Let's Brew Wednesday - 1887 Fullers X

As you can see, I continue to chip away at the recipes for my late Victorian/Edwardian book. My experiences with "Blitzkrieg!" have taught me you can never start too soon writing the buggers.

Mild was hugely popular in the second half of the 19th century and X Ale was doubtless one of Fuller’s biggest sellers.

If 1051º looks high for a base-level Mild, you should have seen what London versions were like a couple of decades earlier. Then gravities were in excess of 1060º.

The grist is more complicated than usual in a Mild of the period. This looks like a transitional beer. Where the colour is darkening, though not as dark as a modern Dark Mild. Based on the percentages, it looks as if the amber malt might well have been diastatic. The sugar type is just a guess. The brewing record simply says “Sacc.”.

I’ve knocked back the hopping rate considerably on account of the age of the hops. Which were Kent from the 1884 harvest and East Kent form as far back as 1883.

1887 Fullers X
pale malt	5.00 lb	46.51%
amber malt	2.50 lb	23.26%
crystal malt	1.00 lb	9.30%
No. 2 invert sugar	2.25 lb	20.93%
Fuggles 90 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1051
FG	1014
ABV	4.89
Apparent attenuation	72.55%
IBU	28
SRM	15
Mash at	154º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale