My perceptions were distorted by only having looked at large London breweries, whose Milds were untypically strong. Outside London there were sub-1040º Milds well before the war. Boddington B being a good example.
This was Boddington’s weakest Mild. Looking at it just the recipe, I’d struggle to identify which period it was brewed in. It looks very much like a 1930’s Mild in terms of strength. It could even be 1950’s Mild at the strong end of the spectrum.
It must have been a bit of a shock for provincial Mild drinkers if they visited London. An X Ale in the capital was usually over 5% ABV and there was no weaker alternative, if you wanted to drink Mild. X Ale was the only Mild they brewed.
There’s not a great deal to the grist, just pale malt, flaked maize and sugar. As the type of sugar isn’t specified, I’ve hedged my bets and plumped for No. 2 invert. It really could be anything. Though, as it appears they used the same sugar in all their beers, I doubt it was anything very dark.
Most of Boddington’s beers at this time contained Californian hops, but, for some reason, this has Bohemian hops instead. Which I’ve interpreted as Saaz. Some of the dry hops were Californian, but all the rest were English. I’ve guessed Fuggles, but some or all Goldings would be fine, too.
| 1914 Boddington B | ||
| pale malt | 6.50 lb | 78.79% |
| flaked maize | 1.25 lb | 15.15% |
| No. 2 invert sugar | 0.50 lb | 6.06% |
| Fuggles 140 mins | 0.50 oz | |
| Fuggles 60 mins | 0.25 oz | |
| Saaz 30 mins | 0.25 oz | |
| Cluster dry hops | 0.13 oz | |
| Fuggles dry hops | 0.13 oz | |
| OG | 1037 | |
| FG | 1010 | |
| ABV | 3.57 | |
| Apparent attenuation | 72.97% | |
| IBU | 13 | |
| SRM | 5 | |
| Mash at | 153º F | |
| Sparge at | 168º F | |
| Boil time | 140 minutes | |
| pitching temp | 63º F | |
| Yeast | Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons) | |
Any idea when Boddies Mild was last brewed? I'd guess mid- to late 80's.
ReplyDeleteI think it was last brewed in the 1990`s , I know that the Oldham Mild was being brewed elsewhere by the mid 1990`s .
ReplyDeleteWhy on earth were they using Californian hops? Were they that much different to English hops or were they dirt cheap do you think?
ReplyDeleteZee Germans Brewery,
ReplyDeleteevery UK brewery did before WW I. The reason was simple: the UK hadn't been able to produce enough hops to satisfy its brewing industry since the 1850's. American hops were plentiful and cheap. The US hop industry was very dependent on exports to the UK which made up a large percentage of the hops grown in the US.