A good year for blogging

If for nothing else. What I really meant was, a good year statistically for me blogging, More posts than any year since 2014, the last time I topped 500.

I put it down to all those posts pushing discounts on my books.

I'll end the year with a WW II pub tale. And another colourful criminal:

"FOUND IN HOTEL CELLAR
Prison for a Thief with Bad Record
For stealing nine bottles of gin and four of whiskey, value £l7 10s. 3d., from the Railway Hotel, London Road, Twickenham. Henry George Dilloway (53), builder, of 12a, Hampton Road, Twickenham, was sent to prison for three months with hard labour, at Brentford, on Thursday.— He had pleaded not guilty. 

Mrs. Kathleen Horton said that about 3.30 p.m. on December 18th she returned to the hotel and saw Dilloway, whom she knew as "Darkie,” in the cellar with two bottles of gin in his pockets. She informed her husband and saw a bag containing bottles of whiskey. Dilloway had no authority to be on the premises, the house being closed. 

Reginald Walter Horton, the licensee, said he was in the saloon bar after returning to the hotel with his wife, when she said "Darkie is in the cellar.” Ask what he as doing. Dilloway replied that he had come to see Cyril, a man who resided at the house. Witness noticed that he had two bottles of gin in his coat pockets and he put down bag containing 11 other bottles of spirits. Witness said he went to mall up Mr. Cyril Wilson, and on his return «found that Dilloway had gone. Then he checked the stock, found 13 bottles of spirit short, and informed the police. Later he received phone call from Dilloway, but after the latter had used the words “Was this the thing,” the lines became crossed and he heard no more of the conversation. 

Det. Sergt. Elliott said that 8.30 p.m. on December 18th he saw Dilloway in the Nelson public house, Stanley Road, Teddington. and told him he was going to arrest him for stealing gin and whiskey from the Railway Hotel. He replied "There’s nothing stolen.” When he was charged at Twickenham Police Station he said. You have charged me with stealing.” 

Dilloway, on oath, said he went to the house to ask Mr. Wilson if he could borrow a barrow. He had no intention of stealing, and stole nothing. No one saw him with the bag although he admitted it was there.

The Chairman: Then how do you get over the fact of the two bottles in your pockets? Dilloway replied that, he did not have them. He admitted that he placed the other bottles in the bag. 

The Chairman; Obviously with the intention of taking them.— Dilloway; Yes, but I thought better of it.—Asked by Sergt. Elliott how he got into the house, Dilloway said he went through the back gate and found the door open. 

Det. Sergt. Elliott said that at Richmond in 1930, Dilloway was sent to prison for two months for deserting his family; in 1930 at the Central Criminal Court, he was sentenced to nine months for bigamy: in 1934, he was fined £5 and sent to prison for two months for the unlawful possession of two bottles of whiskey, and in the same year was fined for aiding and abetting the sale of intoxicating liquor without a licence. 

The Chairman said that the Bench had not the slightest doubt that he went to the house with the intention to steal the spirits."
Middlesex Chronicle - Saturday 30 December 1944, page 2.

An interestingly varied set of offences there. It does  seem a bit counterproductive sending some one to prison for deserting their family.

My books cheap (for a little while)

Treat yourself for the New Year! January is a miserable month - cheer yourself up with one of my books.

Until January 1st at 11:59 PM UTC you can get 15% off my Lulu books with this discount code:

NEWYOU15

The perfect opportunity to pick up some of my wonderful books cheaply.

 

Scottish weak bottled Stout after WW II

Low-gravity and poorly-attenuated Stouts had been brewed in Scotland since the late 19th century. For example, in 1888, William Younger’s S3 Stout was barely 4% ABV and hopped at just 4lbs per quarter (338 lbs) of malt, a very low rate. Even lower, as some, or all, of the hops were spent.
This trend to ever weaker and sweeter Stouts continued, reaching its ridiculous peak after WW II.

Some of these beers are so weak, they could have legally been sold to children, being around the same strength as shandy. Did people drink such beers straight? Because if you did, you weren’t going to have a very merry evening down the pub.

McEwan’s Imperial Stout is really a joke, being under 3% ABV. Is this the weakest Imperial Stout ever brewed? Sweet Stouts were brewed elsewhere in the UK, but never as ridiculously weak and poorly-attenuated as the most extreme Scottish examples.

Scottish weak bottled Stout after WW II
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1949	Aitken	Stout		1038.5	1020	2.38	48.05%
1948	Belhaven	No. 1 Stout		1035	1011	3.11	68.57%
1949	Belhaven	No. 1 Stout		1035.5	1015.5	2.58	56.34%
1949	Blair	Invalid Stout		1035	1016	2.45	54.29%
1948	Maclachlan	Stout		1032	1009.5	2.91	70.31%
1949	McEwan	Imperial Stout		1039.5	1017	2.90	56.96%
1947	Tennent	Stout	13	1030.7	1018.18	1.61	40.78%
1948	Tennent	Stout		1030	1015.5	1.86	48.33%
1949	Tennent	Stout		1032	1017.5	1.86	45.31%
1949	Tennent	Stout	15	1034.9	1018.3	2.13	47.56%
1948	Younger, Geo	Extra Stout		1036.5	1017.5	2.44	52.05%
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number TU/6/11.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1960 Truman S1

A couple of World Wars have done nothing to diminish the strength of Truman No. 1. Its gravity remains 1105º.

Even at this late a date, Truman produced their Barley Wine in a very old-fashioned way. S1 was brewed and aged for at least 12 months. At which point R1, the running version was brewed and blended with the aged beer. This blending was done by taste, not based on fixed ratios of old and young. The idea was to produce a blend which wasn’t too acidic.

Should you wish to follow this route, the next recipe is R1.

Nothing too complicated about the recipe, simply pale malt, a touch of crystal and No. 3 invert. It differs from all Truman’s other Burton Ales in containing no flaked maize.

Of the three types of English hops, I only have information about one. Which was Brewer’s Gold from the 1959 harvest.

1960 Truman S1
pale malt	21.00 lb	89.36%
crystal malt 60 L	0.50 lb	2.13%
No. 3 invert sugar	2.00 lb	8.51%
Fuggles 150 mins	4.00 oz
Brewer's Gold 60 mins	2.25 oz
Goldings 30 mins	3.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1105
FG	1039
ABV	8.73
Apparent attenuation	62.86%
IBU	96
SRM	17
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

 

This recipe is in my two new books, Strong! vols. 1 & 2 and Strong! vol.2.

 

 

 

 

 

Scottish draught Stout after WW II

The tendency towards ever-sweeter Stouts continued north of the border. And with it some very puny beers, especially in terms of ABV.

I was shocked to find draught Scottish Stout after WW II. Especially as I’ve precious little evidence of it between the wars. But it must have been a thing, as I’ve found examples from three different breweries. Draught Stout remained reasonably popular in London and, obviously, was big in Northern Ireland. In the rest of the UK, it was pretty much dead by WW II.

The main common feature of these draught Stouts is a puny OG. With the weakest, from Robert Younger – under 1030º. Which is a total joke for a beer whose name literally means “strong”.

Not that London draught Stouts were much stronger. In 1947, Barclay Perkins Best Stout was just 1037.6º  and Whitbread Stout 1035.3º.

At least the rate of attenuation is reasonable, with even the worst pushing 70% apparent. Though, due to the low OG, only one manages to crawl past 3% ABV. Even that is better than the next set manages.

Scottish draught Stout after WW II
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1947	Younger, Robert	Stout	14	1028	1007.5	2.66	73.21%
1947	McEwan	Stout	14	1030.5	1006	3.18	80.33%
1947	Campbell, Hope & King	Draught Stout	12	1032.5	1010.5	2.85	67.69%
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number TU/6/11.

 

 

My books cheap (again, again)

Until January 1st at 11:59 PM UTC you can get 15% off my Lulu books with this discount code:

NEWYOU15

The perfect opportunity to pick up some of my wonderful books cheaply.

Deterioration of hops over time

I regularly find dead useful stuff when searching for something else completely. For example, this paragraph about hop deterioration. Extremely useful for someone writing recipes where the original beer had hops of varying ages.

What I was looking for was information on the new hop variety OP21, which I'd come across in wartime William Younger brewing record. Brewer's Friend, if you were wondering.

Weirdly, the bit that really interested me also had a William Younger connection.

