Barclay Perkins Mild Ale grists 1914 – 1921

I suppose I should give you the details of the grists of Barclay Perkins WW I Milds.

It’s all rather complicated. So complicated, in fact, that I can’t fit all the details in a single table. There were multiple changes to the ingredients used, mostly prompted by external factors.

For example, flaked maize disappeared from Barclay Perkins grists in the middle of the war. Presumably because maize had to be imported and had become unavailable. The same is true of American hops, which had been very popular with British brewers before the war. Ironically, there was a glut of English hops in the later war years and the government had to step in to stop all the growers becoming bankrupt.

Barclay Perkins Mild Ale grists 1914 - 1921 grains
Date	Year	Beer	OG	pale malt	brown malt	amber malt	crystal malt	SA malt	PA malt	flaked maize	roast barley
11th Mar	1914	X	1051.3	62.1%		6.8%				11.1%
4th Jun	1915	X	1050.9	76.8%		8.5%
9th Jun	1916	X	1048.6	60.4%		7.2%				12.1%
17th May	1917	X	1046.7	71.3%		10.4%	6.8%
10th Jul	1917	GA	1036.3	74.1%		10.9%	5.9%
22nd Mar	1918	X	1046.5	64.0%	10.3%	13.9%
22nd Mar	1918	GA	1037.8	64.0%	10.3%	13.9%
11th Apr	1918	Ale 4d	1026.7	62.6%	5.4%	12.9%	5.4%
18th Sep	1918	Ale 4d	1025.8	60.3%	8.6%	8.6%	6.2%				1.2%
26th May	1919	X	1036.5	62.2%	4.7%	11.3%				8.3%	0.6%
26th May	1919	Ale 4d	1029.4	62.2%	4.7%	11.3%				8.3%	0.6%
2nd Jun	1919	Ale 4d	1026.4	62.2%	4.7%	11.2%				8.3%	0.6%
3rd Jul	1919	X	1039.4	60.7%		10.4%	4.4%			12.0%
21st Nov	1919	X	1042.4	54.4%		9.4%	4.9%			10.3%
21st Nov	1919	Ale 4d	1028.4	54.4%		9.4%	4.9%			10.3%
20th Feb	1920	X	1042.5	52.2%		9.1%	5.4%			12.4%
20th Feb	1920	Ale 4d	1028.3	52.2%		9.1%	5.4%			12.4%
1st Apr	1921	X	1041.4	19.1%		10.9%	5.5%	20.4%	20.4%	13.6%
1st Apr	1921	Ale 5d	1028.4	19.1%		10.9%	5.5%	20.4%	20.4%	13.6%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/603, ACC/2305/01/604, ACC/2305/01/606, ACC/2305/01/607 and ACC/2305/01/609.

There were only two grains used throughout: pale malt and amber malt. The latter is an interesting one, as it wasn’t that common in Mild Ale recipes. It seems to have been particular to Barclay Perkins.

I’m slightly surprised by the patchy use of crystal malt. That was a common ingredient in Mild Ale. Unlike brown malt, which Barclay Perkins used in their Milds in 1918 and 1919. Why did they suddenly add it to their Mild recipes? My best guess is that they had a lot of it hanging around and wanted to use it. Or they wanted to offset the loss of body through the drop in gravity.
I’m not sure why would have used the roast barley, other than for colour purposes. It only appears in low-gravity recipes.

Their sugar usage was more consistent, with No. 3 invert and Martineau’s BS in the vast majority of recipes. While a small quantity of caramel was in every recipe. This is obviously to darken the colour. By this time their Milds were semi-dark, not as brown as modern Dark Mild, but noticeably darker than their Pale Ales.

Barclay Perkins Mild Ale grists 1914 - 1921 sugar
Date	Year	Beer	OG	no. 3 sugar	caramel	glucose	dark sacc.	Garton's X	Martineau's BS	hops
11th Mar	1914	X	1051.3	13.05%	0.12%		6.81%			MK, EK
4th Jun	1915	X	1050.9	9.55%	0.14%			5.00%		MK Fuggles, MK
9th Jun	1916	X	1048.6	9.66%	0.14%				10.47%	MK
17th May	1917	X	1046.7	5.73%	0.06%				5.73%	MK
10th Jul	1917	GA	1036.3	4.49%	0.11%				4.49%	MK
22nd Mar	1918	X	1046.5	5.51%	0.69%				5.51%	MK, EK
22nd Mar	1918	GA	1037.8	5.51%	0.69%				5.51%	MK, EK
11th Apr	1918	Ale 4d	1026.7	5.76%	0.72%				7.19%	MK, EK
18th Sep	1918	Ale 4d	1025.8		0.26%	9.85%			4.93%	MK
26th May	1919	X	1036.5	12.64%	0.25%					MK
26th May	1919	Ale 4d	1029.4	12.64%	0.25%					MK
2nd Jun	1919	Ale 4d	1026.4	8.68%	0.35%				3.95%	MK
3rd Jul	1919	X	1039.4	5.83%	0.14%				6.56%	MK
21st Nov	1919	X	1042.4	10.19%	0.52%				10.19%	MK
21st Nov	1919	Ale 4d	1028.4	10.19%	0.52%				10.19%	MK
20th Feb	1920	X	1042.5	6.63%	0.36%				13.82%	MK, Pacifics
20th Feb	1920	Ale 4d	1028.3	6.63%	0.36%				13.82%	MK, Pacifics
1st Apr	1921	X	1041.4	3.03%	0.33%				6.66%	MK, Pacific, Alsace
1st Apr	1921	Ale 5d	1028.4	3.03%	0.33%				6.66%	MK, Pacific, Alsace
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/603, ACC/2305/01/604, ACC/2305/01/606, ACC/2305/01/607 and ACC/2305/01/609.