Wednesday, 11 July 2018

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1946 Barclay Perkins KK (bottling)

To celebrate the offocial BJCP recognition of Burton Ale, here's an austerity example that probably falls short of the specs.

It's a preview of one of the recipes in my new book, Austerity!. Which documents that most exciting of brewing eras, 1945 to 1965. 200 recipes or so, plus some guff about beer styles and pubs. If I don't get distracted, it should definitely be done by the end of next week.

Bottling KK was marketed as Southwarke Olde Ale. It was a stronger version of KK, their Burton Ale. The difference being that it was a bottled rather than a draught beer. Considering it bears the same name, it’s surprisingly different.

The grist contains no amber malt, as the draught version did,  and the sugar in No. 1 rather than No. 3. Though the brewing record does have “3” crossed out, replaced with a red “1”. Was that a mistake or a recipe change? The other photos I have of this beer aren’t much help. One lists No. 3, the other No. 1.

Another big difference with the draught version is the lack of dry hops. This isn’t unusual. Bottled beers often lacked the draught version’s dry hops. There are more copper hops, however. 8.85 lbs per quarter of malt as opposed to 8.35 lbs. Not a massive difference, but I’m sure it’s no mistake.

It may look modest today, but 1047.5º was a pretty huge OG in 1946.

1946 Barclay Perkins KK (bottling)
pale malt 7.75 lb 74.70%
crystal malt 0.50 lb 4.82%
flaked barley 0.50 lb 4.82%
No. 1 invert sugar 1.50 lb 14.46%
caramel 1000 SRM 0.125 lb 1.20%
Bramling Cross 90 mins 1.00 oz
Fuggles 75 mins 1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins 1.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins 1.00 oz
OG 1047.5
FG 1018
ABV 3.90
Apparent attenuation 62.11%
IBU 55
SRM 15
Mash at 152º F
Sparge at 165º F
Boil time 90 minutes
pitching temp 60º F
Yeast Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

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