Boddington Bitter 1971 - 1987

This question came up on Twitter: when did Boddington Bitter turn to shit? And why? Sometime it the 1980s, most likely, for the time. As to why, well, having a pretty good set of brewing records for the period in question, I decided to try to answer both questions.

One slight problem. I may possess photos of the years in question, but I hadn't processed them. Not totally, I'd done a couple of beers. Quite a bit of work to pull out all the examples of Boddies Bitter I'd need. I was intrigued, though. And it's a change form WW II stuff.

Despite appearing quite straightforward, Boddington's records contain a few traps. I won't bore you with the details.Except that I had to revisit records I'd already transcribed after I realised I was misinterpreting some of the information. That's always so much fun, having to go back over records you thought you were done with.

After a day or so's work I've assembled what I wanted.  I hope it was worth it.

We'll begin with the basic specs.

Boddington Bitter 1971 - 1987
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	barrels	colour
4th Jan	1971	1035.5	1003	4.30	91.55%	5.52	0.88	113.5	12
28th Oct	1974	1034.5	1004	4.03	88.41%	5.19	0.75	113	13.5
28th Apr	1975	1034.5	1004.5	3.97	86.96%	5.85	0.81	111.75	13.04
29th Apr	1976	1034.5	1004	4.03	88.41%	5.91	0.74	228.5	17
18th Apr	1977	1034.5	1006.5	3.70	81.16%	5.22	0.79	227.75	15
30th Oct	1978	1040	1003	4.89	92.50%	5.59	1.37	41	18
17th Oct	1979	1034	1006.5	3.64	80.88%	5.29	0.82	440.75
31st Dec	1979	1034	1008	3.44	76.47%	5.29	0.73	247.75	12
31st Mar	1980	1034	1007	3.57	79.41%	5.00	0.75	225.25	13
4th Jan	1982	1034	1005.5	3.77	83.82%	6.36	0.97	215.75	14.5
9th Jan	1984	1034	1007	3.57	79.41%	4.48	0.63	431.5	14
14th May	1984	1034	1005.5	3.77	83.82%	4.34	0.59	458.5	13
25th Mar	1985	1034	1007	3.57	79.41%	5.15	0.67	463.25	13.5
24th Feb	1986	1034	1005	3.84	85.29%	5.81	0.73	239.25	12.5
29th Dec	1987	1034	1006	3.70	82.35%	5.81	0.76	461.5	14
Sources:
Boddington brewing records held at Manchester Central Library, document numbers M693/405/134, M693/405/135 and M693/405/136.
Boddington brewing record held at the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester, document number 2006.4/Z/7/1 and 2006.4/Z/7/2.

Not much to report there.A slight whittling down of the gravity, a bit of variation in hopping rate, attenuation falling a bit. Nothing that would hugely alter the character of the beer.

The story is very different when you look at the recipe. That changed considerably a couple of times. First we'll look at the grains.

Boddington Bitter grists 1971 - 1987
Date	Year	pale malt	lager malt	enzymic malt	wheat malt	flaked maize	flaked rice
4th Jan	1971	60.69%	13.79%	2.76%	2.76%	2.07%
28th Oct	1974	58.02%	15.27%	3.05%	3.05%		2.29%
28th Apr	1975	55.28%	16.26%	3.25%	3.25%	2.44%
29th Apr	1976	55.65%	13.91%	3.48%	3.48%	2.61%
18th Apr	1977	68.12%	14.49%
30th Oct	1978	70.59%	14.71%	2.94%
17th Oct	1979	85.29%		2.94%
31st Dec	1979	85.29%		2.94%
31st Mar	1980	85.29%		2.94%
4th Jan	1982	84.85%		3.03%
9th Jan	1984	96.32%		3.32%
14th May	1984	96.44%		3.21%
25th Mar	1985	96.32%		3.32%
24th Feb	1986	96.32%		3.32%
29th Dec	1987	96.32%		3.32%
Sources:
Boddington brewing records held at Manchester Central Library, document numbers M693/405/134, M693/405/135 and M693/405/136.
Boddington brewing record held at the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester, document number 2006.4/Z/7/1 and 2006.4/Z/7/2.

The grist changed drastically in 1977, with lager malt, wheat malt and unmalted grains being dropped. Enzymic malt briefly disappeared, too, soon to return. On the face of it, it's an improvement, with a higher malt content and no adjuncts.

At the same time, the sugars also were transformed.

