Let's Brew Wednesday - 1942 Barclay Perkins Ale

I'm back working on my mext book for the first time in almost a month. It's a strange feeling. All the travelling and writing travel reports has really kicked a hole in my writing schedule.

What better why to restart than a lovely watery Mild recipe? Something that beautifully encapsulates the WW II beer-drinking experience.

I’m amazed that Barclay Perkins was still producing Ale in 1942. Especially as the reductions in gravity had left it almost the same strength as X.

The gravities had been compressed so much that, as brewed X and Ale were pretty much the same. The only difference was in the primings, where X received 2 quarts per barrel and Ale just 1 quart. There has been a small fall in gravity, just 1º, since 1941.

By this point in the war, Barclay Perkins were bre3wing their Milds single-gyle. Not sure why as they all had essentially the same recipe. Though if you look closely at this recipe you’ll see that while all the elements are the same – and there are a lot of them – the proportions aren’t the same.

For example, there’s far less lager malt than in X and a little more crystal malt. As there seems to have been some improvisation going on, presumably because of the available of various raw materials, that could explain the differences.

There were two types of hops: Mid-Kent Fuggles from the 1941 harvest and kept in a cold store, plus East Kent Goldings Varieties from 1940.

1942 Barclay Perkins Ale
mild malt	4.00 lb	63.85%
lager malt	0.125 lb	2.00%
crystal malt 60 L	0.33 lb	5.27%
amber malt	0.50 lb	7.98%
flaked barley	0.50 lb	7.98%
torrefied barley	0.25 lb	3.99%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.50 lb	7.98%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.06 lb	0.96%
Fuggles 90 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.50 oz
OG	1028.5
FG	1007
ABV	2.84
Apparent attenuation	75.44%
IBU	14
SRM	12
Mash at	144º F
After underlet	150º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale