Let's Brew 1958 Lees Best Mild

Many breweries are dead boring, bashing out the same basic recipe for decades with only occasional minor tweaks. Not so Lees. They liked to swap their Mild recipe around.

That’s my excuse for publishing recipes just a few years apart. Without any war inbetween causing upheaval.

While some earlier iterations were all about the malts, this version is a symphony of sugar, with a total of seven in the original. Several different proprietary sugars, a couple of inverts and lactose. And both flaked maize and flaked barley. And 7% brown malt just to add to the confusion.

Leaving a dead complicated recipe. Even in my slightly rationalised version. Almost a full set of the numbered inverts and lactose, too. They were very keen on their lactose in the post-war period. It popped up in more than just Milk Stout.

As befits a Best Mild, it has a decent gravity. The ABV is a guess, Lees not bothering to enter the FG in this period.

1958 Lees Best Mild
pale malt	3.50 lb	51.06%
brown malt	0.50 lb	7.29%
flaked maize	0.33 lb	4.81%
flaked oats	0.15 lb	2.19%
lactose	0.25 lb	3.65%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.75 lb	10.94%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.00 lb	14.59%
No. 4 invert sugar	0.38 lb	5.47%
Northern Brewer 90 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.50 oz
OG	1035
FG	1007
ABV	3.70
Apparent attenuation	80.00%
IBU	28
SRM	20
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)