Medellin September 2026

 A sort video report of my trip to Medellin last week. Very eventful. As you'll soon discover.

 

Breakfasts in Medellin

Still feeling a bit knacked from my trip. So a cheating picture post today.

I know how fascinated you all are about my breakfasts. And I don't like to disappoint. Not a complete set of breakfasts, for reasons you'll discover later.

Medellin was cooler than I expected  Which was just as well, given the lack of air-conditioning. A couple of small problems on the trip. But at least I din't break any bones.

 Note the hard-fried egg, typical of Colombia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Youngs PA hops 1939 - 1945

And what about hops? Well, unsurprisingly, they were all English. All of them. All through the war. With no hops being imported while the conflict was on, the only foreign hops they could have used were ones they already had in stock.

Most of the time, PA contained two types of hops. Though, occasionally, there was only one. The majority of them were from Kent, either simply Kent, East Kent or Mid-Kent. With a few from Worcester and Sussex.

There’s no mention of hop varieties, other than in the case of “BG”. Which, I assume, stands for Brewers Gold.

In a majority of cases, the hops were from the most recent season. Though a few were from a year earlier. And the older ones had usually been cold stored (as indicated by CS). 

Youngs PA hops 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	hop 1	hop 2
27th Jul	1939	Kent 1938 CS	Kent 1938
22nd May	1940	Worcs 1939	Kent 1938
1st May	1941	Sussex 1940	EK 1940 CS
3rd Jul	1941	Worcs 1940	EK 1940
8th Jul	1941	Worcs 1940	EK 1940
23rd Oct	1941	MK 1939 CS	MK 1941
7th May	1942	Worcs 1941
9th Jul	1942	Worcs 1941	EK 1941
20th Oct	1942	Kent 1941
30th Apr	1943	Kent 1942	EK 1942
20th Jul	1943	Wor. 1942	MK "BG" 1942
1st May	1944	MK 1942	MK "BG" 1943
8th May	1944	Kent 1942	MK "BG" 1943
19th Oct	1944	Kent 1943	MK "BG" 1943
8th May	1945	Kent 1943	Sussex 1944
3rd Jul	1945	Kent 1944	MK "BG" 1944
12th Jul	1945	Kent 1945	MK 1944
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 - 1909 Maclay OMS 63/-

As one of the first Oat Stouts, this is an incredibly important beer. One which inspired a whole generation of beers. This should be interesting.

At just 1062º, it’s not exactly the mightiest of Stouts. It just about scrapes in strong enough for a Single Stout. A pretty poor degree of attenuation – a recurring theme in Scottish Stouts – leaves it only a shade over 5% ABV. Or about the same as a London Porter.

As this was parti-gyled with the DBS which we’ve just seen, I have little to say about the recipe. Other than that, at 20%, the oat content is pretty high. At most brewers, who, admittedly, used flaked rather than malted oats, it was under 5%. Sometimes, not much more than 1%. Purely token amounts. Whereas the quantity of oats in play here would have definitely impacted the character of the finished beer.

The hops are the same as all the other beers. Hallertau from the 1905, Hallertau and 1907 vintages; Californian from 1907, Farnham from 1908 and Worcester from 1905. 

1909 Maclay OMS 63/-
pale malt	7.50 lb	53.10%
black malt	1.50 lb	10.62%
amber malt	0.50 lb	3.54%
malted oats	3.00 lb	21.24%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.25 lb	8.85%
caramel	0.38 lb	2.65%
linseed	0.50 oz
liquorice	0.25 oz
Cluster 120 min	1.00 oz
Hallertau 60 min	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 min	2.00 oz
OG	1062
FG	1024
ABV	5.03
Apparent attenuation	61.29%
IBU	52
SRM	60
Mash at	144º F
after underlet	154º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60.75º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 

Youngs PA adjuncts and sugars 1939 - 1945

Now it’s time for the rest of the ingredients. Adjuncts and sugars first.

Before late 1941, there were no adjuncts.

Pre-war, there were no adjuncts in in the Pale Ale. The only adjunct Youngs employed was flaked oats in their Stout and Porter. That all changed in the war, when brewers were forced to use a percentage of flaked barley in their beers.

Kicking off in 1941, when the percentage was just under 5%. In 1942, this increased to 10%, around where it stayed, with a little variation, until the last year of the war when it jumped up to around 15%.