Boddington Bitter sugars 1971 - 1987
Date	Year	malt extract	glucose	Flavex	Br.	FSI
4th Jan	1971	6.90%		5.52%	5.52%
28th Oct	1974	6.11%		6.11%	6.11%
28th Apr	1975	6.50%		6.50%	6.50%
29th Apr	1976	6.96%	6.96%	6.96%
18th Apr	1977	5.80%	5.80%	5.80%
30th Oct	1978	7.35%	4.41%
17th Oct	1979	7.35%	4.41%
31st Dec	1979	7.35%	4.41%
31st Mar	1980	7.35%	4.41%
4th Jan	1982	7.58%	4.55%
9th Jan	1984					0.36%
14th May	1984					0.34%
25th Mar	1985					0.36%
24th Feb	1986					0.36%
29th Dec	1987					0.36%
Sources:
Boddington brewing records held at Manchester Central Library, document numbers M693/405/134, M693/405/135 and M693/405/136.
Boddington brewing record held at the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester, document number 2006.4/Z/7/1 and 2006.4/Z/7/2.

In 1976 Br. - whatever that might be - was replaced by glucose. Two years late, Flavex, some sort of proprietary sugar, reached the end of the road, too.

Next change was in 1983, when both malt extract and glucose in turn were disposed of, making way for FSI. I've no great confidence in the quantity of FSI. 24 is what went in each batch. Usually, the sugar column listed hundredweights. 24 cwts would make sugar 21% of the grist, which is rather high. And it would also make the grist too rich, offering more extract than the gravity and brew length demanded. 

On the other hand, 24 lbs seems far too little. I'm genuinely stumped.

Do any of these recipe changes coincide with a decline in the quality of Boddington's Bitter? Let me know if you think it does.

Let's Brew - 1943 Truman P1 Bott.

It’s clear that the bottling version of P1 was a special beer for Truman. One brewed from the best ingredients they had.

I’m amazed that they had saved up enough Californian malt to still have some in 1943. It hadn’t featured in any of their other beers – unless they were parti-gyled with P1 Bott. – for several years. Sure enough, this is also the only brew without malt extract. I think it’s case proved on that point.

Also, in contrast to everything else Truman brewed at this point, there are no flaked oats. Special, indeed, to be brewed without any adjunct so far into the war.

The special treatment extended to the hops. Two types of English hops, all from the most recent season. And none of the “OP” hop extract, or whatever it was.

The hopping rate has increased, too, from 5.25 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt to almost 6 lbs. Which is still below what you’d expect for a top-class Burton Pale Ale.

1943 Truman P1 Bott.
pale malt	8.75 lb	75.95%
high dried malt	2.25 lb	19.53%
black malt	0.02 lb	0.17%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.50 lb	4.34%
Fuggles 90 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1051
FG	1008
ABV	5.69
Apparent attenuation	84.31%
IBU	24
SRM	7
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	59.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1028 London Ale (Worthington White Shield)

Some WW II tables

My new book has lots of tables. Too many, probably. But I do love a good table. Or a mediocre one. Even a bad one. I'm sure the book has some of those.

Here are a couple I added this week. relating to beer production straddling the years of WW II. Sadly, only for a small selection of countries.

World beer production 1938 - 1942 (1,000 barrels)
Country	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942
U.K.	24,035	25,532	25,499	29,101	29,170
Australasia	2,809	2,960	3,117	3,451	3,595
Canada	1,759	1,847	2,195	2,808	3,027
U.S.A.	40,393	38,623	39,355	39,586	45,682
Belgium	8,454	7,890	6,252	3,648	3,114
Czechoslovakia	3,839	4,054	3,659	3,818	3,833
France	14,102	11,140	11,089	9,106	2,676
Germany	29,395	31,326	29,774	28,733	25,976
Other	17,327	18,693	18,252	19,492	18,391
Total	142,611	142,064	139,192	139,742	135,465
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1951-52, page 58.

World beer production 1943 - 1947 (1,000 barrels)
Country	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947
U.K.	29,956	31,472	32,667	30,580	29,802
Australasia	3,423	3,510	3,587	3,804	4,322
Canada	2,891	3,403	3,859	4,328	4,811
U.S.A.	50,916	58,593	62,091	60,925	62,989
Belgium	2,970	2,943	4,809	6,600	7,696
Czechoslovakia	3,512	3,413	4,534	4,538	5,405
France	8,657	7,970	5,656	6,768	7,373
Germany	26,496	—	—	10,743	10,785
Other	18,437	—	—	20,805	27,089
Total	147,258	—	—	149,091	160,273
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1951-52, page 58.

Quite easy to spot which countries were on the winning side.

Finally migrants

Back in Amsterdam from Australia, it wasn't clear what would happen next. Which country would I be sent yo next?

Many would assume that a job where you get to travel around the world would be heaven. The reality is that it;s much less fun than it sounds. I moved six times internationally in as many years. After the first couple of times, the shine wears off. The hassle of shifting your belongings then finding somewhere to live in a country you've only been in for a few hours. Stress I can do without.

And, anyway, I wanted to live in Holland. Or, rather more specifically, in Amsterdam.There was no way I could guarantee that with the job I had. Time to move on. I found myself a job on The Hague. Close enough to Amsterdam. Especially as the office was just a few minutes' walk from a major railway station, Hollands Spoor.

We slowly filled our flat with furniture and I found a couple of pubs to frequent. Rick's Cafe to drink De Koninck and play pool during happy hour. Cafe Belgique to drink La Trappe Dubbel and, occasionally, Westvleteren 12. All Belgian beers, you'll note.

Dolores and I were the proud owners of a mortgage and jobs. You can't get much more settled than that.

I've been thinking recently about how long someone has to live in another country to become a lifer? After how many years is it near impossible that you'll return to your homeland? Five or six? Ten?

In the first post of this series I remarked that people fell into two categories: those intending to remain permanently and those intending to leave after a year or two. Often it transpires those intentions don't rhyme with reality. Some who intended staying leave, and some short-termers end up fixed for all eternity.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1898 William Younger XXXX

Scottish X Ales can be problematic. Problematic in terms of placing them in a style box.

In England, it’s generally pretty easy. X’s usually indicate a Mild Ale. But it’s not always so clear cut in Scotland. Quite often X’s are used not for Mild Ale, but for Stock Ale. Younger XXXX is a case in point. The weaker X Ales of that year to look like Mild Ales. But, with a hopping rate of almost 11 lbs per quarter of malt, this looks more like a Stock Ale. That’s what I’m calling it, anyway.

The grist is typical for Younger’s beers of this period: pale malt, grits and sugar. Several different types of pale malt, of course. And two types of sugar, one described as “D”, the other “G”. Presumably dextrose and glucose. I’ve simplified it to just glucose. If you want to go for more authenticity, use 1 lb. of dextrose and 0.5 lb. of glucose.

The hops – listed as Pacific, American and Kent – were half from the 1898 and half from the 1897 season. And in sufficient quantities to leave the calculated bitterness at over 100 IBU.

1898 William Younger XXXX
pale malt	14.00 lb	82.35%
grits	1.50 lb	8.82%
glucose	1.50 lb	8.82%
Cluster 90 min	5.75 oz
Fuggles 30 min	2.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	2.00 oz
OG	1076
FG	1020
ABV	7.41
Apparent attenuation	73.68%
IBU	126
SRM	5
Mash at	155º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	57º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 

The above is an excerpt from my excellent book on Scottish brewing:

Which is also available in Kindle form:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q8XHBL2

Barclay Perkins Lagers before WW II

Details of one brewery’s pre-WW II Lagers, my favourite Barclay Perkins.

Barclay Perkins Lagers in 1938
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	Pitch temp	colour
Dark	Dunkles	1057.5	1017.1	5.34	70.26%	4.68	1.09	48.5º	80
Export	Export	1049.5	1008.5	5.42	82.83%	6.00	1.13	46º	13.5
Draught	Lager	1043.5	1008.9	4.58	79.54%	5.47	0.93	48º	13.5
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/642.

Nice that they brewed more than one type of Lager. Especially that one was dark.

Even the weakest, Draught, is slightly above average OG. Export looks like has a continental-like strength. While Dark has a very reasonable gravity in the high 1050ºs.

Hopping, as you might expect, was on the low side compared to Barclay Perkins Ales. Still heavier than most Scottish Pale Ales.

Pretty simple recipes for all three.

Barclay Perkins Lager malts in 1938
Beer	Style	lager malt	crystal malt	grits	roast barley
Dark	Dunkles	61.76%	14.71%		1.47%
Export	Export	85.29%		26.47%
Draught	Lager	100.00%
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/642.

Hops now. Which are even less interesting.

Barclay Perkins Lager hops in 1938
Beer	Style	hop 1	hop 2
Dark	Dunkles	Saaz 1937	Saaz 1937
Export	Export	Saaz 1937	Saaz 1937
Draught	Lager	Saaz 1937	Saaz 1937
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/642.

All Saaz, all from the most recent season. Can’t get simpler than that. Except that there were two types of them. One costing 237/- per hundredweight, the other 315/-.