Let's Brew - 1917 Kidd BB

Kidd was a small brewery in Dartford, Kent, just outside London. It was bought and closed by Courage in 1937.

BB probably stands for Best Bitter, though by this stage of the war “best” was a much devalued term. In fact it looks remarkably like a post WW II Ordinary Bitter.

There’s not much to the grist, just pale malt, some sugar and the merest hint of malt extract. As I’ve mentioned many times before, crystal malt in Bitter is really quite a recent thing. Pretty much unknown before WW I and not common until after WW II.

I know a little more about the hops in this case. Half were Kent, the other half Farnhams. As the latter hops aren’t generally available nowadays, I’ve replaced them with the very similar Goldings. All the hops were from the 1916 crop and, as this beer was brewed at the start of February, they were pretty fresh. It results in quite a bitter beer for something of such relatively low gravity.

1917 Kidd BB
pale malt	6.00 lb	78.69%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.50 lb	19.67%
malt extract	0.125 lb	1.64%
Fuggles 135 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.75 oz
OG	1038
FG	1010
ABV	3.70
Apparent attenuation	73.68%
IBU	46
SRM	11
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	135 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale