William Younger beers in 1933

Scottish week. Or month. Or whatever indefinite period until I get bored or run out of material. Here's instalment 1.5.

William Younger. I drank some of their beers back in the 1970's and 1980's. Their IPA wasn't bad, when you could find it. No. 3 I liked even more. The brewery couldn't have shared my enthusiasm as it was only available sporadically. Just doing the personal anecdote bit. There are still beers knocking around with the Younger name slapped on them, though who knows where they might be brewed. It's a sad end to a former giant of British brewing.

But don't fear, I'm here to bring their beers back to life. Those from the 1930's, at least. And what an exciting bunch of beers they are. I'm using the word "exciting" in a very special sense here. I could have said "dull", but I was worried it would put you off. They're so dull, these beers, that they come out the other side and become fascinating. Believe me. You'll know what I mean when you give the table below your full attention.

Younger brewed a crazy number of different beers in the 19th century. They'd calmed down a bit by the 1930's. All the shilling Ales were gone. And there used to be plenty of those. From 50/- all the way to 160/-. I've never quite worked out what these beers were or what they were marketed as. Don't say "Scotch Ales". The numbered Ales - 1 to 4 - were sold as Scotch (at least South of the border). In the 1930's only No. 1 and No. 3 remained. Along with a load of Pale Ales, a couple of Milds, a very, very occasional Stout and something called LAE. No idea what that is. Could be some sort of Pale Ale. I'm by no means sure.

Recipes. Well they're pretty simple. Pale malt and grits. And hops, of course. They're either from Kent or the US Pacific coast. I'm trying to think of how I can work in a quick jab at the they-didn't-use-many-hops-in-Scotland-because-they-don't-grow-there bollocks. Britain had been importing huge quantites of hops since the 1850's because it was impossible to meet the demand with locally-grown ones. London brewers - handily placed right next to the major hop growing reason - were still forced to use imported hops. The position of Younger in Scotland wasn't that much different. When you're bringing hops half way around the world from the West Coast of the USA, Kent doesn't seem far away at all.

While we're on the subject of hops, I'll add a little contextualisation info. Whitbread's beers in 1933 were, in general, more heavily hopped. As were Lees. In fact, those Younger's beers look pretty lightly hopped. Bugger. They're not supposed to be. I need to get some more English beers to compare them with. I'm sure I'll find some with lower hopping levels. I'll keep looking for the facts I want to find until I find them. That's the sort of dedicated researcher I am. In case you think I was being serious there, Younger's beers are significantly more lightly hopped than similar English beers. Based on this small sample, at least.

I've thrown in the boiling times and pitching temperatures, too. Because those feature prominently in the tales of Scottish Ales. Younger didn't pitch at a cooler temperature than the three English brewers. There are only two English brewers with boil times, making it difficult to draw much in the way of conclusions. But Younger weren't boiling for crazily long times. And it was the second, not the first wort that was boiled for longer.

Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenuation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	Pitch temp
13th Jun	1933	Whitbread	PA	Pale Ale	1048.8	1012.5	4.80	74.39%	8.00	1.62	1.33	1.42	63º
18th May	1933	Younger	XXPS	Pale Ale	1049.0	1014.0	4.63	71.43%	5.22	0.97	1.75	2.25	60º
11th May	1933	Lees	B	Pale Ale	1047.0	1009.0	5.03	80.85%	4.69	1.24			60º
1st Aug	1930	Russell	PA	Pale Ale	1052.6				7.11	1.38	2	2	59º
9th Jun	1933	Whitbread	X	Mild	1036.1	1009.5	3.52	73.68%	7.14	1.10	1.25	1.5	63º
23rd May	1933	Younger	XX	Mild	1037.0	1012.0	3.31	67.57%	4.71	0.63	1.75	2.25	62º
12th May	1933	Lees	K	Mild	1035.0	1006.0	3.84	82.86%	4.76	0.85			59º
5th Aug	1930	Russell	C	Mild	1039.7				6.00	0.87	2	2	59º
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records document LMA/4453/D/01/098 held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
Younger brewing records document WY/6/1/2/70 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive.
Russell brewing records document DB-10/5 held at the Wolverhampton Archives.
Lees brewing records held at the brewery.

Getting back to the recipes, the most noteworthy point is the almost lack of any type of malt other than pale. They did use a blend of three pale malts: Tunisian, Californian and Scottish. Approximately a third each. The only beer to use anything else is DBS Stout, which has a little patent and crystal malt. Not the complete absence of roast barley. Unusually, Younger used little sugar. Lactose in No. 1 Ale, lactose and caramel in DBS. That's completely unlike what I've seen amongst English brewers. They used invert sugar of various types in all their beers.

Colours. Now there's a tricky one. Scottish brewers had a habit of colouring their beers differently for different markets. Presumably by the addition of caramel at racking time. I know from other sources that the No. 1 and No. 3 Ale sold in England were dark in colour. Yet there is nothing in the recipe to give them that colour. They must have been coloured later. Oddly, the logs include No. 3 and No. 3 Pale. Odd, because the recipes are identical.

