Mild Ales. That's what we've got today. Here you go:
Courage X Ales 1858-1867 | |||||||||||
Date | Year | Beer | Style | OG | lbs hops/ qtr | hops lb/brl | pale malt | brown malt | PA malt | sugar | total |
5th Jan | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1064.82 | 9.00 | 2.43 | 100.00% | 100.00% | |||
11th Jan | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1064.82 | 9.00 | 2.47 | 100.00% | 100.00% | |||
29th Jan | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1064.82 | 9.00 | 2.63 | 100.00% | 100.00% | |||
5th Feb | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1064.82 | 9.00 | 2.74 | 21.43% | 78.57% | 100.00% | ||
10th Feb | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1065.37 | 9.00 | 2.57 | 50.00% | 50.00% | 100.00% | ||
19th Feb | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1064.82 | 9.00 | 2.71 | 50.00% | 50.00% | 100.00% | ||
30th June | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1064.82 | 11.00 | 3.26 | 42.86% | 57.14% | 100.00% | ||
14th July | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1065.10 | 11.00 | 3.24 | 42.86% | 57.14% | 100.00% | ||
21st July | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1065.10 | 11.00 | 3.32 | 43.75% | 56.25% | 100.00% | ||
27th July | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1064.82 | 11.00 | 3.27 | 41.18% | 58.82% | 100.00% | ||
3rd Aug | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1064.82 | 11.00 | 3.27 | 41.18% | 58.82% | 100.00% | ||
31st Dec | 1858 | Ale X | Mild | 1064.82 | 8.00 | 2.40 | 100.00% | 100.00% | |||
9th Apr | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1063.16 | 7.38 | 2.17 | 88.37% | 11.63% | 100.00% | ||
12th Apr | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1062.60 | 7.43 | 2.19 | 86.96% | 13.04% | 100.00% | ||
17th Apr | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1062.60 | 7.44 | 2.28 | 86.67% | 13.33% | 100.00% | ||
20th Apr | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1063.71 | 7.44 | 2.23 | 86.49% | 13.51% | 100.00% | ||
23rd Apr | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1062.33 | 7.41 | 2.23 | 87.50% | 12.50% | 100.00% | ||
26th Apr | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1062.60 | 7.39 | 2.20 | 88.24% | 11.76% | 100.00% | ||
28th May | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1062.05 | 7.00 | 2.08 | 100.00% | 100.00% | |||
31st May | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1061.77 | 7.16 | 2.17 | 95.24% | 4.76% | 100.00% | ||
4th June | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1063.71 | 7.50 | 2.13 | 100.00% | 100.00% | |||
7th June | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1062.05 | 7.50 | 2.21 | 100.00% | 100.00% | |||
23rd July | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1065.93 | 10.00 | 3.10 | 97.82% | 2.18% | 100.00% | ||
26th July | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1065.37 | 10.00 | 3.03 | 95.40% | 4.60% | 100.00% | ||
30th July | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1065.10 | 10.00 | 3.06 | 91.90% | 3.05% | 5.05% | 100.00% | |
2nd Aug | 1867 | Ale X | Mild | 1063.99 | 10.26 | 3.25 | 91.47% | 3.22% | 5.32% | 100.00% | |
9th Feb | 1858 | Ale XX | Mild | 1078.95 | 10.00 | 100.00% | 100.00% | ||||
26th July | 1867 | Ale XX | Mild | 1076.45 | 10.00 | 3.54 | 95.40% | 4.60% | 100.00% | ||
30th July | 1867 | Ale XX | Mild | 1078.95 | 10.00 | 3.71 | 91.90% | 3.05% | 5.05% | 100.00% | |
Source: Courage brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives | |||||||||||
I've just the moment noticed something significant. Something which confirms muy policy of photographing multiple versions of the same beer . Want to know what it is? Look at the first 12 rows. Have you seen it?
I've read advice in brewing manuals about increasing the hopping rate in the summer, but never seen it so well illustrated as here. The hopping rate is 9 pounds per quarter of malt for the first 6 winter entries, then 11 pounds for the next five summer entries.
But that isn't the significant discovery. Oh no. That's a few columns to the right. Brown malt. This is the earliest (a couple of X Ales with tiny amounts of black malt excepted) I've seen any coloured malt in an X Ale. Though it's not a huge amount, it must have had some impact on the finished beer's colour. Maybe the homebrewers amongst you can work out much.
I'd thought Mild started getting darker a bit later, closer to 1880. Yet again, I was wrong.
Very interesting, and I'd add this observation: in the first years of the table, mostly they are using pale malt and pale ale malt. The latter was (somewhat) darker. Then, the same colour was obtained by using just pale malt and sugar. Finally, the same colour was obtained using pale malt and brown malt. There were apparent deviations from this scheme, which may be explained by unusual variations in colour for pale malt (maybe some years it was dark enough) or simple penuries.
ReplyDeleteGary
Look at Stopes category "I":
ReplyDeletehttp://books.google.com/books?id=TikBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA129&dq=pale+malt+%2B+colour&hl=en&ei=4xS4TIGKIovangfJlpTmDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage
Courage's pale malt and PA malt clearly belong in that category, but are distinguished by colour; the pale ale malt is the higher-dried. When Stopes uses the term high dried in category I, he is using it in a special sense as is clear from his next 3 categories. Possibly Courage's pale malt was a white malt and the PA was pale malt in Stope's terms. Terminology varied, but the concept is clear in my view.
Gary
What's the difference between pale malt and pale ale malt then? I thought pale ale malt was the best and palest malt they could get for use in the high-end posh beers.
ReplyDeleteBarm, pale malt is a generic term that includes several more specific types, such as pale ale malt, white malt, mild ale malt, SA malt and high-dried.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that pale ale malt is the highest quality pale malt with the palest most uniform colour. You normally see it used in higher-class, pale beers where the colour is important.
Gary, you're assuming that the sugar was colourless, which isn't necessarily the case.
ReplyDeleteRon, I am not assuming that; I am assuming the contrary, that the sugar had and imparted colour. I doubt very much for brewing then they would have used a highly refined sugar even if it existed.
ReplyDeleteSugar is only used in these beers in connection with pale malt, which by my interpretation, was lighter than the PA malt Courage used.
Pale malt with colourless sugar would not have made the beer dark enough. I am surmising that the PA malt, sugar and brown malt all performed serially the same function of working with the (highest quality) pale malt to get the colour right.
Gary
Nice post. But with so tiny an amount of Brown Malt, this will definetly remain a blond ale. (for the one of 23rd July, 1867).
ReplyDeleteI see that sugar was used towards the end with brown malt as well. Maybe finally they hit on a combination of sugar and brown malt for the best combination of colouring and economy. Or there could be other reasons for this combination, but still I detect the trend mentioned earlier.
ReplyDeleteGary
Gary, brown malt, in this period, seems an odd way to colour adjust a beer. The simplest - and least likely to change the flavour of the beer too much - is some sort of dark or caramelised sugar.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to use malt, black malt is the obvious choice.
It's annoying that I don't have more records. I wonder how long they used brown malt in X?
ealusceop, so what would the effect of the brown malt be?
ReplyDeleteRon, but I think here the non-pale malt additions were intended to address flavour also. Black patent might not have been the flavour wanted, and as you know some writers in the 1800's didn't approve its use with pale malt alone.
ReplyDeleteGary
Flavor. Even 2 to 5% is noticeable, but very subtle. And a bit of color too, of course. But I agree with you, so tiny amount is a bit odd.
ReplyDelete