Let's kick off with X Ale. The most popular beer of the day and a good barometer of the war's impact on beer and drinkers.
| Courage X Ale 1914 - 1918 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | Year | Beer | Style | OG | FG | ABV | App. Attenuation | lbs hops/ qtr | hops lb/brl | boil time (hours) | boil time (hours) | boil time (hours) | Pitch temp | dry hops (oz / barrel) | pale malt | black malt | crystal malt | no. 3 sugar | black invert | glucose | other sugar | flaked maize | primings | total |
| 17th Oct | 1914 | X | Mild | 1054.57 | 1019.39 | 4.65 | 64.47% | 5.00 | 1.05 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 60º | 0.00 | 82.78% | 6.11% | 11.11% | 100.00% | ||||||
| 8th Mar | 1915 | X | Mild | 1049.86 | 1018.28 | 4.18 | 63.33% | 4.00 | 0.78 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 60º | 0.00 | 82.78% | 6.11% | 11.11% | 100.00% | ||||||
| 23rd Sep | 1915 | X | Mild | 1048.20 | 1011.08 | 4.91 | 77.01% | 4.96 | 0.96 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 64º | 0.00 | 82.39% | 6.34% | 11.27% | 100.00% | ||||||
| 11th Oct | 1916 | X | Mild | 1048.20 | 1007.20 | 5.42 | 85.06% | 5.00 | 0.97 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 60º | 0.00 | 82.78% | 6.11% | 11.11% | 100.00% | ||||||
| 9th May | 1916 | X | Mild | 1044.87 | 1006.93 | 5.02 | 84.57% | 6.51 | 1.18 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 60º | 0.00 | 76.92% | 5.77% | 12.82% | 4.49% | 100.00% | |||||
| 2nd Jan | 1917 | X | Mild | 1045.71 | 1009.97 | 4.73 | 78.18% | 3.88 | 0.76 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 60º | 0.00 | 66.12% | 8.03% | 14.01% | 6.18% | 5.66% | 100.00% | ||||
| 5th Jan | 1917 | X | Mild | 1045.71 | 1009.42 | 4.80 | 79.39% | 3.85 | 0.76 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 60º | 0.00 | 66.04% | 8.02% | 13.84% | 6.13% | 5.97% | 100.00% | ||||
| 24th Apr | 1917 | X | Mild | 1045.71 | 1008.03 | 4.98 | 82.42% | 4.81 | 0.95 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 60º | 0.00 | 52.92% | 6.38% | 30.61% | 5.10% | 4.99% | 100.00% | ||||
| 8th Jun | 1917 | X | Mild | 1041.55 | 1007.20 | 4.54 | 82.67% | 8.72 | 1.16 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 60º | 0.00 | 70.27% | 10.81% | 14.41% | 4.50% | 100.00% | |||||
| 19th Oct | 1917 | X | Mild | 1034.63 | 1006.37 | 3.74 | 81.60% | 7.57 | 1.13 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 59º | 0.00 | 70.59% | 1.53% | 12.28% | 6.14% | 2.05% | 7.42% | 100.00% | |||
| 9th Nov | 1917 | X | Mild | 1034.63 | 1008.03 | 3.52 | 76.80% | 7.57 | 1.14 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 59º | 0.00 | 69.17% | 1.50% | 12.03% | 8.02% | 2.01% | 7.27% | 100.00% | |||
| 18th Jan | 1918 | X | Mild | 1034.63 | 1006.93 | 3.66 | 80.00% | 7.38 | 1.13 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 61º | 0.00 | 70.59% | 1.60% | 12.03% | 8.56% | 7.22% | 100.00% | ||||
| 20th Apr | 1918 | X | Mild | 1023.82 | 1004.43 | 2.57 | 81.40% | 9.41 | 1.01 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 61º | 0.00 | 64.60% | 2.65% | 16.81% | 7.08% | 8.85% | 100.00% | ||||
| 19th Jul | 1918 | X | Mild | 1022.16 | 1004.43 | 2.35 | 80.00% | 10.48 | 1.00 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 61º | 0.00 | 67.05% | 3.44% | 16.33% | 7.45% | 5.73% | 100.00% | ||||
| 19th Nov | 1918 | X | Mild | 1021.05 | 1003.88 | 2.27 | 81.58% | 10.89 | 1.01 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1 | 62º | 0.00 | 60.20% | 5.02% | 18.06% | 10.03% | 6.69% | 100.00% | ||||
| Sources: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Documents held in the Courage Archives at the London Metropolitan Archives: ACC/2305/08/247, ACC/2305/08/248, ACC/2305/08/249, ACC/2305/08/250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
You'll see how the gravity dropped rapidly after 1917. Interestingly, the grist also became more complex. Were they trying to compensate for the reduction in gravity? Or were they just using whatever ingredients they could get? Or a combination of the two.
The approach of Courage contrasts with that of Whitbread. Courage stuck with a single type of Mild, one which eventually was pretty weak. Whitbread brewed 3 different strengths of Mild, with OG's of: 1038.1, 1023.7 and 1011.4. Barclay Perkins were more like Courage. By early 1918 they were brewing just one Mild, Ale 4d, with a gravity of 1025.5.
Back to hop addition tomorrow. I think. Could be more Courage in WW I. It all depends on my mood.
As a homebrewer I find these OG's hard to understand. Why even bother putting the costs of manufacturing into such a weak product. They could have quadrupled the OG to an outrageous 1.045, diluted it down and taken off for a 5 day weekend. I don't think the flavor would have dropped off much more than it had.
ReplyDeleteFirst Stater, it's very simple: because they were told to brew to these strengths by the government.
ReplyDeleteThis was the dilemma: only a third of the pre-war materials were available for brewing. Either they could have brewed a third of the amount of beer - which would have pissed off all the munitions workers - or drastically cut gravities.