Slightly weaker than full-strength PA is what I’m calling Semi-Stock Pale Ale. That was a real thing, being a weaker type aged for only 3 months rather than the 12 months of the stock version. I’m not sure if that was really the case with these beers. It’s a convenient label rather than anything else.
Whatever you call it, this type of beer was the second-class type of Pale ale. Around 5ยบ lower in gravity than the first-class type. As you would expect, the alcohol content is also lower, by about 0.5% ABV.
Even more scaled-down is the hopping. Down 13% in terms of per quarter (336 lbs) per quarter and 22% per barrel. It’s safe to assume that the bitterness levels would have been lower. You’ll find this confirmed in the recipe section. For example, I calculated Barclays PA 75 IBU and XLK 56 IBU.
| London Semi-Stock Pale Ale 1880 - 1899 | ||||||||
| Year | Brewer | Beer | OG | FG | ABV | App. Atten-uation | lbs hops/ qtr | hops lb/brl |
| 1886 | Barclay Perkins | XLK | 1053.0 | 1011.1 | 5.55 | 79.09% | 10.08 | 2.21 |
| 1900 | Barclay Perkins | XLK | 1053.5 | 1012.5 | 5.43 | 76.70% | 10.00 | 2.16 |
| 1887 | Fullers | XK | 1057.1 | 1016.1 | 5.42 | 71.84% | 11.58 | 2.84 |
| 1897 | Fullers | XK | 1054.8 | 1015.5 | 5.20 | 71.72% | 13.39 | 3.27 |
| 1890 | Whitbread | 2PA | 1054.6 | 1011.0 | 5.76 | 79.84% | 10.79 | 2.78 |
| 1890 | Whitbread | 2PA | 1055.4 | 1010.0 | 6.01 | 81.95% | 11.69 | 2.99 |
| 1895 | Whitbread | 2PA | 1052.9 | 1012.0 | 5.41 | 77.32% | 11.94 | 2.82 |
| Average | 1054.5 | 1012.6 | 5.54 | 76.92% | 11.35 | 2.73 | ||
| Sources: | ||||||||
| Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/593, ACC/2305/1/584. | ||||||||
| Fullers brewing records held at the brewery. | ||||||||
| Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/055, LMA/4453/D/01/056, LMA/4453/D/01/061. | ||||||||
Can I ask what is the AA% you're assuming here? I have to think the AA% was much lower back then--I can't imagine all of these 50-80 IBU pale ales were the norm in the 19th century in Britain--but maybe it was a necessity for stock ales? Still seems needlessly high to me.
ReplyDeleteAlso, glad to hear you're getting a deserved holiday--looking forward to the posts (and pics) from Brazil.
Michael Foster,
ReplyDelete4.5% for Fuggles and Goldings. I see no reason to assume they were any lower in the late 19th century. The oldest analyses I have - from the 1930s - have examples with 6% and 7% alpha acid.
English beer was known for being very bitter, especially Pale Ale.
Ron, many thanks. Do you happen to have a post digging into when and why British beer styles went down to the 20-40ish IBU range of today? I assume it was WW1 and 2 related?
ReplyDeleteMichael Foster,
ReplyDeletelower gravities, changing tastes.