Let's Brew Wednesday - 1878 Adnams XXXX

Here’s a Mild Ale which challenges modern concepts of the style. Strong and heavily hopped, no-one would describe such a beer Mild today.

That said, it wasn’t as strong as the Milds brewed in London. In the 18760s, Whitbread X Ale had an OG of 1062º and XX Ale 1076º. In general, breweries out in the sticks, like Adnams, tended to brew weaker beers, especially when it came to Mild.

Though it wasn’t parti-gyled with XX, the grist is essentially the same. With just a single type of malt and another of sugar, there’s not a great deal to it.

The brewing record says nothing about the hops, other than the quantity. I’ve just guessed that they were Goldings.

1878 Adnams XXXX
mild malt	9.00 lb	72.00%
No. 2 invert sugar	3.50 lb	28.00%
Goldings 105 mins	4.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	4.00 oz
OG	1067
FG	1018
ABV	6.48
Apparent attenuation	73.13%
IBU	91
SRM	13
Mash at	154º F
Sparge at	172º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	63º F
Yeast	WLP025 Southwold