Sugar is a completely different matter. As every other English brewer, Youngs used sugar. And quite a bit of it in their Pale Ale. When the unpleasantness tarted, 14% of the grist was sugar. Which is pretty close to the UK average of 15%. 

In 1941, the sugar content dropped right down to 8.5%. Not really surprising as sugar was needed for purposes other than brewing. And it stayed at that reduced level right up until the last year of the war, when it returned to something like pre-war levels. Presumably because the supply of sugar had improved.

Very constant is the quantity of malt extract used. Around 3%. Why were they using malt extract? For the enzymes. UK brewers were paranoid about not having enough enzymes and were always looking for ways to top them up. Diastatic malt extract being a pretty obvious choice. One shared by quite a few other brewers. Youngs were still using malt extract in the 1970s.

Malt extract aside, there’s only really one type of sugar used: No. 1 invert. Which is exactly what you would expect in a top-of-the-range Pale Ale. The one exception being in May 1945 when there was a small amount of No. 3. Why? No fucking idea, to be honest. Maybe they were a little short of No. 1. 

Youngs PA adjuncts and sugars 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	flaked barley	malt extract	no. 1 sugar	no. 3 sugar	total sugar
27th Jul	1939		2.86%	11.43%		14.29%
22nd May	1940		2.86%	11.43%		14.29%
1st May	1941		2.84%	5.67%		8.51%
3rd Jul	1941		2.44%	6.10%		8.54%
8th Jul	1941		2.44%	6.10%		8.54%
23rd Oct	1941	4.23%	2.11%	7.04%		9.15%
7th May	1942	6.29%	2.80%	6.99%		9.79%
9th Jul	1942	4.20%	2.80%	6.99%		9.79%
20th Oct	1942	10.11%	3.37%	5.62%		8.99%
30th Apr	1943	13.33%	3.33%	6.67%		10.00%
20th Jul	1943	12.59%	2.80%	6.99%		9.79%
1st May	1944	10.00%	3.33%	6.67%		10.00%
8th May	1944	10.00%	3.33%	6.67%		10.00%
19th Oct	1944	10.49%	2.80%	6.99%		9.79%
8th May	1945	14.37%	2.99%	8.38%	2.40%	13.77%
3rd Jul	1945	17.14%	2.86%	11.43%		14.29%
12th Jul	1945	14.37%	2.99%	10.78%		13.77%
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 malts 1939 - 1945

And how did the recipe change over the war years? Well, let’s take a look. Starting with the malts.

In total, four malts were employed over the wartime years. But only one appeared in every iteration: PA malt. Though there were only a couple of times that it was the only malt.

The second most common malt is, a bit surprisingly, mild malt. I assume this was used because of supply difficulties. And mild malt happened to be what they had plenty of.

Other than in 1941, the grists were all over the place. With several different combinations of PA, mild and enzymic malt. It’s all very chaotic and a sign that they were having to make do with the malts that they could get hold of.

I’m guessing that, had it been available, they would have used enzymic malt all through the war. The patchy way it was used implies that the supply was somewhat irregular.

The percentage of malt is also all over the place. Starting the war at 86% and ending it at 63%. But, between those, it goes up and down quite a bit. Peaking at 91% in 1941. 

Youngs PA malts 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	pale malt	PA malt	mild malt	enzymic malt	total malt
27th Jul	1939	32.14%	50.36%		3.21%	85.71%
22nd May	1940	28.93%	53.57%		3.21%	85.71%
1st May	1941		88.30%		3.19%	91.49%
3rd Jul	1941		88.72%		2.74%	91.46%
8th Jul	1941		88.72%		2.74%	91.46%
23rd Oct	1941		36.97%	46.48%	3.17%	86.62%
7th May	1942	27.27%	56.64%			83.92%
9th Jul	1942		51.40%	31.47%	3.15%	86.01%
20th Oct	1942		33.71%	47.19%		80.90%
30th Apr	1943		76.67%			76.67%
20th Jul	1943		74.48%		3.15%	77.62%
1st May	1944		63.33%	16.67%		80.00%
8th May	1944		80.00%			80.00%
19th Oct	1944		41.96%	37.76%		79.72%
8th May	1945		53.89%	17.96%		71.86%
3rd Jul	1945		45.71%	22.86%		68.57%
12th Jul	1945		62.87%			62.87%
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 - 1909 Maclay DBS 54/-

Now, Scottish Stouts could be pretty weird. Very weird, in fact. I’m looking at you William Younger, with your barely fermented spent hop Stouts.

This Stout is unusual for a couple of reasons. For a start, it’s incredibly weak from something claiming to be a Double Stout. Which I would expect to be around 1070º. The gravity here of just 1044º is pretty pathetic. That’s weak, even for a Porter. And, if it really wholesaled for 54/- a hogshead, that implies a gravity of at least 1050º.

The second area of oddness is in the grist. Which has 20% malted oats. For a beer that isn’t even billing itself as an Oat Stout. There’s a simple explanation for that: it was parti-gyled with their Oat Malt Stout.

In addition to pale and oat malt, there’s also black and amber malt. Rather a lot of black malt. Which is why the colour is so dark.

Lots of hops again. That seems to have been the Maclay way. Hallertau from the 1905, Hallertau and 1907 harvests; Californian from 1907, Farnham from 1908 and Worcester from 1905. 

 

1909 Maclay DBS 54/-
pale malt	5.25 lb	53.16%
black malt	1.00 lb	10.13%
amber malt	0.375 lb	3.80%
malted oats	2.00 lb	20.25%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.00 lb	10.13%
caramel	0.25 lb	2.53%
linseed	0.66 oz
liquorice	0.33 oz
Cluster 120 min	0.75 oz
Hallertau 60 min	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 min	1.50 oz
OG	1044
FG	1013
ABV	4.10
Apparent attenuation	70.45%
IBU	55
SRM	47
Mash at	144º F
after underlet	154º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60.75º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

Youngs Pale Ale 1939 – 1945

In order to give some idea of what was going on in UK brewing during WW II, we'll take a look at a single beer, Youngs Pale Ale. And see what happened to it between 1939 and 1945.

In a way, it is totally typical of what went on in the war. Because the drop in gravity - just 5º over the whole period - is quite a bit less than usual. Though the gravity did fall lower: to 1039.7º in 1942. But, rather oddly, increased again early in 1943 to 1042.5º. And stayed at that level for the remainder of the war.

To make changes easier to spot, I’ve highlighted them in red

There are relatively few changes in gravity. But loads in the hopping rate. Which kicked off the war at 8 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. Dropping to 7 lbs in May 1940, then just over 5 lbs in May 1941 and 4.75 lbs in July of the same year. That’s quite a fall.

Though the rate did quickly bounce back to 5 lbs per quarter. Over the next couple of years the rate varied between 4.5 lbs and 6 lbs per quarter. Which I think is a reflection of variations in the supply of hops.

Youngs PA 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
27th Jul	1939	1047.6	1013.3	4.54	72.09%	7.98	1.50
22nd May	1940	1047.0	1013.3	4.46	71.71%	7.00	1.29
1st May	1941	1043.0	1010.5	4.30	75.52%	5.14	0.83
3rd Jul	1941	1043.0	1008.3	4.59	80.67%	4.79	0.80
8th Jul	1941	1043.0	1010.0	4.37	76.81%	5.04	0.85
23rd Oct	1941	1042.4	1013.9	3.78	67.33%	5.09	0.85
7th May	1942	1040.0	1010.5	3.90	73.69%	4.48	0.72
9th Jul	1942	1039.7	1012.2	3.64	69.30%	5.46	0.87
20th Oct	1942	1039.9	1011.1	3.81	72.23%	4.52	0.73
30th Apr	1943	1042.5	1014.4	3.72	66.11%	4.89	0.82
20th Jul	1943	1042.3	1011.1	4.13	73.81%	5.46	0.95
1st May	1944	1042.5	1011.1	4.16	73.93%	5.56	0.93
8th May	1944	1042.7	1011.1	4.18	74.05%	6.00	0.99
19th Oct	1944	1042.8	1011.1	4.20	74.11%	5.46	0.93
8th May	1945	1042.8	1008.9	4.49	79.29%	5.41	0.94
3rd Jul	1945	1042.5	1011.1	4.16	73.93%	4.85	0.87
12th Jul	1945	1042.8	1011.1	4.20	74.11%	4.94	0.86
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 boiling and fermentation in 1943

We’ll roll right along with a couple of processes.

Nothing much happening with the boil. Exactly the same as in 1940. Pretty boring, that.

The pitching and maximum fermentation temperatures are just about exactly the same as in 1940. Pitched at 58º F or 59º F and peaking in the high 60sº F. I suppose that they had no reason to change, so why would they?

Slightly longer fermentation times or around a day are a bit unexpected. I do need to point out here that they were quite variable, from five to nine days. When it comes to the fermentation times, the examples I have taken are pretty random. Well, totally random, really.

That's me done with Young's beers in 1943. Where should I go next? 1944 or straight to 1945? Or should I go backwards to 1941 0r 1942? I'll have to have a think. 

Youngs boiling and fermentation in 1943
Beer	Style	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. ferment-ation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)	dropped after (hours)
A	Mild	1.75	1.75	59º F	64.5º F	8
X	Mild	2	2	58º F	67º F	8	38
PAB	Pale Ale	2	2	59º F	66.5º F	7
PA	Pale Ale	2	2	58º F	70.75º F	7	37
XXX	Strong Ale	2	2	58º F	67.75º F	6
	Average	1.95	1.95	58.40º F	67.30º F	7.2	37.5
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/12.

 

Draught Bass Pale Ale 1869 - 1993

I'm back with Draught Bass. This time looking at what it was like for more than a century.

Fortunately, I have plenty analyses of the beer. Thanks to its enormous popularity in the past. At the end of the 19th century, Bass in Burton was one of the largest breweries in the world. And Pale Ale was one of its main products. One of the classic IPAs, though Bass themselves never called it that. For them, it was simply Pale Ale.

We're only looking here at the draught version. Which was principally sold in the UK. With exports mostly in the form of the bottled version. Bass, along with Guinness, was one of the few beers which was sold in the tied houses of other brewers. And, unlike Guinness, it wasn't only in bottled form. The draught version appearing in some "foreign" tied houses.

Before WW I, Draught Bass had the classic Burton Pale Ale gravity of around 1065º. With a very high degree of attenuation leaving it getting on for 7% ABV. Why was the rate of attenuation so high? Because it was a Stock Pale Ale with a long secondary Brettanomyces fermentation.

After WW I, the gravity fell to around 1055º. Which is totally predictable. 1055º being the strongest draught beer got during the interwar period, Falling in with the gravity bands of the last set of price controls in the aftermath of WW I. It was the typical gravity of beers retailing for 8d per pint, which, as you can see, was the case here..

During WW II, the gravity held up surprisingly well, still being 1048 and over 5% ABV in 1944. During the 1950s, it stabilised at around 1045º. Where it remained, other than briefly rising to 1050º in 1965.

I'm quite surprised how much the colour jumped around. And how pale the colour sometimes was. 20 and below is definitely on the pale side for a Bitter. 

Draught Bass Pale Ale 1869 - 1993
Year	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Acidity	colour
1869		1065.9	1010.2	7.33	84.50%	0.17
1869	4	1067.0	1013.2	6.81	80.31%	0.28
1901		1064.0	1013.4	6.48	78.03%	0.144
1927		1055.5
1932		1054.7	1012	5.56	78.06%	0.05
1937	8	1055.0
1940	9	1051.6
1943	14	1047.6	1008.9	5.04	81.30%	0.08	26
1944	16	1048.1	1008.2	5.20	82.95%	0.12	21
1950	18	1049.7					23
1951	19	1049.9	1008.8	5.36	82.36%	0.07	26
1952	19	1046.4					24
1953	19	1044.7					26
1954	19	1046	1008.7	4.86	81.09%	0.04	20
1957	21	1044.6	1005.4	5.12	87.89%	0.04	21
1960	21	1044	1009.8	4.45	77.73%	0.04	19
1965		1050.5	1009.4	5.36	81.39%	0.04	16
1977		1044
1982		1044
1989		1044	1010.1	4.40	77.05%
1993		1043	1009.2	4.40	78.60%		19
Sources:
British Medical Journal August 28th 1869, page 245
Wahl & Henius, pages 823-830
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.
Good Beer Guide 1978
Good Beer Guide1983
Good Beer Guide 1990
1993 Real Ale Drinker's Almanac