Double Century Ale was introduced in 1949 to commemorate 200 years of William Younger. Except, as Martyn Cornell has pointed out, the date is a few decades too early. The 1749 date for the founding of the brewery is wildly optimistic.
I’m not sure what style it’s meant to be. Strong Brown Ale? Old Ale? Scotch Ale? Who really cares?
One odd feature of Double Century is that, despite containing lactose, it has a higher degree of attenuation than most William Younger beers. A bit weird, that. Though they did like lactose, using it in several different styles, not just Milk Stout like most breweries. They were a bit modern in that way.
The grist isn’t complicated, just pale malt, flaked maize and sugar. Once again, the percentage of adjunct is very high.
| 1958 William Younger Double Century Ale | ||
| pale malt | 8.00 lb | 61.54% |
| flaked maize | 4.00 lb | 30.77% |
| lactose | 0.50 lb | 3.85% |
| cane sugar | 0.25 lb | 1.92% |
| caramel 1000 SRM | 0.25 lb | 1.92% |
| Fuggles 90 mins | 1.00 oz | |
| Fuggles 60 mins | 0.50 oz | |
| Goldings 30 mins | 0.25 oz | |
| OG | 1057 | |
| FG | 1014 | |
| ABV | 5.69 | |
| Apparent attenuation | 75.44% | |
| IBU | 21 | |
| SRM | 19 | |
| Mash at | 149º F | |
| Sparge at | 160º F | |
| Boil time | 90 minutes | |
| pitching temp | 59º F | |
| Yeast | WLP028 Edinburgh Ale | |
This is one of literally hundreds of recipes in my book on UK brewing in the aftermath of WW II, Austerity!
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/austerity/23181344
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1 comment:
The gravity suggests it occupied a similar space in the range as draught No 3 or Burton for an English brewery. I spoke to one person who remembered drinking Double Century Ale who was surprised when I told him it was only 5.6% ABV. In its day it was regarded as loopy juice (which of course it was by the standards of the time) – much as beers of a similar strength such as Old Peculier, Fuller’s ESB and Dogbolter gained a fearsome reputation in the 1970s and 80s.
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