Wednesday 2 February 2022

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1909 Barclay Perkins X Ale

Barclay Perkins certainly weren’t shy of chopping and changing their X Ale recipe. And this one is quite different from that of 1890.

To prove me a liar about Dark Mild being coloured with sugar rather than coloured malts, here’s another recipe with a fair amount of roasted malt. Though it’s now in form of amber malt rather than the brown malt of 1890. And, clocking in at 16.5 SRM, it is dark. Perhaps even darker than I calculated. As the sugar is described as “dark”. Logically, I’d interpret that as No. 3 invert, but a recipe from a few years later includes both that and dark.

On the adjunct front, flaked maize has triumphed. War years excepted, it would remain one of the key ingredients of their X Ale until the closure of the brewery. Before I forget, a tiny amount of caramel was also added, but too little to have any significant impact on the colour.

The hops were quite a mixture, consisting of four types in total American from the 1908 harvest, Sussex from 1908, Mid-Kent from 1907 and Worcester from 1905, cold stored. 

1909 Barclay Perkins X Ale
pale malt 5.75 lb 54.76%
amber malt 1.00 lb 9.52%
flaked maize 1.00 lb 9.52%
No. 3 invert sugar 2.75 lb 26.19%
Cluster 120 mins 1.00 oz
Fuggles 120 mins 0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins 1.50 oz
OG 1054
FG 1014.5
ABV 5.23
Apparent attenuation 73.15%
IBU 49
SRM 16.5
Mash at 154º F
Sparge at 165º F
Boil time 120 minutes
pitching temp 61º F
Yeast Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale


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