05%
IBU	52
SRM	5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	162º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

Let's Brew - 1884 W.E. & J. Rigden Mild Beer

Now this is an interesting Mild. Not only because of the name. Which is usually Mild Ale. Also, on account of the colour.

Which is semi-dark. I know that for certain it was that dark. Because the colour all comes from No. 3 invert sugar. No arguing with that. Much better than something vague like caramel. Which can vary wildly in tone. This is an early date for a darker Mild

The grist is pretty heavy on sugar and maize. More than average. A lot more. Is the colour an attempt to distract from the low malt content? Or was it just new and trendy?

The gravity is pretty decent and so is the attenuation, leaving it over 5% ABV. Fairly bitter, too. With two types of hops, whose names are little more than squiggles. I can’t make out either. As they’re growers’ names, they must me English. I’ve guessed Fuggles and Goldings.

No ageing, obviously. Seeing as it’s a Mild. 

1884 W.E. & J. Rigden Mild Beer
pale malt	6.50 lb	65.00%
flaked maize	1.50 lb	15.00%
No. 3 invert sugar	2.00 lb	20.00%
Fuggles 120 mins	1.25 oz
Goldings 60 mins	1.25 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.25 oz
OG	1050
FG	1010
ABV	5.29
Apparent attenuation	80.00%
IBU	50
SRM	13
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

Let's Brew - 1893 Tomson & Wotton X

Here are the first results of my jaunt to Maidstone during the week. The Kent Archives have one Tomson and Wotton brewing book. A personal notebook rather than the official brewing record. Pretty complete information, though.

A provincial Mild Ale here. But not too far from London. And that seems to be reflected in the strength. As this is closer to a London X Ale than Adnams X Ale.

As with most Milds of this period, there’s not much to the recipe. Just one type of base malt and a dash of sugar. No description of the sugar. So I’ve guessed No. 2 invert, as usual. And that’s it.

What about hops? Two types: East Kent from the 1888 harvest and Californian from 1891. Fairly old, then.

No dry hopping, but there was another addition. It says in the log: "mixed in 4.75 barrels of O.A." into the 91 barrels of Mild. I take the O.A. to be Old Ale. An interesting case of blending. 

1893 Tomson & Wotton X
pale malt	11.00 lb	95.65%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.50 lb	4.35%
Cluster 90 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings 60 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1050
FG	1014
ABV	4.76
Apparent attenuation	72.00%
IBU	44
SRM	6
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	180º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

Let's Brew - 1885 Thomas Usher 68/- M

Another somewhat confusing use of shillings. What were they up to at Usher? 

Strongest of the Shilling Ales was, of course, 68/- M.  You explain the logic to me. I can’t see it myself.

This wasn’t in a Shilling Ale parti-gyle, but in a Pale Ale one. With a much higher hopping rate. Hence the high (calculated) bitterness. The black malt was added to the first copper, so a lower percentage of the darkened wort would have been in the PA and X, the parti-gyle partners.

The single type of pale malt was Scottish. Now there’s a surprise. While the hops were all imports: California from the 1883 season and Alsace from 1884.

Was this aged? If the “M” stands for “Mild”, then that’s unlikely. Though the heavy level of hopping makes it look more like a Stock Ale. Age it if you feel like it. But don’t feel obliged. 

1885 Thomas Usher 68/- M
pale malt	18.50 lb	98.67%
black malt	0.25 lb	1.33%
Cluster 120 min	3.75 oz
Strisselspalt 30 min	3.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1080
FG	1025
ABV	7.28
Apparent attenuation	68.75%
IBU	91
SRM	15
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale