Even earlier IPA

Knowing that I wouldn't find the term India Paler Ale earlier than the 1820s, I gave the search terms "Pale Ale" and "India" a whirl in the newspaper archives. And came up with lots of material.

From the mid-1780s, there are loads of mentions of Pale Ale in the Calcutta Gazette. All advertisements for the sale of the "investments" of ship's officers. That is, the goods they had bought for the outward journey, intended for sale to the British living in India.

Judging by the number and bulk of the items, this must have been the whole cargo of the ship. There are lots of bulky items like furniture. As well as casks of various types of booze. Obviously, it's the latter that attract my attention.

Here's just the alcohol section of one sale:

EUROPE GOODS,
The entire Investment of CAPTAIN GREGORY, or THE MANSHIP, PURCHASED BY POPE AND FAIRLIE, And which will be exposed for SALE, at their WAREHOUSE, as soon as landed; Consisting chiefly of the following articles
ARTICLES: LIQUORS
ENGLISH CLARET, from Barns,
Ditto form Stockdale,
Ditto from Urquhart,
Old port wine
Old Jamaica rum,
Rum Shrub,
Old Coriac brandy,
Cherry brandy.
Ratasia,
Herefordshire Cyder,
Porter, in casks,
Pale ale, in ditto,
Hereford cyder in bottles
Calcutta Gazette - Thursday 15 June 1786, page 6.

That's pretty typical of the drinks you see: claret, port, Jamaica rum, cider and beer. The latter being almost always Porter and Pale Ale.

Something that's pissed me off for a while is the claim that the original IPA was based on October Beer. So that it must have been 9% ABV, at least. I've never come across the slightest evidence for that. Yes, it might say "October brewed" in the description. But that doesn't mean something was an October Beer in style. It just meant that it had been brewed in the best time of the year for a Stock Ale. 

Right through the 19th-century Stock Pale Ales were advertised as having been brewed in October. But October Beers they certainly were not.

My argument has always been: As no brewing records exist for IPA from this period, we can only guess as to their strength. Though there is another way of getting some idea of this: the price IPA sold for. Which is why this is so revealing.

ADVERTISEMENT:
THERE being considerable sums due to Messrs. Towers and Allen, previous to, and since their partnership; and as they have now in possession a stock of the best liquors; that their friends and the public may be accommodated, and to induce a speedy adjustment of out-standing debts, they will take in payment of the same, and for their liquors, all orders and bills, payable at the offices of Government, or on persons of credit here, at a discount of five per cent. or bearing common interest; they will give liquors for any overplus of bills, offered them in payment of debts, free of discount. As a further encouragement, they have reduced the prices of their stock as follows. 

Hock, rich and old, per dozen, sicca Rupees	50
French bottled burgundy and claret, highly flavoured	30
Cyder, remarkably fine	20
Strong Jamaica rum, old and pure	25
Do. coniac brandy, do	21
Elegant white brandy	32
Rum, in small casks, per Gallon	7
Brandy, do. do.	6
London Porter, and pale Ale, light and excellent, per hhd.	150
Do. in half hhds.	80
Do. in quarter do.	40
Do. in bottles, per dozen	12

Empty Bottles taken and allowed for.
The malt Liquors are engaged sound and in perfect order.
Calcutta Gazette - Thursday 08 April 1784, page 7.

Pale Ale is the same price as Porter. As it was usually sold at a premium compared to Porter, if they are the same price the Pale Ale has to be weaker. It's also described as "light", which isn't a term you'd use for a big, fat, heavy October Beer.

The first analyses of Porter by Richardson in the 1770s give it a gravity of 1075º and 7.5% ABV. Given the increase in the tax on malt in the 1780s, the strength would have fallen.  My guess would be that the Pale Ale advertised would have been 6.5% ABV, at most.

Random brewery - Clarkson's Berkshire Brewery

You'd never believe it, but I've been searching the newspaper archive looking for something about Simonds of Reading. Particularly unsuccessfully. It didn't help that I spelled Simonds with two M's. I can never remember that. No idea why.

Here's an advert for another Reading brewery that I did find.

Here's the text in, er, text form:

"BERKSHIRE BREWERY,
KING'S ROAD, READING.
A. CLARKSON'S Fine ALE and BEER, equal to the best Home-brewed, being brewed from the best Malt and Hops that can be produced, regardless of expense.

MR. A. CLARKSON begs leave to return his sincere thanks to his numerous friends and supporters, for the very liberal patronage they have been pleased to bestow upon him since his commencement in the Brewing business. He also begs leave to inform his friends and the inhabitants of Reading and the vicinity that his Fine Mild October ALES of the present season, are now ready for consumption, which he can confidently recommend to all who love a glass of pure Home-brewed Beer.

Orders thankfully received and punctually attended to at No. 53, King's Road, Reading.

Supplied in Casks, of any size, at the following prices:"
Berkshire Chronicle - Saturday 24 January 1852, page 1.

Why have I bothered?  A couple of reasons. First, that the brewer claims his beer is as good as home brewed. What commercial brewery today would make that claim?  I'm pretty sure by home brewed he means domestically brewed beer. Which had a good reputation because domestic brewers didn't skimp on ingredients.

Secondly, there's a distinction made between Ale and Beer. Even though there's only one Beer in the list, T.B. or Table Beer. All the others being Ales.

Thirdly, the use of the phrase "Fine Mild October ALES". Why? Because October Ales and Beers were usually Stock or Old, not Mild. Never seen Mild October Ales before. I thought the whole point of brewing them in October was because they kept better. Not something that's very relevant with an Ale that's going to be sold young.

And finally, the fact that there are only Ales and a Table Beer. No Pale Ales but, more unusually, neither Porter nor Stout. Very odd.

Why no potted history of the brewery? Because it deosn't get a mention in "A Century of British Brewers Plus". There is something in there called the Berkshire Brewery. But it's a much later brewery. Because that was the name of the huge Courage brewery in Worton Grange, the one which replaced the Simonds brewery in Reading.

Amazing how many words I span out of that random find.

Caparn, Hankey & Co.'s beers

We're still in Newark. I seem to have got myself sucked into the Newark brewing scene at the end of the 19th century. Not quite sure how that happened.

Caparn, Hankey & Co. ran the Castle Brewery in Newark before James Hole. Before it grew very big or was particularly famous. I was surprised to discover that the brewery Hole replaced wasn't that old at all. Barely ten years old:

"Interesting Discovery. In digging out the foundations for the new brewery about to be erected for Messrs. Caparn, Hankey and Co., on the site of the old gaol and workhouse in Albert-street, Newark, the workmen have come across an earthernware jar containing 28 silver pennies and 22 portions of the same coin, of the reign of Henry III. The jar was about six feet below the surface, and was placed upside down.
Lincolnshire Chronicle - Tuesday 14 June 1881, page 3.

But it's the beers of Caparn, Hankey and Co. that we're interested in today. Here they are:

Leicester Chronicle - Saturday 19 July 1879, page 4.

See anything odd about the beers? Where's the Mild Ale? Or at least standard-strength Mild Ale. The March Brewed Ale could possibly be a strong Mild. But March Brewed implies a Stock Ale rather than a Mild Ale.

It looks really old-fashioned. Surely they were brewing year round by 1879? So what's all the stuff about March and October brewed beer? I can understand that the Strong Ale might be only brewed in October. But where are the bread and butter running Ales?

About the only real touch of modernity is the Dinner Ale, presumably the precursor of Hole's AK. Though at only a shilling a gallon it was 2d cheaper than Hole's AK. Let's take a look at the Holes beers of a few years later:

Holes beers in 1892
beer	price per barrel	price (per gallon)
AK Luncheon Ale	42	14
X Light Mild Ale	36	12
XX Mild Ale	42	14
XXX Mild Ale	48	16
XXXX Strong Ale	54	18
BB Strong Ale	72	24
India Pale Ale	54	18
Double Stout	48	16
Source:
Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald - Saturday 05 March 1892, page 1.

Double Stout and IPA are the only beers present in both lists. I find it weird that the Caparn, Hankey and Co. advert has no equivalent of Holes X Ale and XX Ale. They should have been some of the brewery's biggest sellers.

One final point. Note that neither list includes a standard Porter, only Stout. When I tell you about the tenancy agreement of Hole's you'll understand why that's strange.

Stock Ale in the early 19th century

Hey, hey, hey as Krusty would say.  I warned you that April was going to be all about ageing. And I don't mean my limbs. Today's text discusses just how old beer needs to be. For it to be perfect to drink.

It describes private brewing. That is, brewing for your own use. When the text was written, many still brewed this way. But it wasn't to last much longer. The changes in taxation brought into force with the 1830 Beer Act was hugely disadvantageous to domestic brewers. Taxation was removed from beer itself and places 100% on its ingredients, malt and hops. As a result, domestic brewers paid the same tax as commercial brewers.

The increasing sophistication of commercial breweries also put domestic brewers at a disadvantage, particularly in terms of quality and consistency. In the 18th century, there had been little difference between a large domestic brewhouse and a small commercial one. By 1830, that was no longer true.

What effect did the decline in domestic brewing have? It may well have helped the demise of aged beers. Not having the same commercial constraints as their professional colleagues, domestic brewers could afford to leave beer to mature for extremely long periods. Did drinkers, not having access to fully-matured, home-brewed beer, lose their taste for it? I guess we'll never know.

"The age at which ale is drank, will depend upon a private person's stock; the size of his cellar, &c. but more frequently upon his family habits, and the pecuniary means he chooses to devote to this beverage. Good mellow ale, soft and fine, may be had at a year old; and it is, perhaps, never better than from one year old to two. Some persons never reckon ale to be old, unless it drinks a little hard, or with some, approaches to sharpness, or acidity; but this is a false taste: old ale in this sense, it has been well said, is old ale spoiled.

After all, a hogshead or pipe of ale, that has. been properly brewed and carefully managed, will not always be fine when tapped. Suppose it be a year old, or what is more common, suppose it to be brewed in October (the best month in which to brew good ale for keeping), and tapped at the Christmas twelve-month following; if when tapped it be not fine, it may be corked up again, and stand another twelve-month, when it will probably be found not only fine, but greatly improved in flavour; but if it be wanted, it may be fined as follows: draw off a gallon or two, if the cask be a pipe, and take a quarter of a pound of isinglass, and some fresh hops, and scald them in a clean copper pan, dissolving the isinglass therewith; pour the quantity into a dry pail, and when cool put it into the barrel, and stir the whole together well with a long stick, or such an one as you have head-way to introduce; bung down the cask a few hours afterwards, and in a fortnight the ale will become fine. If the ale drink thin, and incline to be hard, let a pound or two, or more if required, of sugar-candy, bruised, be put into the pan with the hops, &c.

The method called marrying ale, we have often seen tried upon a private person's stock with success. It seems to increase its strength, but especially its mellowness and the fulness of its flavour, and consists in tapping a pipe or hogshead of ale in the middle, and when it is drawn as low as the tap, to fill up the cask with another brewing of wort. The particulars to be observed are: to begin upon a sound stock, such as is approved as to colour and flavour; for if there be any approach to acidity it will not do. The next point is to tun the newly-fermented wort upon the old stock, when it has fermented about twelve hours. The third particular, of great importance, seems to be, not to marry your ale in winter, but in autumn (October), for if your cellar be not a vault,the old stock is too chill, and the fermentation may suddenly stop: if this should happen, as in cellars that are not vaults, the heat may increase considerably in spring, the fermentation may be renewed, and the ale may spoil, or mischief happen to the cask by bursting. Ale that is brewed in the usual way will sometimes ferment in summer, and throw up the bungs of the barrels; especially if the fermentation have been hastily conducted, and little or no cleansing have taken place in the barrels after tunning (which is likely to be the case when brewing is performed in frosty weather); where this happens, the danger is that acidity will follow, and therefore the beer should be speedily used. When ale is married, the fermentation will bring away all the old hops, and it is not to be overlooked that the cork will rise that had been driven in with the tap. It is, therefore, requisite to work it out at the bunghole, skimming away the hops, &c. till they and the cork are discharged; then fill up the cask, and take out the top cork for cleansing, as before. It may be filled up several times with fresh wort, as in other cases, until the fermentation stops, and then the cork and bung put in (the latter very lightly) and left so until it is necessary to hop it down. The writer has refilled a cask in this manner five years successively, and had the ale always superior, and always alike in colour and flavour; in continuing this practice for a long period it is necessary to remove the casks for fear of accidents. The excellence of this ale is, that you can never guess at its age; it drinks always soft and mild, without any resemblance to ale recently brewed, and is equally remote from hardness or acidity"
"The London encyclopaedia Volume 1", 1829, pages 503 - 504.

When was beer at its best? Between one and two years old. Patience is what you needed. Brewed in October one year and ready for christmas the year after. I make that 15 months. I love the suggestion that, if it isn't clear the first christmas to just leave it annother year. Few have such pzatience and self-restariant in the modern world.

Adding hops with the finings is an interesting technique. Presumably the hops are to help clear the beer, rather than for any bittering function. I've seen the adjective "hard" used to describe beer before. I'm still not sure what it means. Could it mean sour? That might explain why adding sugar would help.

The process of  "marrying" sounds very much like a solera system. Fuller's do something similar with Prize Old Ale. They draw off half the beer from the maturation tank for bottling and then fill it up again with fresh beer. They're making a proper Old Ale in a very old-fashioned way. I wonder how many realise that?

"when it has fermented about twelve hours" implies that that the wort being added had only just started fermenting. I can undwerstand why you wouldn't want to seal the barrel until it had finished fermenting. Presumably it was the CO2 produced during fermentation that brought the remnants of the dry hops to the surface to be removed.

I keep coming across all these fascinating techniques. Especially ones concerned with maturation. I'd love to see somehow have a go at them.

18th-century Pale Ale

Pale Ale.  Why the hell does it have that name? The stuff we think of today as Pale Ale, I mean. Because it's a completely different malt liquor from the 18th century version. Not an Ale at all, but a Beer.

Take a look at this:

"In boiling, both time and the curdling or breaking of the wort should be consulted; for if a person was to boil the wort an hour, and then take it out of the copper before it was rightly broke, it would be wrong management, and the drink would not be sine and wholesome; and if it should boil an hour and a half, or two hours, without regarding when its particles are in a right order, then it may be too thick; so that due care must be had to the two extremes, to obtain it in its due order; therefore, in October and keeping beers, an hour and a quarter's good boiling is commonly sufficient to have a thorough cured drink; for generally in that time it will break and boil enough; because in this there is a double security by length of boiling, and a quantity of hops shifted; but in the new way there is only a single one, and that is by a double or treble allowance of fresh hops boiled only half an hour in the wort; and for this practice a reason is assigned, that the hops, being endowed with discutient apertive qualities, will, by then, and their great quantity, supply the defect of under-boiling the wort; and that a farther conveniency is here enjoyed by having only the fine, wholesome, strong, floury, spirituous parts of the hop in the drink, exclusive of the phlegmetic, earthy parts which would be extracted, if the hops were to be boiled above half an hour; and therefore there are many now that are so attached to this new method, that they will not brew ale or beer any other way, thinking, that if hops are boiled above thirty minutes, the wort will exhibit some of their bad qualities.

The allowance of hops for ale or beer cannot be exactly adjusted without coming to particulars, because the proportion should be according to the nature and quality of the malt, the season of the year it is brewed in, and' the length of time it is to be kept.

For strong brown ale brewed in any of the winter months, and boiled an hour, one pound is but barely sufficient for a hogshead, if it be tapped in three weeks or a month.

If for pale ale brewed at that time, and for that age, one pound and a quarter of hops; but if these ales are brewed in any of the summer months, there should be more hops allowed.

For October or March brown beer, a hogshead made from eleven bushels.of malt boiled an hour and a quarter, to be kept nine months, three pounds and a half ought to be boiled in such drink at the least.

For October or March pale beer, made from fourteen bushels, boiled an hour and a quarter, and kept twelve months, six pounds ought to be allowed to a hogshead of such drink, and more if the hops are shifted in two bags, and less time given the wort to boil."
"Encyclopædia Britannica", 1773, page 671.

There are two different points of interest in there. First, the hop additions. The method of tripling the quantity of hops, but only boiling them for half an hour. Unusual method, a single 30-minute addition.

Then there are the hopping rateds for specific types of malt liquor (we're in the 18th century, remember, where "Beer" and "Ale" have a specific meaning.). Strong Brown Ale had only a pound per hogshead, or 0.67 lb per 32 gallon barrel. That's bugger all for something with an OG of at least 1080º.

Pale Ale got a few more hops, 1.25 lbs per hogshead, or 0.84 lbs per barrel. Let's put that into context. In 1839 Reid IPA had 5.88 lbs and Reid BPA 5.61 lbs per barrel. And in 1921, Whitbread PA received 1.81 lbs per barrel and even their X Ale 1.41 lbs. And these were lower in gravity the the 18th-century Pale Ale.

Notice how much more heavily-hopped the Beers are: Brown Beer 2.33 lbs, Pale Beer 4 lbs per barrel.

What am I trying to say? What we understand by Pale Ale is very different from its 18th-century namesake. So different, that it's difficult to believe the one is the ancestor of the other. And I don't think it is. Modern Pale Ale clearly belongs to the Beer family. Now isn't that confusing? If only they'd plumped for Bitter Beer as name, I wouldn't have so many stupid arguments with home brewers.

October Beer 1752

I'm still working away like crazy on the logs I photographed at the archive this week. So quite a short post today. I should have something more substantial tomorrow. About Brown Ale, probably. Or maybe Porter and Stout. Have to see how the fancy takes me.

These instructions on how to brew Wiltshire October beer, in the form of a letter from a reader, appeared in the "Gentleman's Magazine" in 1752.

"Mash twelve bushels of the finest pale malt with water, almost but not quite boiling hot, and let it stand three hours, then begin to draw of the wort, sprinkling on, at the same time, boiling water, till your full quantity of strong wort be run out. Supposing your copper sufficient to to boil a hogshead of water, the first copper serves for the first mash, and in the three hours the mash is standing you may boil two coppers more, the first to be set aside for small beer, the last for sprinkling, to make up the quantity of strong wort, and if a hogshead is not enough for the small beer, you may sprinkle on cold water for the last running. As soon as the third copper is emptied, boil the strong wort (which should be done as quick as possible) with six or seven pounds of the brightest Farnham hops, for half an hour, then strain it immediately into coolers, no more than three inches deep, that it may cool the sooner, which adds greatly to the flavour of the drink, especially if it be kept well stirred in the [illegible line in the original] . . . of the coolers to put it into the working tun, be sure to stir it well to the bottom. When it has cooled to about blood warm, take out five gallons, and put to it a quart of good yeast in a pail, and let it ferment till quite cold, then put it and all the wort into the working tun. In 24 hours it ought to have a good thick head, not a frothy one, as in case of too violent a ferment, which is the most material thing to be avoided, both at the time of brewing and afterwards. The head of the yeast must be taken off, and the wort put into a clean sweet dry cask, which has been well scalded, and it is to be filled up with the same wort two or three times a day, till the ferment is over. Let it stand 3 weeks or a week before you bung it up, only put something over the bung hole to keep rats and mice from pissing or dunging in it, which they are very apt to do, and would infallibly spoil your drink. In a month you may bung it up close, but always let there be a peg near the bung, which should be opened once a week. If you find it still to ferment, leave out the peg, and if that will not stop it, open the bung for a day or two. But what we call the second fermentation, and usually happens in the spring, if the beer was brewed in October, or November before, requires your utmost care. Good beer will always then be foul, after which crisis it never will be so again. You must therefore visit the peg hole often, and give vent if the ferment be too strong, which yet should be held up until the drink falls fine again, but it should be gentle, else the drink will be weak and sour, when it is quite fine, you may drink or bottle it, but the long 'tis kept, the better. It will be in high perfection in two years. I would advise to brew as much the first year as you shall want in two years, for without a good stock you never can be sure to keep your cellar in order; and as some casks will prove better than others, you will by that means have it in your power to cure what proves bad, and make it as good as the best; but this is an art, which I may communicate at some other time.
Yours &c, Sarisburiensis.

P.S. I look upon November to be the best month for brewing keeping beer, the hop and malt being then in their perfection. It will be some advantage to grind your malt a week or ten days before you brew."

I particularly like the bit about covering the bung hole to stop vermin pissing in your beer. Very good advice. Other points of interest are the use of 100% pale malt and the very short boil of just 30 minutes. As well as all the necessary equipment, a good bit of patience was required, if you were to wait the two years until it reached perfection.

I suspect that the name Sarisburiensis means it was some nob (or should that be knob?) who wrote the letter. I'm sure Zythophile will know.

October Beer

Yes, it's 18th century week here at Shut Up About Barclay Perkins. 18th century Britain, to be precise. Today it's the turn of October Beer.

October Beer has a long history, already having been around long before 1700. It's believed to be the direct ancestor of Stock Ales and Barley Wine. Why was it called October Beer? Because it was brewed in October, silly. The best months for brewing were March or October because the ambient temperature was optimal. Though some thought March best, most brewers preferred October because it was followed by 6 months of relatively cool weather, perfect for maturing beer.

"A particular way of Brewing strong October Beer
There was a Man in this Country that brewed for a Gentleman constantly after a Very precise Method, and that was, as soon as he had put over all his first Copper of water and mash'd it some time, he would directly let the Cock run a small stream and presently put some fresh Malt on the former, and mash on the while the Cock was spending, which he would put again over the Malt, as often as his Pail or Hand-bowl was full, and this for an Hour or two together; then he would let it run off intirely, and put it over at once, to run off again as small as a Straw. This was for his October Beer: Then he would put scalding water over the Goods at once, but not mash, and Cap them with more fresh Malt that stood an Hour undisturbed before he would draw it off for Ale; the rest was hot water put over the Goods and mash'd at twice for small Beer: And it was observed that his October Beer was the most famous in the Country, but his Grains good for little, for that he had by this method wash'd out all or most of their goodness; this Man was a long while in Brewing, and once his Beer did not work in the Barrel for a Month in a very hard Frost, yet when the weather broke it recovered and fermented well, and afterwards proved very good Drink, but he seldom work'd, his Beer less than a Week in the Vat, and was never tapp'd under three Years."
"London and Country Brewer" (1736).

Here's a rather more detailed description.

"A Philosophical Account for Brewing strong October Beer. By an Ingenious Hand.
In Brewing, your Malt ought to be sound and good, and after its making to lye two or more Months in the Heap, to come to such a temper, that the Kernel may readily melt in the washing.

The well dressing your Malt, ought to be one chief Care; for unless it be freed from the Tails and Dust, your Drink will not be fine and mellow as when it is clean dressed.

The grinding also must be considered according to the high or low drying of the Malt; for if high dryed, then a gross grinding is best, otherwise a smaller may be done; for the Care in grinding consists herein, lest too much of the Husk being ground small should mix with the Liquor, which makes a gross Feces, and consequently your Drink will have too fierce a Fermentation, and by that means make it Acid, or that we call Stale.

When your Malt is ground, let it stand in Sacks twenty-four Hours at least, to the end that the Heat in grinding may be allayed, and 'tis conceived by its so standing that the Kernel will dissolve the better.

The measure and quantity we allow of Hops and Malt, is five Quarter of Malt to three Hogsheads of Beer, and eighteen Pounds of Hops at least to that Quantity of Malt, and if Malt be pale dryed, then add three or four Pounds of Hops more.

The Choice of Liquor for Brewing is of considerable advantage in making good Drink, the softest and cleanest water is to be prererr'd, your harsh water is not to be made use of.

You are to boil your first Liquor, adding a Handful or two of Hops to it, then before you strike it over to your Goods or Malt, cool in as much Liquor, as will bring it to a temper not to scald the Malt, for it is a fault not to take the Liquor as high as possible but not to scald. The next Liquors do the same.

And indeed all your Liquors ought to be taken as high as may be, that is not to scald.

When you let your Wort from your Malt into the Underback, put to it a Handful or two of Hops, 'twill preserve it from that accident which Brewers call Blinking or Foxing.

In boiling your Worts, the first Wort boil high or quick; for the quicker the first Wort is boiled, the better it is.

The second boil more than the first, and the third or last more than the second.

In cooling lay your Worts thin, and let each be well cooled, and Care must be taken in letting them down into the Tun, that you do it leisurely, to the end that as little of the Feces or Sediment which causes the Fermentation to be fierce or mild, for Note, there is in all fermented Liquors, Salt and Sulphur, and to keep these two Bodies in a due Proportion, that the Salt does not exalt itself above the Sulphur, consists a great part of the Art in Brewing.

When your Wort is first let into your Tun, put but a little Yeast to it, and let it work by degrees quietly, and if you find it works but moderate, whip in the Yeast two or three times or more, till you find your Drink well fermented, for without a full opening of the Body by fermentation, it will not be perfect fine, nor will it drink clean and light.

When you cleanse, do it by a Cock from your Tun, placed six Inches from the Bottom, to the end that most of the Sediment may be left behind, which may be thrown on your Malt to mend your Small Beer.

When your Drink is Tunn'd, fill your Vessel full, let it work at the Bung-hole, and have a reserve in a small Cask to fill it up, and don't put any of the Drink which will be under the Yeast after it is work'd over into your Vessels, but put it by itself in another Cask, for it will not be so good as your other in the Cask.

This done, you must wait for the finishing of the fermentation, then stop it close, and let it stand till the Spring, for Brewing ought to be done in the Month of October, that it may have time to settle and digest all the Winter Season.

In the Spring you must unstop your Vent-hole and thereby see whether your Drink doth ferment or not, for as soon as the warm Weather comes, your Drink will have another fermentation, which when it is over, let it be again well stopped and stand till September or longer, and then Peg it; and if you find it pretty fine, the Hop well rotted and of a good pleasant taste for drinking.

Then and not before draw out a Gallon of it, put to it two Ounces of Ising-glass cut small and well beaten to melt, stirring it often and whip it with a Wisk till the Ising-glass be melted, then strain it and put it into your Vessel, stirring it well together, stop the Bung slightly, for this will cause a new and small fermentation, when that is over stop it close, leaving only a Vent-hole a little stopp'd, let it stand, and in ten Days or a little more, it will be transparently fine, and you may drink of it out of the Vessel till two parts in three be drawn, then Bottle the rest, which will in a little time come to drink very well. If your Drink in September be well condition'd for taste, but not fine, and you desire to drink it presently, rack it before you put your Ising-glass to it, and then it will fine the better and drink the cleaner.

To make Drink fine quickly, I have been told that by separating the Liquor from the Feces, when the Wort is let out of the Tun into the Underback, which may be done in this manner, when you let your Wort into your Underback out of your Tun, catch the Wort in some Tub so long, and so often as you find it run foul, put that so catched on the Malt again, and do so till the Wort run clear into the Underback. This is to me a very good way (where it may be done) for 'tis the Feces which causes the fierce and violent fermentation, and to hinder that in some measure is the way to have fine Drink: Note that the finer you make your Wort, the sooner your Drink will be fine, for I have heard that some Curious in Brewing have caused Flannels to be so placed, that all the Wort may run thro' one or more of them into the Tun before working, by which means the Drink was made very fine and well tasted."
"London and Country Brewer" (1736).

Such beers were incredibly strong, with starting gravities over 1100 and an ABV of somewhere around 10%. They were more often brewed in private households than in commercial breweries. Which, given the length of time they took to make, I suppose isn't surprising.

Early 18th century British beer styles

I told you I was starting work on the book. The beginning seemed like a logical place to start. Here, in what will probably be the first in a long series of posts, is an extract from a very rough draught of Chapter One: 1700-1750 Stitch, Brown Beer and Pale Ale.


Early 18th century British styles

At the start of the 18th century, increased taxes on malt and hops to finance war with France, induced brewers to move to brewing more beer. Their reasoning was simple: the tax on malt was more than that on hops. Ale used more of the former, beer more of the latter.

"However, at last, it was realised that the duty on malt surpassed by much the duty on hops, from whence the Brewers endeavoured at a liquor wherein more of these last should be used. Thus the drinking of beer came to be encouraged in preference to ale. This beer, when new, was sold for £1/2/- per barrel, but the people not easily weaned from their wonted sweet heavy drink, in general used ale mixed with beer, which they purchased from the Ale draper at twopence halfpenny, and twopence three farthings per quart."
Obadiah Poundage, 1760.

Though, as the Poundage states, drinkers weren't so easily persuaded to change their habits.

Beer and Ale were both brewed at a wide range of strengths. Though the weakest were usually beers, as in Small Beer. Because of the low hopping rate, low-gravity Ales didn't keep well. The very strongest malt liquors, meant to be aged for a year or more, were also Beers. With these two exceptions, there were Ale and Beer equivalents at all strengths and using all three base malts.

There were four factors that determined style: base malt, strength, hopping rate and age when sold. For example, a Mild Stout Brown Beer, was a heavily hopped, strong Beer, brewed from brown malt, that was sold unaged.

Usually just a single type of malt was used. But there were evidently a few exceptions to this:

"At Bridport in Dorsetshire, I knew an Inn-keeper use half Pale and half Brown Malt for Brewing his Butt-beers, that, proved to my Palate the best I ever drank on the Road, which I think may be accounted for, in that the Pale being the slackest, and the Brown the hardest dryed, must produce a mellow good Drink by the help of a requisite Age, that will reduce those extreams to a proper Quality."
"London and Country Brewer", 1736.

You will note that the differentiation between beer and ale had remained unchanged since the introduction of hops in the 16th century. Whilst ales had also adopted the use of hops, the quantity used was so much smaller as to make them readily distiguishable from heavily-hopped
beers. In general, beers were hopped at about 4 times the rate of the corresponding Ale.

"The Proportion of Hops may be half a Pound to an Hogshead of Strong Ale; one Pound to an Hogshead of ordinary Strong Beer to be soon Drank out: And two Pounds to an Hogshead of March or October Beer:"
"Directions for Brewing Malt Liquors" (1700)

Here's an overview of the hopping rates for different styles of beer in the early 18th century:


It's clear that the Pale Ale described here has little in Common with that of the 19th century. The description of brewing "Stock Beer" in "The Brewer" (p.37) is very similar to that of October or March Pale Beer in "London & Country Brewer".



Beer
heavily-hopped. The two main subtypes were:

• Keeping Beer - strong and inteded to be kept for long periods (9-12 months). Different types of keeping beer were:


• March Beer - a beer brewed at the end of the best brewing season
• October Beer - a beer brewed at the beginning of the best brewing season
• Amber Keeping Beer - brewed from amber malt
• Butt Beer - beer aged in large barrels or butts. Porter and stout were brown butt beers.


• Small Beer - a low-alcohol drink for immediate consumption

Ale
lightly-hopped. It varied in strength, but was always weaker than the strongest Keeping Beers. Ales were usually drunk as soon as they had cleared, after about 3 or 4 weeks in the cask. The main subdivision was on the colour of the malt used:

• Brown Ale - brown malt
  
  • Common Brown Ale
  • Strong Brown Ale (Stitch)
• Amber Ale - amber malt
• Pale Ale - pale malt

Style overview


Notes:

• Yield per bushel my estimate.
• Assumes making Small Beer with the final runnings of strong malt liquors.
• Final gravities are based on Richardson's readings from the 1770's.

The strongest and most expensive malt liquors were March or October Beer. They were brewed from a variety of malts, either pale, amber or brown. There was some disagreement as to which was the better month for brewing:

"It is pretended that March is the best Month for Brewing, and the Water then better than in October: But I allways found that the October Beer, having so many cold Months to digest in, proves the better Drink by much; and requires not such watching and tending as the March Beer does, in opening and stopping the Vent hole on every change of Weather."
"Directions for Brewing Malt Liquors" (1700)

There were many different styles brewed from brown malt. Starting Butt-Beer is what would later come to be known as Porter. Stout Butt-Beer became Brown Stout. As Porter became all the rage, Brown Ales lost popularity and by the end of the 18th century had disappeared. The name was not revived until a century later, when it was used to describe a very drink. Even in 1736, proto-Porter was a big success:

"common Butt-beer is at this time in greater Reputation than ever in London, and the Home-brew'd Drinks out of Credit"
"London and Country Brewer", 1736.

Intire Small Beer was not party-gyled with a stronger malt liquor, but brewed from its own mash. It was a new method of producing a higher-quality type of Small Beer. There were versions made from all three base malts.