It will be noticed that in the majority of cases the preservative value (P.V.) of the hops used, both “experimental” and control, was not ascertained. In the writers opinion, no really satisfactory comparative test of varieties of hops can be made in the absence of this knowledge. In this connection we should like to mention that Mr. G. T. Peard, head brewer of Marston, Thompson & Evershed, Ltd., Burton-on-Trent, has made the suggestion that the merchant should be asked to provide an analysis with the hops he supplies, so that the brewer is enabled to select the most suitable hops when buying. Further, we would point out that if this were done, it would be possible, by assessing the loss in P.V. of such hops during storage, for those brewers who desired to know the P.V. of the hops at the time of brewing to have this information. In this way hops could be used at the proper hop-rate and with the maximum of economy. On the question of the practicability of this assessment, we have consulted Mr. J. S. Ford, of Wm. Younger & Co., Ltd., who kindly furnished us with the following very valuable information: “We have a large mass of data concerning the fall in a resin content during storage. Our cold store 1° C. shows a loss of 0.07 per cent, a per month during the first 10-12 months and about 0.10 per cent, per month during the second 12 months. In an ordinary store we find 0.13 per cent, per month during the first 10-12 months; during the second year it is very variable and may go as high as 0.5 per cent, per month. Indeed, the loss is so variable and great, that after one year in ordinary store, many hops should go below the copper, not into it — I mean to heat the worts not to hop them. As regards the new varieties and higher resin content hops we have not so many data but we have found that when properly packed, the cold store figures we have quoted for ordinary hops apply to the loss in the new varieties."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Mar - April, 1944, page 84.

The "Preservative Value" mentioned is calculated from both the alpha and beta resins. (PV=10(alpha + beta/3)). So it isn't exactly the same as the alpha acid content, but I think it's a fairly good guide to the decline in resin content.

I've made a few calculations based on the figures provided by Younger:

In cold store
variety	Fresh	6 months	12 months	18 months	24 months
Goldings	5%	4.98%	4.96%	4.93%	4.87%
Cluster	7%	6.97%	6.94%	6.90%	6.82%

Not that much deterioration at all. Ut looks much worse for those not in a cold store:

Not in cold store
variety	Fresh	6 months	12 months	18 months	24 months
Goldings	5%	4.96%	4.92%	4.77%	4.47%
Cluster	7%	6.95%	6.89%	6.68%	6.26%

Looking at one if the few sets of analyses I have, the alpha acid content declines more rapidly than the PV:

Analyses of Fuggle's hops during storage
	cold store			warehouse
storage period	alpha resin	beta resin	preservative value	alpha resin	beta resin	preservative value
	6.28	8.6	91.5	6.67	9.26	97.6
5 months	6.22	8.2	89.5	5.83	9.17	88.8
9 months	5.72	8.25	84.7	4.72	9.34	78.5
14 months	5.84	8.54	86.9	3.48	8.64	63.6
19 months	5.15	8.92	81.2	3.21	9.9	55.1
Source:
"Brewing Science & Practice" H. Lloyd Hind, 1943, page 349

The PV is falling by around 0.6% per month in cold store, while the alphas acid content is falling by around 1% per month. So It seems that while the bitterness declines by quite a bit, even after 19 months the PV hasn't been that badly affected.

The rule of thumb I'm going to use in future, for cold stored hops is 1% per month for the first year, 2% after that. Non cold-stored hops 3% per month for the first year, 6% after that.

More wartime pub fun

Even as late as 1944, pubs were still struggling to obtain sufficient supplies of beer. Quite naturally, pubs were reluctant to open if they had nothing to sell.

Heating and lighting weren't free, with both coal and electricity being expensive. Not to mention wages for staff. The licensing authorities didn't always agree. Some threatening to remove licences on the grounds of redundancy, arguing if pubs which didn't open the full hours were surplus to requirements.

"PUBLIC HOUSE HOURS
TRADE’S REPLY TO CRITICS
Captain A. J. Dyer, at meeting of the Licensed Victuallers Central Protection Society of London, to-day answered complaints about the closing of public houses during permitted hours owing to shortage of supplies. 

It was right to assume, he said, that the tenants would certainly keep their houses open if they thought that there was any business to done. 

It was surprising that the very people who had complained in the past if a public house was open two or three minutes after time were those who now railed if the houses were not open all the hours permitted. 