I'll bow out with the main table. Enjoy.

 

William Younger beers in 1933
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenuation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	Pitch temp	dry hops (oz / barrel)	liquorice (lbs)	pale malt	black malt	crystal malt	caramel	lactose	grits
16th May	1933	XXP	Pale Ale	1043.0	1012.0	4.10	72.09%	5.24	0.86	1.25	2.25	61º	2.00		57.14%					42.86%
17th May	1933	LAE	??	1046.0	1013.0	4.37	71.74%	8.26	1.44	2.5	3	60.5º	4.85		56.52%					43.48%
17th May	1933	Expt	Pale Ale	1054.0	1016.0	5.03	70.37%	4.76	1.85	2.75	2	60º	6.52		57.14%					42.86%
17th May	1933	XX	Mild	1037.0	1011.0	3.44	70.27%	1.90	0.66	2.75	2	61º	3.93		57.14%					42.86%
17th May	1933	1	Strong Ale	1085.0	1033.0	6.88	61.18%	5.26	1.79	2.5	3	57º	2.01		58.93%				3.57%	37.50%
17th May	1933	3	Strong Ale	1055.0	1015.5	5.23	71.82%	5.20	1.11	1.75	2.25	59º	2.05		58.00%					42.00%
18th May	1933	XXPS	Pale Ale	1049.0	1014.0	4.63	71.43%	5.22	0.97	1.75	2.25	60º	2.02		58.70%					41.30%
18th May	1933	XXPSm	Pale Ale	1048.0	1013.0	4.63	72.92%	5.22	0.95	1.75	2.25	60º	2.06		58.70%					41.30%
18th May	1933	XP Btlg	IPA	1039.0	1012.0	3.57	69.23%	6.11	0.87	1.75	2.25	61º	1.89		55.56%					44.44%
18th May	1933	3 pale	Strong Ale	1055.0	1016.0	5.16	70.91%	6.25	1.28	1.75	2.25	59.5º	2.06		56.25%					43.75%
18th May	1933	XXPS	Pale Ale	1049.0	1014.0	4.63	71.43%	6.25	1.14	1.75	2.25	59.5º	1.81		56.25%					43.75%
19th May	1933	XXPS	Pale Ale	1049.0	1013.0	4.76	73.47%	5.22	0.96	1.75	2.25	60º	2.05		58.70%					41.30%
19th May	1933	XXP Btlg	Pale Ale	1043.0	1013.0	3.97	69.77%	6.11	0.95	1.75	2.25	61º	1.82		55.56%					44.44%
19th May	1933	P Btlg	Pale Ale	1032.0	1011.0	2.78	65.63%	6.11	0.71	1.75	2.25	62º	1.79		55.56%					44.44%
23rd May	1933	3	Strong Ale	1055.0	1017.0	5.03	69.09%	5.20	1.09	1.75	2.25	59.5º	2.02		58.00%					42.00%
23rd May	1933	XX	Mild	1037.0	1012.0	3.31	67.57%	4.71	0.63	1.75	2.25	62º	1.90		58.82%					41.18%
23rd May	1933	1	Strong Ale	1085.0	1031.0	7.14	63.53%	5.26	1.83	2.5	3	57.5º	2.05		58.93%				3.57%	37.50%
24th May	1933	LAE	??	1046.0	1013.0	4.37	71.74%	8.26	1.41	2.5	3	59.5º	4.74		56.52%					43.48%
25th May	1933	3 pale	Strong Ale	1055.0	1015.0	5.29	72.73%	6.00	1.24	1.75	2.25	59º	1.99		58.00%					42.00%
25th May	1933	XXX	Mild	1042.0	1014.0	3.70	66.67%	4.74	0.71	1.75	2.25	61º	1.90		57.89%					42.11%
26th May	1933	MXP E	Pale Ale	1046.0	1013.0	4.37	71.74%	6.09	1.05	1.75	2.25	60.5º	1.92		58.70%					41.30%
5th Jun	1933	XXX	Mild	1042.0	1014.0	3.70	66.67%	4.74	0.74	1.75	2.25	60º	1.98		57.89%					42.11%
7th Jun	1933	MXP E	Pale Ale	1046.0	1012.5	4.43	72.83%	6.09	1.06	1.75	2.25	61º	1.93		56.52%					43.48%
8th Jun	1933	DBS Btlg	Stout	1066.0	1025.0	5.42	62.12%	9.31	2.14	2.5	3	60.5º	6.10	14	50.53%	3.16%	3.16%	4.21%	4.21%	34.74%
9th Jun	1933	XX	Mild	1037.0	1013.5	3.11	63.51%	2.25	0.76	2	2	61º	2.15	7	58.47%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	3.39%	38.14%
9th Jun	1933	XX Sc	Mild	1050.0	1025.0	3.31	50.00%	2.75	0.86	2	2	60º	3.75	7	58.47%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	3.39%	38.14%
Source:
Document WY/6/1/2/70 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive.