Provincial England Mild Ale during WW I

XX Ale was Adnams biggest-selling Mild Ale. And one they brewed right through the war. Since it started off with a far lower gravity than standard London Milds, the relative drop in gravity was much smaller. In the later stages of the war it formed the vast majority of the beer Adnams brewed.

In 1918 it had the same OG as Courage X Ale, even though that it had started the war with a gravity more than 12 points lower, 1042º as opposed to 1054.6º. It’s a good example of the war levelling out strength differences across the UK.

The Adnams XX recipe was amended several times during WW I.

The most obvious change is the disappearance of flaked maize in 1918. It’s something that’s seen at every brewery. Obviously, it simply wasn’t available. Either because maize wasn’t being imported or it was being diverted for food use. The proportion of maize when it was used is fairly low. 10-15% of the grist was common.

The occasional use of glucose and No. 3 invert was almost certainly due to supply problems. Glucose pops up quite often in wartime recipes while before the war it was quite rare.

Adnams XX Ale 1914 - 1920
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
10th Aug	1914	1042	1007.0	4.63	83.33%	4.20	0.73
30th Apr	1915	1042	1008.9	4.38	78.90%	4.33	0.76
18th Aug	1915	1041	1004.4	4.84	89.19%	4.46	0.76
18th Nov	1915	1040	1006.4	4.45	84.07%	4.46	0.76
31st Mar	1916	1038	1005.5	4.29	85.42%	4.59	0.75
2nd Oct	1916	1035	1005.5	3.90	84.17%	4.91	0.73
1st Jan	1917	1035	1006.1	3.82	82.59%	4.91	0.79
19th Mar	1917	1034	1005.0	3.84	85.34%	4.91	0.72
14th May	1917	1027	1003.3	3.13	87.69%	5.33	0.62
29th May	1917	1024	1003.3	2.74	86.15%	5.10	0.53
4th Apr	1918	1024	1004.2	2.63	82.69%	5.82	0.59
10th May	1918	1022	1003.9	2.40	82.37%	6.14	0.58
30th July	1918	1022	1002.8	2.54	87.41%	6.16	0.60
27th Nov	1918	1022	1002.8	2.54	87.41%	6.14	0.59
11th Apr	1919	1022	1002.8	2.54	87.41%	6.14	0.60
2nd Sep	1919	1027	1005.0	2.91	81.53%	7.53	0.86
19th Jan	1920	1027	1003.3	3.13	87.69%	5.23	0.71
Source:
Adnams brewing records held at the brewery,

Adnams XX Ale grists 1914 - 1920
Date	Year	OG	pale malt	crystal malt	medium malt	flaked maize	no. 2 sugar	no. 3 sugar	glucose	cane blocks	tintose
10th Aug	1914	1042	31.1%	6.2%	43.5%	6.2%				12.4%	0.6%
30th Apr	1915	1042		6.4%	73.7%	6.4%			4.3%	8.5%	0.6%
18th Aug	1915	1041		6.6%	72.9%	6.6%	4.4%			8.8%	0.6%
18th Nov	1915	1040	39.7%	6.6%	33.1%	6.6%		4.4%		8.8%	0.6%
31st Mar	1916	1038	41.1%	6.8%	30.8%	6.8%	4.6%			9.1%	0.7%
2nd Oct	1916	1035	33.1%	7.3%	36.7%	7.3%	4.9%			9.8%	0.8%
1st Jan	1917	1035	33.1%	7.3%	36.7%	7.3%	4.9%			9.8%	0.8%
19th Mar	1917	1034	14.7%	7.3%	55.1%	7.3%	4.9%			9.8%	0.8%
14th May	1917	1027	10.6%	5.3%	63.7%	5.3%	7.1%			7.1%	0.9%
29th May	1917	1024	12.4%	6.2%	61.9%	6.2%	4.1%			8.2%	1.0%
4th Apr	1918	1024	22.0%	5.5%	55.0%	5.5%	7.3%			3.7%	0.9%
10th May	1918	1022	22.9%	5.7%	57.1%	5.7%				7.6%	1.0%
30th July	1918	1022	11.7%	5.8%	64.2%	5.8%	7.8%			3.9%	0.8%
27th Nov	1918	1022	35.0%	5.8%	46.6%		7.8%			3.9%	1.0%
11th Apr	1919	1022	11.7%	5.8%	69.9%			7.8%	3.9%		1.0%
2nd Sep	1919	1027	0.0%	5.0%	80.7%					13.4%	0.8%
19th Jan	1920	1027	16.8%	4.2%	67.1%					11.2%	0.7%
Source:
Adnams brewing records held at the brewery,