Let's Brew - 1939 Barclay Perkins Dark Lager

As promised, a lovely looking Barclay Perkins Dark Lager from just before the outbreak of WW II.

I like the way that, right from the outset, Barclay Perkins produced a Dark Lager. And not only that, they also brewed it at a decent strength. Dunkles Export you would probably have called it in Germany at the time.

Compared to their other beers, the ingredients and brewing methods were quite varied across Barclay Perkins Lagers. The mashing schemes are all different, for example. Dark’s was rather shorter, as this shows:

mash in	125º F	30 minutes
raise to	158º F	20 minutes
raise to	170º F
hold at	170º F	35 minutes
Sparge at	175º F

Almost, but not quite all malt. Most of the colouring being provided by roast barley. Why use that and not black malt? Because roast barley was in all of their Stouts. Had they been using black malt there, I’m sure they would have in Dark, too.

All Saaz hops again. A third from the 1937 crop, the rest from 1938, both cold stored.

1939 Barclay Perkins Dark Lager
lager malt	10.50 lb	79.25%
crystal malt 80 L	2.50 lb	18.87%
roast barley	0.25 lb	1.89%
Saaz 90 mins	0.75 oz
Saaz 60 mins	0.75 oz
Saaz 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1057.5
FG	1018.5
ABV	5.16
Apparent attenuation	67.83%
IBU	22
SRM	20
Mash at	158º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	46º F
Yeast	Wyeast 2042 Danish lager