Let's Brew Wednesday - 1956 Tennant's BB

As we’ve already learned, BB stands for Bitter Beer. Or Tennant’s Ordinary Bitter.

It’s a good bit weaker, understandably, than their Best Bitter. There used to be a lot of draught Bitters that were around the same strength as Mild. In the West Country, this type of beer was called Boy’s Bitter. Sadly, it’s all but died out.

I find Tennant’s grists pretty odd. There are a lot of ingredients, many only in tiny amounts. I really can’t see the point is some. For example, the lactose. It could hardly have had any impact on the flavour of the finished beer.

The recipe is very similar to the Best Bitter, unsurprisingly. Though Tennant don’t seem to have ever gone in for parti-gyling. All the beers in this brewing book were produced single-gyle. To be honest, the level of hopping in this beer makes it more like a Light mild than a Bitter.

1956 Tennant's BB
pale malt	5.00 lb	70.52%
enzymic malt	0.125 lb	1.76%
crystal malt 60 L	0.25 lb	3.53%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	7.05%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.00 lb	14.10%
lactose	0.09 lb	1.27%
malt extract	0.125 lb	1.76%
Fuggles 90 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings 90 mins	0.125 oz
Fuggles 40 mins	0.33 oz
Goldings 20 mins	0.33 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.125 oz
OG	1033
FG	1006.5
ABV	3.51
Apparent attenuation	80.30%
IBU	17
SRM	7
Mash at	147º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale