Thursday 31 May 2012

Fuller's X Ale 1914 - 1920


It seems ages since I last had a ridiculously long series of ridiculously complex tables. Seeing as I've been transcribing Fullers records for the last two weeks, they seem an obvious place to start.

WW I. In addition to piling up corpses in Flanders, it also played havoc with British brewing. The strength and variety of British beer would never be as great again. Looking at an individual beer conveys a good impression of these changes. Today we'll be holding Fuller's X in the searchlight, hoping we can track it long enough until one of our ack-ack guns can pin it.

As with the vast majority of other British brewers at the time, X Ale, or standard Mild Ale, was Fuller's bread and butter beer. They brewed more of it than anything else. But being the biggest seller also meant that it had to bear the brunt of any changes forced either through shortages or government decree.

Looking at the table below, it's pretty easy to spot the key dates: April 1917 and April 1918. Because the decline in OG isn't lineal. There are a couple of sharp drops, followed by a period of relative stability. Up until April 1917 the gravity had dropped a little, around 4 or 5 points. Then it suddenly loses 11 points. It remains steady at 1035-ish for another year, then plummets another 8 points. Down into the regions of intoxication-free drinking.

As you can see, the end of the war didn't bring immediate relief to drinkers. X Ale remained at 1027 for almost a year after the Armistice, before creeping up to 1030. Though the situation is complicated by the introduction of a stronger Mild, XX Ale, at the arse end of 1919. Fullers continued to brew X Ale and XX Ale right through the interwar period. X Ale becoming an example of a new style. A low-gravity Mild sold at a cheap price.

Most London brewers did something similar, effectively continuing to brew the hated wartime "Government Ale". Barclay Perkins' version was called Ale 4d. Whitbread's LA. These beers hung around until WW II, only disappearing when a new round of shortages and restrictions knocked standard Mild down to a similar gravity.


Fuller's X Ale 1914 - 1920
Date Year Beer Style OG FG ABV App. Attenuation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl boil time (hours) boil time (hours) Pitch temp pale malt black malt no. 3 sugar glucose intense sugar caramel oat husks flaked maize primings
13th Nov 1914 X Mild 1049.6 1011.1 5.09 77.65% 5.15431 1.15 2
60º 71.05%
11.99% 6.00%
0.79%
6.30% 3.87%
17th Nov 1914 X Mild 1050.7 1011.6 5.17 77.05% 5.43933 2.38 2
60º 74.92%
12.49% 5.55%


6.24% 0.81%
8th Dec 1914 X Mild 1048.4 1011.4 4.91 76.56% 5.43935 1.11 2
60.5º 82.25%
6.96% 3.48%


6.53% 0.78%
7th Jan 1915 X Mild 1047.7 1013.6 4.51 71.54% 5.22874 1.07 1.5 1.75 60º 78.56%
7.35% 3.68%


6.89% 3.53%
2nd Jun 1915 X Mild 1049.4 1011.1 5.07 77.57% 5.43461 1.13 2
60º 74.79%
11.59% 5.80%


6.96% 0.86%
2nd Jun 1915 X Mild 1044.9 1009.1 4.73 79.63% 5.43461 1.02 2
60º 74.79%
11.59% 5.80%


6.96% 0.86%
29th May 1916 X Mild 1049.9 1011.4 5.09 77.22% 6.4071 1.35 2
60º 70.58%
8.30% 9.69%


10.38% 1.04%
4th Jul 1916 X Mild 1047.1 1011.4 4.73 75.88% 5.91424 1.17 2
60º 77.25%
5.35% 5.35%


11.04% 1.01%
3rd Aug 1916 X Mild 1047.0 1008.6 5.08 81.71% 5.91424 1.16 2
60º 77.25%
5.35% 5.35%


11.04% 1.01%
16th Aug 1916 X Mild 1044.5 1011.1 4.42 75.11% 5.82614 1.12 2
60º 76.18%
5.44% 5.44%


10.88% 2.06%
26th Oct 1916 X Mild 1046.0 1007.5 5.09 83.73% 6.4071 1.27 2
60º 77.25%
5.35% 5.35%


11.04% 1.01%
12th Jan 1917 X Mild 1045.2 1008.3 4.88 81.62% 6.0941 1.28 2
59.5º 74.30%
5.31% 5.31%


10.61% 4.48%
5th Apr 1917 X Mild 1045.9 1009.7 4.79 78.89% 4.29841 0.83 2
60º 77.56%
4.43% 5.91%


11.08% 1.02%
10th Aug 1917 X Mild 1034.8 1006.6 3.72 80.88% 7.62423 1.10 2
62º 96.49% 2.88%





0.63%
22nd Aug 1917 X Mild 1034.5 1006.6 3.69 80.75% 7.30689 1.09 2
62º 93.73% 2.87%





3.40%
26th Aug 1917 X Mild 1036.0 1008.0 3.69 77.66% 6.83869 1.19 2
61.5º 76.70%


1.12%
5.71% 11.42% 5.05%
29th Oct 1917 X Mild 1035.9 1007.8 3.72 78.40% 7.21925 1.17 2
61.5º 81.18%


