London XX Ale malts and sugars 1880 - 1899

It’s an indication of many fewer ingredients were used relative to X Ale in that I can fit them all into a single table. All a bit dull, really. Most of the beers are just base malt and sugar. One from Fullers has a touch of crystal malt and another the unusual base of amber malt.

Frustratingly, the specific type of sugar wasn’t detailed in any of the records. Probably some sort of invert is the best guess I can make.

The lack of adjuncts can be explained by most examples being pre-1890, when they weren’t used so much. And the ones after 1890 are from Whitbread, who eschewed unmalted grains. 

London XX Ale malts and sugars 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	Beer	pale malt	amber malt	crystal malt	total malt	other sugar
1880	Barclay Perkins	XX	85.71%			85.71%	14.29%
1886	Barclay Perkins	XX	100.00%			100.00%
1881	Whitbread	XL	91.84%			91.84%	8.16%
1885	Whitbread	XL	92.31%			92.31%	7.69%
1890	Whitbread	XK	89.29%			89.29%	10.71%
1895	Whitbread	XK	93.85%			93.85%	6.15%
1899	Whitbread	XK	91.16%			91.16%	8.84%
1887	Fullers	XX		78.75%		78.75%	21.25%
1893	Fullers	XX	75.25%		4.86%	80.11%	19.89%
1880	Truman	40/- Ale	73.15%			73.15%	26.85%
	Average					87.62%	13.76%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/579 and ACC/2305/1/584.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047, LMA/4453/D/01/050, LMA/4453/D/01/056, LMA/4453/D/01/061 and LMA/4453/D/01/065.
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Truman brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/161.

London XX Ale 1880 - 1899

We now move up a class to XX Ale. Or whatever a specific brewery might call a Mild stronger than X Ale.

The stronger X Ales had been rapidly disappearing as the 19th century rolled on. A few were still clinging on in the 1880s and 1890s. Not many, though. And only those one level up from single X. Mighty beasts like XXX and XXXX Ale were long gone.

Barclay Perkins and Truman were down to just X Ale by 1890. Fullers XX lasted a little longer, struggling on to the mid-1890s. Only at Whitbread was a stronger Mild still being brewed at the end of the century.

Initially, XL, which had been brewed since 1860, was replaced by XK in 1888.   Renamed, more like, as the new beer was the same strength and had an identical recipe. XL as a brewhouse name I can understand. “L” usually stands for London. Brewers in the capital Sometimes brewed different-strength beers for the local market and what they called the “Country”. Basically, anywhere else. With beers intended for London being stronger.  XL makes sense in this case.

XK is another matter entirely. The K suffix at this point usually indicated a Pale Ale. Fullers also had a beer called XK, and that’s exactly what that was. A Pale Ale. In the context of a Mild Ale, it makes no sense. But, hey, there’s no complete consistency in these sorts of designations.

The hopping rates per quarter (336 lbs) of malt are generally similar to X Ale. No shock there, as most of the examples were parti-gyled with their weaker sibling. Being stronger, however, the rate per barrel was inevitably higher.

London XX Ale 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
1880	Barclay Perkins	XX	1079.5	1024.1	7.33	69.69%	13.38	4.98
1886	Barclay Perkins	XX	1076.0	1022.7	7.05	70.11%	12.00	3.86
1881	Whitbread	XL	1076.5	1022.7	7.11	70.29%	7.35	2.56
1885	Whitbread	XL	1071.7	1024.9	6.19	65.25%	8.04	2.51
1890	Whitbread	XK	1069.0	1019.0	6.61	72.45%	8.02	2.46
1895	Whitbread	XK	1069.3	1019.0	6.65	72.56%	8.01	2.52
1899	Whitbread	XK	1064.5	1019.0	6.02	70.56%	6.53	1.84
1887	Fullers	XX	1064.8	1023.3	5.50	64.10%	6.64	1.93
1893	Fullers	XX	1068.4	1016.9	6.82	75.30%	7.62	2.25
1880	Truman	40/- Ale	1067.9				10.8	3.68
	Average		1070.8	1021.3	6.59	70.04%	8.84	2.86
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/579 and ACC/2305/1/584.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047, LMA/4453/D/01/050, LMA/4453/D/01/056, LMA/4453/D/01/061 and LMA/4453/D/01/065.
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Truman brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/161.

 

Let's Brew - 1886 Barclay Perkins X Ale

Another early Dark Mild recipe. 

This is a really odd one. A Mild Ale recipe like none other I’ve come across.

I repeatedly tell home brewers – especially American ones – that brown malt doesn’t appear in Mild Ales. That’s mostly true, but there is the occasional exception. Like this version of Barclay Perkins X Ale.

