Let's Brew Wednesday - 1921 Barclay Perkins PA

A real novelty this week: a Let's Brew Wednesday post that appears on Wednesday. Will wonders never cease?

You've got to love Barclay Perkins. (Really, you've got to. Otherwise you aren't allowed to read this blog.) The flexibility of their setup meant they could churn out way more different brews than other London brewers. Even after WW I they continued to brew a surprising number of high-gravity beers. Many were just for export. And the quantity brewed tiny, when compared to their bread-and-butter beers like X and XLK.

Today's beer is one of these stronger brews. A PA with a gravity the same as in 1914. Though it doesn't specifically say so on the log, I suspect it was intended for export. There's another phenomenon for you. One that started in the 1920's. Higher-strength version of beers for export. Usually at the pre-war strength. While special export versions were brewed before WW I, they weren't any stronger than domestic versions. Perhaps slightly better-quality ingredients were employed and the hopping rate may have been higher, but they weren't significantly stronger.

Why are we featuring this beer? Because the log contains details of the hop additions (which I've already posted about). A detail I'd managed to miss until now. The recipe itself is pretty simple. Californian 6-row pale malt, English pale ale malt, no. 1 invert sugar and that's it. Plus the hops, of course. The use Saaz is, perhaps, a little surprising. Especially as they aren't used for aroma.

That's my bollocks done. Now time for Kristen's bit . . . . .

Barclay Perkins - 1921 - PA
General info: One of many pale ale-type beers that BP made during this time. The log is chock full of information. Maltose concentration of the wort, actually hopping by time and hop variety, etc etc. This one is very simple. All pale malts with 10% of the palest invert sugar. This is no where near as dark tasting as it looks. Lots of great hops supported by a good malt backbone.
Beer Specifics			Recipe by percentages
Gravity (OG)	1.059		29.8% American 6-row
Gravity (FG)	1.015		59.6% English pale malt
ABV	5.92%		9.9% Invert No1 sugar
Apparent attenuation	74.76%		0.6% Caramel colorant
Real attenuation	61.24%
IBU	44.6		Mash	150min@148°F		1.46qt/lb
SRM	14			150min@64.4°C		3.05L/kg
EBC	28.0
			Boil	150 min
	Homebrew @ 70%				Craft @ 80%
Grist	5gal		19L		10bbl		10hl
American 6-row	3.33	lb	1.518	kg	180.83	lb	69.87	kg
English pale malt	6.67	lb	3.035	kg	361.67	lb	139.74	kg
Invert No1 sugar	1.11	lb	0.506	kg	60.28	lb	23.29	kg
Caramel colorant	0.07	lb	0.030	kg	3.63	lb	1.40	kg
					606.41059
Hops
Goldings 4.5% 150min	0.93	oz	26.3	g	57.46	oz	1.388	kg
Saaz 3.75% 90min	1.11	oz	31.5	g	68.96	oz	1.666	kg
Goldings 4.5% 30min	0.93	oz	26.3	g	57.46	oz	1.388	kg
Goldings 4.5% dry hop	0.41	oz	11.6	g	25.42	oz	0.614	kg
Fermentation	65°F /18.3°C
Yeast	Manchester ale yeast
	1275 Thames Valley Ale Yeast  - WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast
Tasting Notes: Grainy and husky. A good touch of biscuity malt. Candied apples and some pear drops. A little bit of alcohol in the nose and mouth. Lots of orangey hop aroma and a good bit of tannic drying on the finish. A great pale ale that at 6% can sneak up on you.

Ingredients and technique

Grist & such
Very simple recipe. 30% California 6-row. 60% English pale malt. 10% No1 Invert. That little sugar the invert is not a big deal. Any white sugar would do well. Logs say  thisbeer 28EBC. BP is notorious with the huge listed and unlisted use of caramel color. This is another instance. The beer would be nearly twice as light without the doctorant. Use it or don’t. It is rather interesting, though, to have a dark beer without the caramel flavors.

Hops
Lots of great hop character or this pale ale. Nearly all Kentish hops with a chunk of Saaz chucked in. The odd thing is that the Saaz were added with about 90min left in the boil. Seems kind of a waste as they were decidedly more expensive that the Kentish varieties. When going back through the other BP logs of this time period it seems that had quite a good bit of Saaz, a glut if you will. That’s the only thing that explains their use at the time indicated. The last addition is at 30min which wouldn’t have left much flavor about. No worries as there was a good dose of dry hopping with more of the Kentish Goldings-type hops lending a good amount of hop aroma.

Mash & Boil
An interesting mash that has a single rest of about 2.5 hours but has a little additional rest for  30min at a little higher temp. The single temp is fine. I don’t think 150 min’s is necessary in the least. 90min is more than appropriate.

Fermentation, Conditioning & Serving
The fermentation wasn’t allowed to get very  warm. Moderate ale temperatures. This would have ensured the yeast didn’t spew to much fruit nor to much spice or alcohol. Being a little higher gravity conditioning in the cask for about 3 weeks would do well. With the good dose of hops a little higher carbonation at about 2.2 vol of CO2 would brighten up the nose.

Gyling & Blending
A very simple gyle that isn’t necessary here. A simple straight beer would do well.