Let's Brew Wednesday - 1953 Adnams Tally Ho

Now Scotland is out of the way I can return to that most exciting of decades, the 1950’s.

This is a beer you’ve probably heard of, if you’re British, as it’s still being brewed. I always thinks that makes things more fun. Though my guess is that the recipe has changed a bit over the last 60 years. If only because the strength has dropped a little.

Back in the early 1950’s, this was about as strong as British beer got. I’m not sure if it was available on draught back then. It might possibly have been, as a winter seasonal. Even in my younger days beers like Marstons Owd Roger would appear in a pin on the bar when the weather turned cold.

Adnams were a bit of an oddity in that they didn’t use any unmalted adjuncts, just malt and sugar. The vast majority of UK breweries were enthusiastic users of adjuncts, mostly in the form of flaked maize. They were pretty simple with their sugars, too, using numbered inverts rather than proprietary sugars. Which makes like easier both for me and for you.

The recipe here is much the same as their XX Mild Ale and XXXX Old Ale: medium malt (which I’ve interpreted as mild malt), amber malt, crystal malt, No. 3 invert sugar and a bit of caramel. Amber malt is an unusual ingredient in this period. You don’t see it much in the 20th century and it’s usually reserved for Stouts.

As always, the hop varieties are a guess, A pretty conservative one and Fuggles and Golding accounted for around 75% of UK-grown hops at the time.

1953 Adnams Tally Ho
mild malt	13.00 lb	75.76%
amber malt	1.25 lb	7.28%
crystal malt 80 L	1.25 lb	7.28%
no. 3 invert sugar	1.50 lb	8.74%
caramel	0.16 lb	0.93%
Fuggles 120 min	1.50 oz
Fuggles 60 min	1.50 oz
Goldings 30 min	1.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1080
FG	1016.1
ABV	8.45
Apparent attenuation	79.88%
IBU	47
SRM	32
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	WLP025 Southwold