Boddinton were always pretty crazy when it came to hopping, using, as they did, five or six different types in every beer. Most breweries stuck to between two and four types. Usually from several different years' harvests. It's a right pain in the arse when transcribing their brewing records and when writing recipes.
While before the war there was generally only one type of foreign hops, during it there were usually two. Boddington's favourite sources being California and Belgium, though Bohemia pops up occasionally, too.
Note that there Belgian hops from the 1915 harvest in the 1917 AK. Belgium's Poperinge hop region was in the tiny corner of Belgium never occupied by the Germans. With very few brewers left locally who could take their hops, ther were plenty going spare. UK brewers used them in increasing quantities later in the war when most other foreign supplies were cut off.
| Boddington AK hopping 1901 - 1917 | ||||||
| Date | Year | OG | copper hops | dry hops | ||
| 12th Dec | 1901 | 1046 | English (4 types) | Californian | ||
| 9th July | 1902 | 1046 | English (1900, 1901) | Californian (1900) | ||
| 7th May | 1903 | 1046 | English (1900, 1901, 1901 CS, 1902) | Californian (1901) | ||
| 29th Jan | 1913 | 1042 | English (1909, 1910, 1911, 1912) | Poperinge (1911) | ||
| 9th Jul | 1914 | 1044 | English (1910, 1912, 1913) | Bohemian (1912) | Californian (1913) | English (1913) & Californian (1913) |
| 5th May | 1915 | 1039 | English (1911, 1912, 1913, 1914) | Poperinghe (1913) | Californian (1913) | English (1914) & Californian (1913) |
| 16th May | 1916 | 1040 | English (1912, 1915) | Californian (1914) | Poperinge (1914) | English (1915) & Californian (1914) |
| 1st Feb | 1917 | 1039 | English (1914, 1915, 1916) | Californian (1915) | Poperinge (1915) | English (1916) & Californian (1915) |
| Sources: | ||||||
| Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/126. | ||||||
| Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/126. | ||||||
| Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/127. | ||||||
The main hop of Poperinge was the Witte Rank, which people seem to think is similar to British whitebines, and hence a great-aunt of the Goldings family. It was very much the premier Belgian hop, the likes of Aalst redbines were considered inferior.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that they're dry hopping with Californian - presumably Cluster or similar??
Hey Ron,
ReplyDeletePlease keep the AK info coming!
Thanks