1.18%

12.09% 5.54%
4th Jan 1918 X Mild 1035.3 1008.3 3.57 76.47% 6.27451 1.17 2
61º 77.32%
5.15%
1.10%
5.80%
10.62%
15th Apr 1918 X Mild 1027.3 1005.5 2.88 79.74% 6.37858 0.90 1.5 1.75 61º 65.23%
6.21% 15.53% 1.39%
4.66%
6.98%
21st Jun 1918 X Mild 1027.4 1007.2 2.67 73.71% 6.68653 0.86 2
60º 74.61%
12.43% 4.97% 1.45%


6.53%
4th Nov 1918 X Mild 1028.0 1006.6 2.83 76.26% 7.06311 0.88 1.5
61.5º 77.80%
5.93% 11.86% 1.71%


2.71%
20th Jan 1919 X Mild 1026.7 1004.7 2.91 82.38% 6.89572 0.89 1.5
60º 76.08%

17.90% 1.68%


4.33%
12th Apr 1919 X Mild 1027.4 1005.3 2.93 80.81% 6.94391 0.86 1.5
63º 76.22%

14.12% 1.74%

4.23% 3.69%
20th Jun 1919 X Mild 1027.2 1006.4 2.76 76.58% 6.77188 0.82 1.5
61.5º 69.56%

14.05% 1.88%

10.54% 3.96%
22nd Aug 1919 X Mild 1030.5 1007.8 3.01 74.59% 7.25981 0.99 1.5
60.5º 68.60%

17.67% 1.73%

9.35% 2.65%
15th Sep 1919 X Mild 1030.6 1006.1 3.24 80.05% 6.63937 0.91 1.5 1.5 60.5º 64.09%

16.62% 1.63%

10.68% 6.98%
9th Feb 1920 X Mild 1030.5 1006.4 3.19 79.09% 6.88446 0.91 1.5 1.5 62º 74.69%

6.04% 1.74%

13.58% 3.95%
11th Jun 1920 X Mild 1030.5 1005.3 3.34 82.76% 6.98231 0.89 1.5 1.5 62º 77.90%

3.46% 1.93%

13.85% 2.86%
26th Apr 1920 X Mild 1030.5 1005.5 3.30 81.83% 6.93193 0.89 1.5
62º 78.32%

3.48% 1.94%

13.05% 3.21%
6th Dec 1920 X Mild 1030.1 1005.0 3.32 83.44% 6.91815 0.89 1.5 1.5 62º 77.29%

3.38% 1.43%

13.94% 3.97%
Source:
Fuller's brewing records.


Fuller's XX Ale 1919 - 1920
Date Year Beer Style OG FG ABV App. Attenuation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl boil time (hours) boil time (hours) Pitch temp pale malt glucose other sugar flaked maize primings
22nd Aug 1919 XX Mild 1041.0 1011.9 3.84 70.93% 7.25981 1.33 1.5
61º 68.60% 17.67% 1.73% 9.35% 2.65%
15th Sep 1919 XX Mild 1041.2 1008.9 4.28 78.48% 6.63937 1.22 1.5 1.5 61º 64.09% 16.62% 1.63% 10.68% 6.98%
9th Feb 1920 XX Mild 1041.0 1009.7 4.14 76.37% 6.88446 1.22 1.5 1.5 62º 74.69% 6.04% 1.74% 13.58% 3.95%
16th Feb 1920 XX Mild 1041.2 1008.9 4.27 78.47% 6.73643 1.21 1.5
63º 73.78% 5.47% 1.71% 13.66% 5.38%
11th Jun 1920 XX Mild 1041.2 1009.4 4.20 77.12% 6.98231 1.20 1.5 1.5 62º 77.90% 3.46% 1.93% 13.85% 2.86%
26th Apr 1920 XX Mild 1041.0 1007.2 4.47 82.44% 6.93193 1.19 1.5
62º 78.32% 3.48% 1.94% 13.05% 3.21%
6th Dec 1920 XX Mild 1041.0 1009.1 4.21 77.69% 6.91815 1.21 1.5 1.5 60º 77.29% 3.38% 1.43% 13.94% 3.97%
Source:
Fuller's brewing records.


Unlike other London brewers, Fuller's didn't introduce a beer called Government Ale. Instead, they knocked down the strength of their X Ale to fit the Government Ale specifications. Both Whitbread and Barclay Perkins discontinued their X Ale and introduced a new beer called GA.

You can see the changes made to the recipe as the war progressed. All from necessity. The pre-war recipe was pretty simple: pale malt, No. 3 invert sugar, glucose and flaked maize. The sudden disappearance of the latter three in 1917 was surely because of their unavailability. With the odd result of the beer becoming all malt, with the exception of primings. The colour coming from black malt rather than No. 3 invert. The next phase, later in 1917, was to use a small amount of a brewing sugar called intense for the colour, a fair amount of maize, but no other sugar.

No. 3 invert makes a comeback in 1918 for a while before the recipe settles into its postwar form of pale malt, glucose, intense and flaked maize. Where's the crystal malt? Fuller's didn't use it. Before WW I you don't see it used much anywhere. Sometimes in Mild Ales, but almost never in Pale Ales. That's a comparatively recent phenomenon. Fuller's were pretty typical in using only pale malt in all their beers except for Porter and Stout.

Next it'll be the turn of Fuller's Pale Ales. Or their Porter and Stout. Haven't quite made my mind up yet.

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