Scottish Mild in WW II

The war didn’t do anything to help Mild’s fortunes in Scotland. Probably the opposite, as most breweries trimmed their ranges during the conflict. And the first beers to go were always the less fashionable ones. And Mild Ale hadn’t been a popular north of the border for several decades.

As was often the case, William Younger was a big exception. They had brewed a range of Milds between the wars, and continued to do so after all the nastiness began. A larger range than most breweries South of the border. While using the classic X designations common in England before WW I.

Weakest of the Younger bunch of Mild was X Ale. Which was much the same as the weakest class of English Milds. What, pre-war, would have been a 4d per pint Ale in London. Or a standard Mild Ale out in the sticks.

Note that at, the start of hostilities, X Ale was dry hopped. A practice which wasn’t totally standard for Mild Ales, but which was employed by some breweries. But which Younger dropped in 1942, presumably to conserve hops for other more pressing uses.

Kicking off the war at around the minimum finically viable gravity, there was no way X Ale was ever going to survive the war. Especially when there were other Milds in Younger’s portfolio. And, sure enough, in 1942, when the OG of its next sibling, XX, dropped to almost the same level, X Ale was discontinued.

Next up the strength pole was, unsurprisingly, XX. A Mild which wasn’t much stronger, but just enough to differentiate itself from X Ale.

The gravity fell surprisingly little during the war, just 2º. Bugger all, in the scheme of things.

Both the ABV and attenuation level listed are a bit deceptive. Not just for XX, but for all William Younger’s beers. Because the brewing records don’t list the racking gravity, but the cleansing gravity. Which is several degrees higher. Based on analyses of Younger’s beers, the rate of attenuation was mostly 70-75% when sold.

The hopping levels for both X and XX are ludicrously low. Half the level even of a rural brewery like Adnams  and a quarter of that of a large London brewery like Whitbread or Barclay Perkins . When you get to the recipes section you’ll see the result: beers with fewer than 10 IBU (calculated).

Though, as initially, there was a reasonable rate of dry hopping, Younger’s Milds might have had a surprising level of hop flavour, despite the almost total lack of bitterness.

William Younger X Ale 1939 - 1942
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	dry hops (oz / barrel)
17th Nov	1939	1029.0	1012.0	2.25	58.62%	2.50	0.28	2.03
1st Nov	1940	1028.0	1011.0	2.25	60.71%	2.69	0.25	2.06
15th Aug	1941	1028.0	1012.0	2.12	57.14%	2.19	0.23	1.90
9th Jul	1942	1028.0	1011.0	2.25	60.71%	2.33	0.25	0.00
Sources:
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 and WY/6/1/2/79.

  

William Younger XX Ale 1939 - 1944
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	dry hops (oz / barrel)
23rd Nov	1939	1032.0	1012.0	2.65	62.50%	2.50	0.31	1.97
10th Oct	1940	1031.0	1012.0	2.51	61.29%	2.35	0.27	1.88
12th Dec	1941	1031.0	1012.0	2.51	61.29%	2.35	0.29	0.00
23rd Jan	1942	1031.0	1012.0	2.51	61.29%	2.35	0.27	4.06
18th Dec	1942	1030.0	1010.0	2.65	66.67%	2.88	0.34	0.00
9th Nov	1943	1030.0	1012.0	2.38	60.00%	2.94	0.35	0.00
9th Apr	1944	1030.0	1013.0	2.25	56.67%	2.94	0.35	0.00
Sources:
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/6/1/2/79 and WY/6/1/2/81.