While a licensee could not demand to see young people’s identity cards he could ask for them to be produced, and if they would not show the cards the implications would be that they were not 18 and should therefore be refused alcohol. 

He had seen the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the subject of reducing liquor taxation. They were paying License Duty to sell commodities which they were unable to obtain to pass on to the public. Members of the Trade could feel satisfied that they had in no small way contributed to maintaining the morale of the British people. 

The Chief Constable of Oxford, Mr. C. R. Pox, reported to Oxford Licensing Sessions to-day that, owing to shortage of supplies, arrangement was made for public-houses to remain open for two hours in the morning and two hours at night, instead of the usual hours. 

Commenting on those licensees said not to be playing the game, the chairman, Mr. D. M. Rose, said that if this continued the magistrates would take drastic action."
Birmingham Mail - Wednesday 09 February 1944, page 4.

The bit about ID cards and underage drinking seems a bit random. The war was one of the few times most people in the UK had photo ID. When I was a teenager, there was no document that they could have asked to see to prove my age. Just as well, or I may have struggles to ever buy a pint. Odd that landlords couldn't demand to see ID. Pretty sure that they can now.

Underage drinking wasn't very common before WW II. But with full youth employment and high wages, teenagers had more disposable income than during peacetime and this seems to have encouraged youths to enter pubs.

As this young man did:

"Under Age In Public House
A charge of purchasing beer for himself in a public house being at the time under 18 years of age, was preferred at Maesteg Police Court on Monday against David E. Rees, 5 Grove Street, Nantyffyllon. 

P.C. Harding stated that at 9.50 p.m., February 25th he entered the "Farmers' Arms," Maesteg, where he saw the defendant in the singing room with a pint measure containing beer in front of him. Witness asked him to produce his identity card which he did and which revealed that he was only 17 years and 4 month, old. The licensee's' daughter then came up to them and asked the defendant why he told her he was 18.5 and he replied "I told you I was over 18." It was stated to he the defendant's first offence and he was ordered to pay costs, no conviction being recorded.
Glamorgan Gazette - Friday 24 March 1944, page 4.

I've never heard of a "singing room" before. Sounds like fun. 4 shillings costs and no conviction is really just a slap on the wrist.

The Farmers' Arms no longer exists, sadly. Unless it's changed it's name.

Let's Brew - 1924 Barclay Perkins KKK

A very appropriate recipe for this time of year, as KKK - and later KKKK - was effectively Barclay's Christmas beer.

I’m shocked that Barclay Perkins brewed their stronger Burton Ale, KKK, after WW II. Though it was a fairly modest batch of 118 barrels, brewed on their small kit. Even more surprisingly, it’s only 5º weaker than pre-war.

The recipe is very similar to that of KK, but with one big difference – there’s no flaked maize. Pale and SA malt form the base again. As usual, I’ve substituted mild malt for the latter. Rather than BS like KK, KKK uses plain old No.2 invert.

All the hops were Goldings: Mid-Kent from the 1922 and 1923 harvests and East Kent from 1932, all cold stored. The dry hops were also 1923 cold-stored East Kents. There were also rather a lot of hops, as it used the pre-war rate of 14 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt.

There’s no indication in the brewing record as to whether KKK was aged. But, this was brewed in August. Not exactly the month you’d imagine drinking a beer this strong. My guess is that this was a winter seasonal. Probably the precursor of KKKK, which appeared later in the 1920s.

1924 Barclay Perkins KKK
pale malt	4.00 lb	23.02%
mild malt	10.50 lb	60.43%
crystal malt 60 L	1.00 lb	5.76%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.75 lb	10.07%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.125 lb	0.72%
Goldings 135 mins	3.25 oz
Goldings 60 mins	3.25 oz
Goldings 30 mins	3.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1082
FG	1028
ABV	7.14
Apparent attenuation	65.85%
IBU	106
SRM	20
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	164º F
Boil time	135 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

This recipe is in my two new books, Strong! vols. 1 & 2 and Strong! vol.2.

 

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2020 - port and WW II

 18:50

A Channel 5 programme about Christmas in WW II. "Why do they show war films in Britain at Christmas?" Dolores asked me. "No idea", was best response I could come up with. On reflection, it is weird.

The wait is over. The lemon. What to do with it? Cut it carefully in half, squeeze into a half-pint glass and fill up with gin. Don't knock it back in one. It's a sipping drink.

Drinkalongathon 2020 - me and my whisky

 17:51

Just me, a nice slug of Laphroig and my desk. A moment for silent reflection. And raising my spirits in a very literal way.  Ooh, that's nice. All burny and iodoney. How I like my whisky. In a just world, I could to afford to drink it every week of the year, rather than just at Christmas.

You can see a few of my see a few of my essential writing tools in the picture - how many can you identify?

Now, what to do with that last boiled egg? Execute execution. Or was that executive execution? Something with lots of exes in. A bit like a 19th-century brewing record. This whisky is really warming me up. 

Shat to do with that lemon revealed next. Dead exciting, isn't it?

Drinkalongathon 2020 - turkey and some red wine of other

 

17:04

Bit late with the turkey. But, what the hell, it bought me time for a quick whisky. No-one threw up or choked, so I'd call that meal a success. 

The wine was something red from Puglia. Very fruity. Just like my after-dinner farts.

Really tempted by another Laphroig. It is Christmas, after all.

How did  manoeuvre no. 21 go? Amazing, isn't it? Who knew what excitement could be found in just 7 pieces of string and 2 boiled eggs?

I'll let you know what to do with the other egg next time.

Drinkalongathon 2020 - garden and Laphroig

 

25:58

 Getting in a quick whisky while I'm boiling the potatoes to mush. Brilliant. No need to mash them. All that pointless physical effort saved.

The garden looks a bit dull. Just like my senses, after that rather stiff Laphroig.

String alert! I told you it was coming. Execute string manoeuvre no. 21. I repeat, Execute string manoeuvre no. 21, now!

Have to make the gravy now. Back after some turkey scoffing.

Drinkalongathon 2020 - goat cheese pastries and pink wine

 

15:34

It's tricky combining drinking, cooking and blogging. Not sure I'm doing them all justice. Especially the drinking.  As a caring sort of bloke, I'm concentrating most on the cooking.

The turkey is out of the oven, the spuds and carrot boiling to death. Just need to knock up the gravy and I'm done.

I call it pink wine because it's genuinely called Pink & Juicy. Pretty generic stuff. It's a shame to wast good wine on the kids. They'll drink any old shit we give them. This stuff tastes sort of winey. In a very non-specific way.

Drinkalongathon 2020 - Laphroig and James Martin

 14:35

Not that I'm really watching James Martin. As the turkey requires fairly regular fiddling. But the smokiness of the Laphroig accompanies James Martin burning stuff almost perfectly, adding extra texture to the images. As I've started late and slow, I've poured myself a big one. Should get me in the mood for turkey.

I hope you have your string at the ready. And your eggs. They'll be essential very soon.

The kids have got up. Pretty early for Andrew, nowadays.

 

Drinkalongathon 2020 - more fino sherry and a bacon sandwich

 

13:51 

A very slow start this year.  Only two sherries in and it's almost 2 PM. Fino goes dead well with bacon - dry and slightly salty. While the bacon is crispy golden black, just how I like it. And dead salty. 

My sandwich is a bit multicultural - English bacon, extra old Gouda. Yum.

It's feeling like its getting close to Islay time. Have your string at the ready, too. You'll be needing it soon.

Drinkalongathon 2020 - fino sherry and Al Murry

12:37

Bit of a late start this year. I've been busy doing some turkey fiddling. Not even had any breakfast yet.

I'm watching Al Murray's Why Does Everyone Hate the English? Which seems very appropriate, given international events. 

The fino is going down very nicely. Didn't even need to put it into the fridge, given the wonderful underfloor cooling we have in the winter.

William Younger DBS Btlg sugar and hops 1939 - 1944

As there’s not much going on, sugar-wise, I’ve lumped in the hops.

Caramel and lactose, that’s it. With the lactose disappearing in late 1942. Not sure that was really the case. As all the labels I see from around this tine are Milk Stout. It could be that, like Whitbread, they’d started adding it at racking time. On the other hand, it does appear in the brewing records from 1949. Perhaps they just couldn’t source it during the latter stages of the war.

Interesting that, despite being a bottled beer, Younger’s Stout was dry-hopped. Until 1944, that is. At the start of the war, Younger dry-hipped almost every beer, even their Milds. Then they began reducing of beers to get this treatment. The Milds, in late 1941. Abd, in October 1943, most of the Pale Ales. I’m guessing they were saving most of their hops for the copper.

Younger wasn’t very imaginative when it came to hops. Mostly just Kent all the way. Between the wars, they had regularly employed American hops described as “Pacific”, which could mean one of several regions on the West Coast of North America, including British Columbia. OP21 was a new hop variety introduced during the war. Also known as Brewer’s Friend.

With the war making hop imports impossible, no shock that Younger went to 100% Kent.

William Younger DBS Btlg sugar and hops 1939 - 1944
Date	Year	OG	caramel	lactose	dry hops (oz / barrel)	hops
14th Nov	1939	1066	4.12%	6.19%	3.05	Kent (1937, 1938)
11th Oct	1940	1061	2.08%	4.17%	2.78	Kent (1938, 1939)
27th Aug	1941	1060	2.06%	2.06%	2.82	Kent (1940)
4th Mar	1942	1056	2.20%	2.20%	2.83	Kent (1940)
31st Mar	1942	1053	2.27%	2.27%	2.75	Kent (1940)
5th May	1942	1051	2.27%	2.27%	2.71	Kent (1941)
27th Jan	1943	1053	2.25%		2.77	Kent (1941)
2nd Nov	1943	1053	2.25%		2.81	Kent (1942), OP21 (1942)
9th Nov	1943	1053	2.25%		2.73	Kent (1942), OP21 (1942)
18th May	1944	1051	2.25%		0.00	Kent (1943)
Source:
William Younger brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document numbers WY/6/1/2/76, WY/6/1/2/77, WY/6/1/2/78, WY/6/1/2/7 and WY/6/1/2/81.

 

 

Get your string ready!

Because it's almost time for the annual Drinkalongathon. Where you can match my Christmas Day drinking. Should you have no regard for your liver.

As usual, a few items are required. Due to the strange times we live in, the list is somewhat shorter this year.

1 bottle of Laphroig (or other Islay whisky)
1 crate of St. Bernardus Abt
3 boiled eggs
1 bottle of sherry
1 bottle of port
half a lemon
another crate of St. Bernardus Abt (just to be on the safe side)
2 jars of pickled onions
7 pieces of string (extra string to make up for the absence of some other items)
1 copy of A Clockwork Orange
6 cans Gulpener Gladiator (or another super-strong Lager)
1 Chimay glass
1 portrait of Erich Honecker, preferably unframed and slightly damaged
1 small bag of pistachio nuts
250 gm streaky bacon
1 litre vodka (for the kids, if you have any)
1 litre gin (for your partner, if you have one)

Get yourself ready for the big day!

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1869 Barclay Perkins KKKK

As we're getting close to the holiday season, here's a typical Krimble beer: a super-strong Stock Ale.

Biggest boy in the Stock Ale club was the might KKKK. Not a beer for the fainthearted. And not one you’d drink half a dozen pints of.

Though you wouldn’t have chance to drink it for much longer, as it was dropped in 1871. It did make a comeback in the 1920s, when it was a winter seasonal special. Its gravity of 1079º was pretty strong for a draught beer in the interwar period.

Very little of the original KKKK was ever brewed. 1869 was the peak year, with just 1,062 barrels brewed out of a total Ale production of 104,384 barrels.

Nothing very exciting about the grist, again. Though there are, at least, two types of base malt, one from Hertfordshire and one from Sussex. The hops were all from the most recent harvest and were a combination of East Kents and Mid-Kents.

Complete insanity is the only way I can describe the hopping rate. Just shy of 10 lbs per barrel. An insanely large amount, likely to clog the copper just with the pure vegetal mass.

1869 Barclay Perkins KKKK
Mild malt	24.25 lb	100.00%
Goldings 90 min	7.00 oz
Goldings 60 min	7.00 oz
Goldings 30 min	7.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.50 oz
OG	1107
FG	1025
ABV	10.85
Apparent attenuation	76.64%
IBU	181
SRM	9
Mash at	156º F
Sparge at	190º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

This recipe is in my two new books, Strong! vols. 1 & 2 and Strong! vol.2.