Not only does it contain brown malt, there’s a shitload of it, accounting for a third of the grist. I tell you what it’s similar to – their 1812 TT (Porter). Both have a 2:1 ration of pale to brown malt. Given that fact, it’s no shock that the colour of X Ale here is much darker than most of its contemporaries, which wouldn’t have been more than 10 or 12 SRM, at most. It’s the earliest truly Dark Mild I’ve found.

The hopping rate is about standard for London Milds of this date, that is, around 8 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. Mid-Kent hops from the 1884 and 1885 season, plus American hops from 1885, were employed.

1886 Barclay Perkins X Ale
pale malt	10.25 lb	66.13%
brown malt	5.25 lb	33.87%
Cluster 120 mins	1.25 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	1.25 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.25 oz
OG	1064
FG	1015
ABV	6.48
Apparent attenuation	76.56%
IBU	49
SRM	23
Mash at	154º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

Bottled Imperial Stout sold in Scotland 1880 - 1889

Here's the second part of my look at Imperial Stout  in the 1880s. But, this time, specifically ones on sale in  Scotland. All details have been taken from advertisements in Scottish newspapers. The British Newspaper Archive is such a useful resource.

This bunch is even more dominated by London brewers. Only one is definitely from elsewhere: Guinness. Plus one whose origin in uncertain, Yule. That being the name of the retailer who was presumably selling a brewer's Imperial Stout under their own name.

I was interested to see Reid popping up as well as their later partners Combe. It looks as if Reid had pulled out of the Scottish market - or at least stopped advertising - by 1900. I wonder why that was.

Based on the prices, there's a variation in strength here, too. The only ones which look too be the full Imperial strength are those selling for 2s 9d and 3s per reputed pint. Which equates to  4.1d and 4.75d per imperial pint. Those costing 2s 2d and 2s 3d (3.25d and 3.375d per Imperial pint couldn't have an OG of 1075º-1080º. Not quite as weak as some of the draught versions, but still well off Imperial Stout strength and more like a Double Stout.

I'm pretty sure that Guinness didn't brew a Stout stronger than Extra Stout or Foreign Extra Stout, both of which had an OG of 1075º. Which fits in neatly with the price of 2.25d per reputed pint. I can't remember seeing Guinness Extra Stout sold as Imperial Stout in England. I wonder why it was in Scotland?

Don't get the impression no-one in Scotland was brewing the style. I just couldn't find any adverts which included prices. For example, Devanha of Aberdeen advertised their own Imperial Stout.

Bottled Imperial Stout sold in Scotland 1880 - 1889
year	Brewery	Place	beer	price (per doz)	size
1880	Reid	London	Imperial Stout	6s	reputed quart
1880	Reid	London	Imperial Stout	3s	reputed pint
1880	Truman	London	XXX or Imperial Stout	6s	reputed quart
1880	Truman	London	XXX or Imperial Stout	3s	reputed pint
1883	Barclay Perkins	London	Imperial London Stout	2s 2d	reputed pint
1883	Combe	London	Imperial London Stout	2s 2d	reputed pint
1885	Barclay Perkins	London	Imperial Stout	2s 9d	reputed pint
1885	Guinness	Dublin	Imperial Stout	2s 3d	reputed pint
1885	Truman	London	Imperial Stout	2s 9d	reputed pint
1885	Unknown	London	Imperial Stout	3s	reputed pint
1886	Combe	London	Imperial or XXX Stout	2s 9d	reputed pint
1886	Unknown	London	Imperial XXX London Stout	2s 6d	reputed pint
1888	Reid	London	Imperial Stout	5s	bottle
1888	Reid	London	Imperial Stout	2s 7d	half bottle
1888	Yule	??	Imperial Stout	2s 2d	reputed pint
1889	A. Gordon & Co.	London	Imperial Stout	4s 6d	pint
Sources:
Elgin Courant, and Morayshire Advertiser - Friday 06 February 1880, page 1.
Dundee Weekly News - Saturday 22 December 1883, page 8.
East of Fife Record - Friday 25 September 1885, page 1.
Stirling Observer - Thursday 24 December 1885, page 1.
East of Fife Record - Friday 25 September 1885, page 1.
East of Fife Record - Friday 20 July 1883, page 1.
East of Fife Record - Friday 12 November 1886 page 1.
Dundee Courier - Tuesday 12 January 1886, page 1.
Leith Burghs Pilot - Saturday 01 December 1888, page 1.
Aberdeen Evening Express - Thursday 08 March 1888, page 1.

 

Draught Imperial Stout 1880 - 1889

I've completed another bit of my Imperial Stout research and thought I'd pester you with it.

I say finished, but the information here is information I'd already collected. The second part will be the new stuff. And will refer specifically to Imperial Stouts advertised in Scottish newspapers. While all of these were beers on sale in England.

