Saturday 30 July 2016

Let's Brew - 1933 William Younger No. 3

You’ve probably noticed that I have a bit of a thing about Younger’s No. 3. Probably because it was a beer I quite liked.

I drank it regularly at a couple of places in the 1980’s. The Burley Liberal Club in Leeds. And the pub just around the corner from my office on Gloucester Place in London. In my head, I was thinking strong Dark Mild. Which wasn’t totally far off the mark.

It was a nice alternative to Younger’s IPA. At the time it had an OG of 1043º, ever so slightly higher than the IPA’s 1042.2º. A few pints at lunchtime set me up nicely for an afternoon snooze back at work. By the time I’d woken up it would be time to return to the pub for a few more pints before heading home.

You’ve probably noticed that the beer below is pretty pale. It always seems to have come in a variety of shades, though dark was most popular after WW I. The colour presumably coming from caramel added at racking time. Feel free to colour this up any way you like.

There’s not really much to say about the grist. As with most Younger’s beers in the 20th century. There’s pale malt, loads and loads of grits and that’s it. I have the feeling that all that limited grits to just 40% of the total was maintaining enough malt to convert the starch. They’d probably have happily used 70% grits, if it had been practical. Their beers have the highest levels of adjuncts I’ve seen anywhere.


1933 William Younger No. 3
pale malt 7.50 lb 58.82%
grits 5.25 lb 41.18%
Cluster 90 min 1.25 oz
Fuggles 30 min 1.25 oz
Goldings dry hops 0.25 oz
OG 1055
FG 1015.5
ABV 5.23
Apparent attenuation 71.82%
IBU 39
SRM 4
Mash at 154º F
Sparge at 160º F
Boil time 135 minutes
pitching temp 59º F
Yeast WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

1 comment:

Scooters said...

I grew up in Edinburgh in the 70s and started drinking early 80s. No. 3 was my tipple. Miss it terribly! Thanks for the memory!