I’m steaming through my new Scottish book. Not totally voluntarily. The thing has to be finished – at least a reasonable first draught – by the middle of March. Which isn’t that far away. If I can keep up with this week’s pace (10,000 words and counting so far) that shouldn’t be a problem.
I already have most of the information I need. But there is the odd gap. One pretty glaring one was the lack of any recipes from the 1840’s. I’m starting to put that right today.
The beer is a particular Scottish speciality, Table Beer. Down in London, there wasn’t a huge amount of Table Beer brewed after 1830. Probably because it had disappeared as a tax category. Despite it being specifically against the law, I suspect much Table Beer was brewed to be mixed with Strong Beer. The latter was taxed at 10 shillings per barrel, four times the rate of Table Beer. By blending Strong and Table you could get yourself two barrels of full-strength stuff for 12s 6d tax rather than 20s.
In Scotland, in contrast, Table Beer was a serious product. As can be seen by the fact that not only was it exported to England, it also went overseas. A Dutch newspaper advertisement from 1881* includes not only the Strong Scotch Ales, IPAs and Stouts that you would expect, but also Table Beer. It sold for 12.50 guilders a kilderkins, the same as the weakest Porter in the list.
Now there’s one wee problem in recreating this beer. It wasn’t brewed from barley malt, but from bigg, a primitive type of barley that could grow in harsher conditions. This around the end of the time bigg was still used in commercial brewing. In William Younger’s 1847 records it turns up occasionally, mostly in weaker beers such as 60/-, 80/- and, as here, Table Beer. I’ve substituted mild malt.
Goldings should be right for the hips. The log lists them as East Kent and Farnham. So definitely types of whitebine. Even knocking down the hopping rate a little to take into account the age of the hops, it still comes out with a very respectable calculated 35 IBU.
All in all, it’s a nice, light drinking beer. Probably, as the name implies, perfect for accompanying your supper.
* "Het Nieuws van den Dag", 23rd May 1881.
| 1847 William Younger T | ||
| mild malt | 7.50 lb | 100.00% |
| Goldings 90 min | 1.25 oz | |
| Goldings 30 min | 1.25 oz | |
| OG | 1033 | |
| FG | 1010 | |
| ABV | 3.04 | |
| Apparent attenuation | 69.70% | |
| IBU | 35 | |
| SRM | 4 | |
| Mash at | 150º F | |
| Sparge at | 184º F | |
| Boil time | 90 minutes | |
| pitching temp | 58º F | |
| Yeast | WLP028 Edinburgh Ale | |
By startling coincidence, a commenter on your previous post ("When did Scottish Pale Ale stop being bitter?" included a link to a site that describes bigg:
ReplyDeletehttps://brewingbeerthehardway.wordpress.com/2017/01/20/the-barley-and-scotch-bigg-report-of-1806-and-the-influence-of-a-long-un-aerated-steep-on-germination-time/
Based on that description, I wonder if 6-row malt would be a closer approximation than mild malt. Maybe not - I could be focusing too much on the physical form of the barley, and not enough on its brewing properties.
If I'm reading your older posts on table beer correctly, it's not so much a particular type of beer and more in the modern sense of a session beer, and you could have a range of color and bitterness to one, as long as the gravity was fairly modest.
ReplyDeleteIs that right, or did I miss something?
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteTable Beer was a general term. Barclay Perkins' version was a Porter. Though it did seem to mean something specific in Edinburgh.
I've got some bygg/bere growing here in Michigan. Not enough to malt some to make beer yet, though.
ReplyDeleteBitter Donald,
ReplyDeleteinteresting. How does it get on in the Michigan climate?
Down here in the south east, I'd probably be better off moving it to a cooler section of yard than I've grown it the past two years, and playing a bit with when in the season to plant, maybe even so far as starting it under the hoops in early march i only started with 50 seeds.
ReplyDeleteMy brother in law has a small farm up near Mackinac, and I think it'd do well there.
I brewed a batch of this a few weeks ago and just tapped the keg yesterday. Since it uses such a small amount of grain, I decided to use a no-sparge and modified the grain accordingly. I also added a small amount of Crystal 40L. I have to say I've never brewed such a low gravity beer and the low alcohol certainly affects the flavor. On a hot day as it has been here in Virginia, it's a very drinkable and refreshing beer and I'm liking it the more I drink it.
ReplyDeleteM Blunt,
ReplyDeleteKristen brewed a Younger Table Beer that I tried earlier this year. Lovely beer, especially for such a low gravity.
I've just about polished off the keg and this has been one of my favorites, especially for the summer. I will certainly make another batch or something similar in late spring to have on hand. Thanks so much for the recipe. I love the expression on my neighbor's faces when I tell them the recipe is from 1847. Connecting to the past was never so much fun.
ReplyDelete