Finding so many examples of draught Imperial Stout did rather surprise me. Even in the 19th century, it was a type of beer mostly found in bottled form.

More confirmation that Imperial Stout was a thing in London. Four of the nine examples in the table were brewed there. Though there are also two from Ireland. I'm not sure if that's how they were described within the brewery or for the Irish market.

Most don't look to be full Imperial Stout strength. Something like Barclay Perkins version, being about double the strength of their X Ale, you would expect to cost about double the 36 shilling price. So around 72 shillings. Only the Caffrey's beer gets anywhere near that. 

60 shillings a barrel implies a beer of around 1090º, 54 shillings 1082º and 48 shillings just 1073º. The latter two look more like a Double Stout and a Single Stout, respectively. Clearly there was a very wide interpretation of what constituted and Imperial Stout.

Draught Imperial Stout 1880 - 1889
year	Brewery	Place	beer	price per barrel	price (per gallon)
1880	Bentley	Woodlesford, Yorkshire	Imperial Stout	54	18
1882	J Caffrey & Sons	Dublin	Dublin Imperial Stout	70	23.33
1882	Manns	London	London Imperial Stout	60	20
1882	Smithwick	Kilkenny	Imperial Export Stout	48	16
1885	Joseph Wyles & Co.	Bourn	IS Imperial Stout	48	16
1886	RH Jenner & Sons	London	IS Imperial Stout	58	19.33
1889	A. Gordon & Co.	London	IDS Imperial Double Stout	60	20
1889	Allsopp	Burton	Imperial Stout	60	20
1889	Wimbeldon Brewery	London	Imperial Double Stout IDS	56	18.67
Sources:
Various newspaper advertisements.

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1890 Barclay Perkins X Ale

A chance today to look at another late 19th-century London Mild and see how dark it was. I won't keep you in suspense. It was properly dark. What else could it be with all that brown malt?

What a difference a few years make. In 1886, Barclay’s X Ale was a simple affair, brewed from just pale and brown malt.

Now three new ingredients have been added and six points shaved off the gravity. On top of that, the boil time has been reduced by 30 minutes and the pitching temperature raised by 3º F. And here was me thinking that nothing ever changed very quickly in the 19th century. At least when no wars were raging.

New arrivals in the grist are crystal malt, flaked rice and some type of sugar. Not sure what it was. Probably some sort of invert. I’ve gone for No. 2, just to hedge my bets. No. 3 would leave it 22 SRM, No. 1 at 19 SRM. Take your pick. Whatever the choice, it comes out quite dark, about a typical colour for a modern Dark Mild.

To make way for the new ingredients, both the pale and brown malt percentages have been reduced.

The hopping rate is a little higher, despite the fall in gravity. Hops coming in the form of Mid-Kents from the 1888 and 1889 seasons, and American from 1889. The result is 62 IBU, way off the scale for a Mild today.

1890 Barclay Perkins X Ale
pale malt	6.25 lb	48.54%
brown malt	3.50 lb	27.18%
crystal malt	0.125 lb	0.97%
flaked rice	1.50 lb	11.65%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.50 lb	11.65%
Cluster 90 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.50 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.50 oz
OG	1058
FG	1017
ABV	5.42
Apparent attenuation	70.69%
IBU	62
SRM	20
Mash at	154º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	63º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

 

London X Ales hops 1880 - 1899

Finally, it’s time to look at the hops. Unsurprisingly, the commonest source of hops is the UK. In particular, Kent. Not so odd, really, as it’s right next door to London. There are also a few from Worcester and Surrey. And quite a few where no specific location in England is mentioned. It’s probably safe to assume that most of these came from Kent. Just statistically, given that it produced far more hops than any other region.

Even more specific than that, Mid-Kent was the most common source. With rather fewer from East Kent, where the classier hops tended to come from. While Mid-Kent and Worcester provided the more workaday hops.

The second most common supplier of hops after the UK was the USA. Again, not much of a shock as it was already one of the world’s largest producers of hops. By this point most of the US hop industry had shifted from New York State to the West Coast. In some cases, California, Washington or simply. Pacific is recorded in the brewing record.

Trailing a distant third, with only 4 examples in the table compared to the 12 of the US, is Germany. Their hops were valued rather more highly than those from the USA and are more likely to turn up in expensive beers like Pale Ale. Though mostly just recorded as Bavarian, they were most likely to have been Hallertau.

The example called Bohemian will be Saaz or something similar. No idea what variety the ones from Burgundy might have been. Nor the two simply described as “Foreign”. They could have come from anywhere.

In most cases, the hops were from either the most recent harvest or the one before that. Though one lot, the Bohemians used by Truman, were three years old. Given that I’ve seen plenty of examples of hops five years or more old being used, overall these were pretty fresh.

London X Ales hops 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	hop 1	hop 2	hop 3	hop 4
1880	Barclay Perkins	MK 1879	US 1878	Bavarian 1879
1886	Barclay Perkins	MK 1883	MK 1885	California 1885
1886	Barclay Perkins	MK 1885	US 1885	MK 1884
1887	Barclay Perkins	MK 1885	MK 1886	Farnhams 1885
1890	Barclay Perkins	MK 1886	MK 1889	US 1889
1899	Barclay Perkins	MK 1899	US 1898	MK Goldings 1897
1881	Whitbread	Bavarian 1880	English 1880	English 1881
1885	Whitbread	English 1883	English 1884	Bavarian 1884
1891	Whitbread	English 1890	US 1889	US 1890	Hallertau 1890
1895	Whitbread	English 1894	English 1894	Pacific 1894
1898	Whitbread	EK 1897	EK 1897	MK 1896
1887	Fullers	Kent 1884	EK 1883
1893	Fullers	Foreign 1892
1898	Fullers	Worcs. 1897	MK 1896
1880	Truman	US 1879	US 1879
1885	Truman	Kent 1884	US 1884	Bohemian 1882
1890	Truman	Kent 1889	Kent 1889	Burgundy 1889
1895	Truman	Kent 1893	Kent 1894	Washington 1893	Foreign 1893
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/579, ACC/2305/1/584, ACC/2305/1/583, ACC/2305/1/586 and ACC/2305/1/593.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047, LMA/4453/D/01/050, LMA/4453/D/01/057, LMA/4453/D/01/061 and LMA/4453/D/01/064
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Truman brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers B/THB/C/161, B/THB/C/166, B/THB/C/171 and B/THB/C/175.

 

London X Ales adjuncts and sugars 1880 - 1899

Moving on to other fermentable materials, there is a bit of a shock: that there are so few adjuncts.

Unmalted grains were first allowed as a result of the 1889 Free Mash Tun Act and it’s odd to see how long it was before breweries picked up on their use. In the 20th century, the vast majority of breweries used adjuncts, usually in the form of flaked maize.

Of this set of brewers, Barclay Perkins were the only one to have embraced adjuncts. Initially, in the form of flaked rice, later switching to flaked maize. Both Truman and Fullers would later go down the same road. Whitbread, on the other hand, other than during wartime, never did. Sticking to just malt and sugar.

Sugar, first allowed in brewing in 1847, wasn’t really used much before 1880. Very quickly after the Free Mash Tun Act it became almost universal. Only Irish brewers seemed immune to its charms.

In the 20th century the classic sugar for Mild Ales was No.3 invert. It does turn up in a couple of the beers in the table. Probably in more. It’s just impossible to know for certain, due to brewing logs mostly being vague about the type of sugar being employed. Hence most I can only describe as “other sugar”.

There’s a lot of variation in the proportion of sugar in the grist. Ranging from under 5% to over 26%. When things had settled down, 10% to 15% was the norm. It would be a mistake to assume that economy was the only reason for adding sugar to recipes. It was also used for flavour and, in the case of Mild Ale, to add colour.

London X Ales adjuncts and sugars 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	flaked maize	flaked rice	total adjuncts	no. 3 sugar	other sugar	total sugar
1880	Barclay Perkins			0.00%		14.01%	14.01%
1886	Barclay Perkins			0.00%	18.18%		18.18%
1886	Barclay Perkins			0.00%			0.00%
1887	Barclay Perkins		10.43%	10.43%		11.30%	11.30%
1890	Barclay Perkins		11.44%	11.44%		12.71%	12.71%
1899	Barclay Perkins	9.47%		9.47%		18.45%	18.45%
1881	Whitbread			0.00%		8.16%	8.16%
1885	Whitbread			0.00%		7.69%	7.69%
1891	Whitbread			0.00%		4.41%	4.41%
1895	Whitbread			0.00%		6.15%	6.15%
1898	Whitbread			0.00%	16.67%		16.67%
1887	Fullers			0.00%		21.25%	21.25%
1893	Fullers			0.00%		19.14%	19.14%
1898	Fullers			0.00%		18.60%	18.60%
1880	Truman			0.00%		26.85%	26.85%
1885	Truman			0.00%		14.26%	14.26%
1890	Truman			0.00%		13.79%	13.79%
1895	Truman			0.00%		10.64%	10.64%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/579, ACC/2305/1/584, ACC/2305/1/583, ACC/2305/1/586 and ACC/2305/1/593.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047, LMA/4453/D/01/050, LMA/4453/D/01/057, LMA/4453/D/01/061 and LMA/4453/D/01/064
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Truman brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers B/THB/C/161, B/THB/C/166, B/THB/C/171 and B/THB/C/175.