Let's Brew - 1939 Whitbread Mackeson Stout

One of Whitbread’s most popular beers was their Milk Stout, Mackeson. They had acquired the brand when they bought the eponymous brewery in Hythe in Kent.

Mackeson was the inventor of Milk Stout – Stout with added lactose – releasing the first version in 1909. The concept was to create a more nourishing version of Stout. It’s debatable whether that’s true, but the new beer was a hit with drinkers.

Mackeson was savvy enough to patent their idea but, as they weren’t large enough to meet demand for the new style themselves, they allowed other brewers to produce their own version under licence. Mackeson, however, remained the brand leader and it was the main reason Whitbread bought the brewery.

This beer is one of the many reasons I thank the heavens for the Whitbread Gravity Book. Because without it I’d have no idea how much lactose was used. Since it isn’t mentioned in the brewing records. Whitbread brewed it as a normal Stout and only added the lactose as primings at racking time. By comparing the OG as brewed with the OG in the Gravity Book, I could work out how much lactose had been added. As brewed, the OG was 1050

Other than the added lactose, the recipe is the same as Porter and London Stout, with which Mackeson was parti-gyled in various combinations.

1939 Whitbread Mackeson Stout
pale malt	8.25 lb	66.43%
brown malt	1.00 lb	8.05%
chocolate malt	1.00 lb	8.05%
flaked oats	0.09 lb	0.72%
lactose	0.75 lb	6.04%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.00 lb	8.05%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.33 lb	2.66%
Hallertau 75 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 75 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.50 oz
OG	1057
FG	1021.5
ABV	4.70
Apparent attenuation	62.28%
IBU	32
SRM	43
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	75 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale