Truman (Burton) malts in 1939

There wasn’t a great deal of variation in Truman’s recipes. The only real difference being that the Mild Ales contained some crystal malt.

The percentage of malt was pretty high in all the beers, ranging from 85% to 95% of the grist. Unsurprisingly, it was the two strongest and most expensive beers, Stock 1 and Stock 2, which contained the highest percentage.

The pale malt, as was standard. Consisted of several different types. Usually two English and one Californian, with the latter around 25% of the pale malt.

Less usual is the presence of two further types of base malt: high-dried malt and I.M Co. I believe the latter was some sort of enzymic malt. High-dried is a tricky one. Evidently Simpson’s Imperial malt is the closest modern equivalent.

The Mild Ales and the Burton Ale, all contained 5-7% crystal malt. Which is pretty much what you would expect. The Pale and Stock Ales included none at all. I keep banging on about this, but crystal malt in Pale Ales only really became common after WW II.

Truman (Burton) malts in 1939
Beer	Style	OG	pale malt	crystal malt	high dried malt	I.M. Co.	total malt
X	Mild	1030.2	54.10%	4.92%	22.13%	2.46%	83.61%
X "Dark"	Mild	1028.5	52.63%	7.02%	21.05%	3.51%	84.21%
X "Light"	Mild	1030.2	52.29%	5.50%	22.02%	2.75%	82.57%
XX	Mild	1035.5	54.10%	4.92%	22.13%	2.46%	83.61%
XX "Dark"	Mild	1033.8	52.63%	7.02%	21.05%	3.51%	84.21%
XX "Light"	Mild	1035.5	52.29%	5.50%	22.02%	2.75%	82.57%
No. 7	Mild	1041.3	55.65%	4.84%	21.77%	2.42%	84.68%
Pale1	Pale Ale	1053.5	71.68%		13.27%	2.65%	87.61%
Pale1 B	Pale Ale	1053.5	71.68%		13.27%	2.65%	87.61%
Pale2	Pale Ale	1047.4	67.35%		15.31%	3.06%	85.71%
XXX	Strong Ale	1048.2	54.10%	4.92%	22.13%	2.46%	83.61%
B3	Ale	1056	67.35%		15.31%	3.06%	85.71%
R4	Ale	1052.9	67.35%		15.31%	3.06%	85.71%
Stock 1	Stock Ale	1105.3	72.09%		23.26%		95.35%
Stock 2	Stock Ale	1088.6	72.09%		23.26%		95.35%
Source:
Truman brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/339.