Let's Brew Wednesday - 1868 William Younger No. 4 Ale Export

When William Younger first introduced their numbered Ales, they went from No. 1, the strongest, to No. 4. The baby of the bunch didn’t last that long. A decade after this beer was brewed, it had disappeared.

A feature of some Younger beers of this period is the complete absence of local ingredients, other than water and yeast. The malt is simply listed as “foreign”, while the hops are described as “Bohemian” and “Saaz”.

No. 4 is very heavily hopped with good quality, low alpha hops. Something which can have a magical effect. There’s also extremely heavy dry hopping. All those factors taken together imply that this beer might well have been allowed to age for a while before sale. I’d go for 3 to 6 months. Not too long, as it doesn’t really have the gravity to spend years maturing.

1868 William Younger No. 4 Ale Export
pale malt	15.75 lb	100.00%
Saaz 90 min	3.00 oz
Saaz 60 min	3.50 oz
Saaz 20 min	3.00 oz
Saaz dry hops	2.50 oz
OG	1068
FG	1022
ABV	6.09
Apparent attenuation	67.65%
IBU	84
SRM	6
Mash at	154º F
Sparge at	185º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

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