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Friday, 2 September 2011

Scottish IPA 1851 to 1916

I just can't stay away from Scottish IPA. It's such a contradiction in terms, if you listen to the history written by style nazis. I don't and am free to look at it as dispassionately as possible.

The fun will be tabulicious today. I've two of them for you. Aren't you lucky?

Did I mention my Scottish project? No? Silly me. Getting distracted again. I've started a Scottish project. Based on the 1,666 analyses I have of Scottish beers. Going through will be a joy. Maybe even informative, too.

I've split the beers into two chunks, up to 1880 and 1881 - 1916. There's no particular logic behind the splitting point. It just seemed a convenient place.

Here's table one. Which happens to be all William Younger beers:


Scottish IPA 1851 - 1880
Date Year Brewer Beer Style FG OG ABV App. Attenuation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl
6th Oct 1851 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1020 1058 5.03 65.52% 15.00 6.67
9th Oct 1851 Younger, Wm. XXP IPA 1018 1072 7.14 75.00% 24.00 8.18
1858 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1014 1054 5.29 74.07% 14.80 4.40
1858 Younger, Wm. XXP IPA 1016 1059 5.69 72.88% 21.05 5.00
1868 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1013 1051 5.03 74.51% 12.22 3.40
1868 Younger, Wm. XXP IPA 1014 1055 5.42 74.55% 11.67 3.29
2nd June 1879 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1016 1052 4.76 69.23% 11.74 2.73
11th July 1879 Younger, Wm. 2XP IPA 1009 1046 4.89 80.43% 9.00 1.94
1879 Younger, Wm. 2XP IPA 1046 2.00
22nd Oct 1879 Younger, Wm. XXP IPA 1014 1058 5.82 75.86% 9.19 2.41
22nd Oct 1879 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1013 1050 4.89 74.00% 7.94 1.81
24th Oct 1879 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1014 1051 4.89 72.55% 7.94 1.86
29th Oct 1879 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1016 1051 4.63 68.63% 7.65 1.84
30th Oct 1879 Younger, Wm. XXP IPA 1016 1058 5.56 72.41% 8.65 2.56
10th Nov 1879 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1012 1051 5.16 76.47% 8.00 1.90
11th Nov 1879 Younger, Wm. XXP IPA 1015 1058 5.69 74.14% 9.44 2.62
16th Sept 1880 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1013 1052 5.16 75.00% 9.68 2.13
20th Sept 1880 Younger, Wm. XXP IPA 1019 1060 5.42 68.33% 10.56 2.81
7th Dec 1880 Younger, Wm. XXP IPA 1018 1059.5 5.49 69.75% 12.90 2.99
9th Dec 1880 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1012 1052 5.29 76.92% 11.11 2.34
Average 1014.84 1054.7 5.33 73.17% 11.71 3.14
Sources:
Documents WY/6/1/2/5, WY/6/1/2/14, WY/6/1/2/21, WY/6/1/2/28 and WY/6/1/3/9 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive.

Note how the hopping rate fell considerably after the 1850's, falling to under 2 lbs per barrel for XP. Before picking up again a little around 1880. The average gravity, 1054.7, is pretty similar to the average for all beer and about the same as Porter.

For a bit of variation, table two also has beers from Thomas Usher:


Scottish IPA 1881 - 1916
Date Year Brewer Beer Style FG OG ABV App. Attenuation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl
11th Apr 1881 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1015 1053 5.03 71.70% 10.00 3.04
15th Apr 1881 Younger, Wm. XXP IPA 1012 1060 6.35 80.00% 17.14 3.89
3rd May 1881 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1014 1054 5.29 74.07% 9.23 3.06
29th Aug 1881 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1018 1053 4.63 66.04% 7.69 2.30
5th Jan 1885 Usher IP IPA 1013 1047 4.50 72.34% 8.00
8th Jan 1885 Usher IP IPA 1015 1046 4.10 67.39% 8.00 1.43
18th Feb 1885 Usher IP IPA 1015 1046 4.10 67.39% 8.00 1.73
29th May 1885 Younger, Wm. XP IPA 1013 1054 5.42 75.93% 11.50 2.84
15th May 1888 Usher IP IPA 1010 1046 4.76 78.26% 10.00 2.65
26th Dec 1888 Usher IP IPA 1013 1046 4.37 71.74% 8.00 2.00
5th Jan 1894 Usher IP IPA 1014 1044 3.97 68.18% 8.00
10th Jan 1894 Usher IP IPA 1014 1044 3.97 68.18% 7.00
26th Jan 1894 Usher IP IPA 1013 1044 4.10 70.45% 8.00
11th Jul 1894 Usher IP IPA 1044 8.00 1.50
1906 Younger, Wm. XP Burton IPA 1050.4
4th Dec 1912 Usher IP IPA 1014 1042 3.70 66.67% 6.00
6th Dec 1912 Usher IP IPA 1015 1042 3.57 64.29% 6.50
12th Feb 1913 Usher IP IPA 1014 1042 3.70 66.67% 5.75
19th Mar 1913 Usher IP IPA 1013.5 1042 3.77 67.86% 5.75
19th Aug 1914 Usher IP IPA 1012.5 1042 3.90 70.24% 6.00
26th Aug 1914 Usher IP IPA 1013 1042 3.84 69.05% 6.00
8th Dec 1914 Usher IP IPA 1014 1040 3.44 65.00% 5.50 0.72
29th Feb 1916 Usher IP IPA 1013 1041 3.70 68.29% 5.50
7th Mar 1916 Usher IP IPA 1015 1041 3.44 63.41% 5.50
14th Mar 1916 Usher IP IPA 1013.5 1040 3.51 66.25% 5.50
Average 1013.76 1045.82 4.22 69.54% 7.77 2.29
Sources:
Documents WY/6/1/3/9, TU/6/1/1, WY/6/1/2/31, TU/6/1/2, WY/6/1/1/14 and TU/6/1/5 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive.

Usher knocks the average gravity down to 1045. With a gravity in the low 1040's and fairly modest hopping, Usher's IP looks rather like an AK. You can see the gravity gradually dropping from 1047 to 1040.

I'm not sure how much the average hopping rate per barrel is. Too many numbers are missing and there's a big discrepancy between the Younger and Usher beers. Interesting that the average attenuation went down along with the gravity. Were they they trying to disguise the drop in gravity by keeping the FG the same?

In part two we'll be taking a look at 20th century Scottish IPAs. Believe me, it's even more fun than the 19th century.

1 comment:

  1. Lars Marius Garshol2 September 2011 at 03:38

    Interesting. I'd been wondering why IPA in Scotland seemed to refer to something like a pale English bitter. This post doesn't answer the why, but for whatever reason the Scottish IPA seems to have become pretty much what it is now in between 1881 and 1914.

    Do you know anything more about the background for the weakening of Scottish IPA? Do you have any EBCs for any of these beers?

    And, do you know if the beers stayed the same 1914-2011, or whether there have been ups and downs in that period?

    ReplyDelete