Let's Brew Wednesday - 1945 Tetley's Mild

Isn't this exciting? I've probably drunk more of this beer than any other. The seven years I lived in Leeds I drank little else. And why should I have. It was a cracking beer. A proper drinking beer, as opposed to a staring at and sipping beer.

This earlier version looks very similar to the one I drank in the 1970's, except for one aspect: the degree of attenuation. It's very high in the 1945 example. The later version, at 1032 and 3.2% ABV, would have been about 75% apparent attenuation.

It's hard to say without having tasted it, but that aside, it doesn't look as if the beer changed much in the 30 years between 1945 and 1975. I know that all the years I drank it, there was no change in its character. Yet it was a far more recent development than I had imagined. Only being introduced during WW II, in 1941.

In fact, the whole of Tetley's beer range changed that year. These were the beers they had brewed:

Tetley's beers in 1939
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
F	Mild	1034.9	1011.6	3.08	66.67%	3.76	0.51
X1	Mild	1042.9	1011.4	4.18	73.55%	4.23	0.71
X1 Pale	Mild	1042.9	1013.9	3.85	67.74%	4.23	0.71
K	Pale Ale	1047.9	1011.6	4.80	75.72%	4.77	0.88
X2	Mild	1055.4	1011.9	5.75	78.50%	4.72	1.08
XXX	Strong Ale	1090.9	1030.2	8.03	66.77%	4.72	1.76
Source:
Tetley brewing record held at the West Yorkshire Archives document number WYL756/ACC3349/557.

They were replaced by just 3 beers:

B - Bitter
M - Mild
LM - Light Mild

As you can see, Tetley had been brewing some pretty strong Milds before WW II. And had been doing for a long while. Both X1 and X2 had been brewed since at least 1858. It's one of the most dramatic changes I've seen in a brewer's range of products.

The immediate post-war years saw the nadir of British beer gravities. Most breweries raised their gravities when the economic situation improved in the 1950's. But Tetley didn't do that with their Mild. It remained at about 1032 from its introduction until, well, today, I guess. That's very unusual.








I've nothing more to say, so over to Kristen . . . . . . .

Kristen’s Version:

Notes: Yeah…Tetley’s mild. One of my very favorite ‘drink-theer-piss-outta-eers’. You want to know what invert No2 tastes like, make this. You want to test your metal as a brewer, make this. You want to make a beer that can be done in two weeks, make this. You want me to stop writing, ma…err…yeah…

Malt: The original had a blend of 4 pale malts of about 30%, 18%, 12% and 8%. Make your own pale malt blend using those if you get a chance. Why bloody not!? Or be a punter and use a single malt. If I was a punter, and I am, I’d go with something that is very nice but not horribly, in a good may, too malty. If we are going English, lets give the old Pipkin a try. No Pipkin, Halcyon. No Halcyon, we go farther north for some Golden Promise. Lots of Invert and Caramel which we’ve discussed previously.
Invert No2. http://www.unholymess.com/blog/beer-brewing-info/making-brewers-invert
Caramel. http://www.unholymess.com/blog/beer-brewing-info/making-brewers-caramel
If you are going to leave out the caramel, fine, just don’t get all pissy with me….

Hops: Hops play a back note here. Any will do. I like Fuggle. One or two additions no more than 30min before KO.
Yeast: Any really gang. This bastard is dry as a bone so pick your favorite one that you know how to use. Over pitch. Over oxygenate. Hope and pry she dries out for you.

Sundries: Nothing specific. Make it dry. Use the right sugar. Don’t forget the bloody caramel. 

Cask: Standard procedure:

1) let the beer ferment until finished and then give it another day or so. For me right around 5-7 days.
2) Rack the beer to your vessel of choice (firkin, polypin, cornie, whatever).
3) Add primings at ~3.5g/L
4) Add prepared isinglass at 1ml/L
5) ONLY add dry hops at 0.25g/l – 1g/L.
6) Bung it up and roll it around to mix. Condition at 55F or so for 4-5 days and its ready to go. Spile/vent. Tap. Settle. Serve at 55F.