At 1062º, it’s not really that strong for a pre-WW I beer. The London equivalent, KK, had an OG in the mid-1070ºs. Then again, beers were usually stronger in London than elsewhere.
Boddington weren’t big on coloured malts, only using any in their Stout. They didn’t even ever throw in a bit of crystal. As in most of their beers, there were two types of base malt, English and foreign. And some flaked maize, by this point a firm favourite with UK brewers.
I’m by no means certain that the sugar was No. 3 invert. That’s just my best guess. Along with the caramel, it’s responsible for all of the colour.
Boddington certainly liked to use a lot of different hops. Once again, there are five English types from the 1909, 1909, 1911, 1911 and 1912 harvests, plus Californian from 1911. In addition, there are two types of dry hops: English and Californian, both from the 1911 season.
| 1913 Boddington CC | ||
| pale malt | 11.50 lb | 86.34% |
| flaked maize | 0.75 lb | 5.63% |
| caramel 5000 SRM | 0.07 lb | 0.53% |
| No. 3 invert sugar | 1.00 lb | 7.51% |
| Cluster 165 mins | 0.75 oz | |
| Fuggles 90 mins | 1.00 oz | |
| Fuggles 60 mins | 0.50 oz | |
| Goldings 30 mins | 0.50 oz | |
| Cluster dry hops | 0.25 oz | |
| Goldings dry hops | 0.25 oz | |
| OG | 1062 | |
| FG | 1020 | |
| ABV | 5.56 | |
| Apparent attenuation | 67.74% | |
| IBU | 32 | |
| SRM | 25 | |
| Mash at | 158º F | |
| Sparge at | 168º F | |
| Boil time | 165 minutes | |
| pitching temp | 61.5º F | |
| Yeast | Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons) | |
"beers were usually stronger in London than elsewhere"
ReplyDeleteDo you know why? Is it that London drinkers had a bit more money and could pay for them? Or was it just regional preferences?
Anonymous,
ReplyDeletethe price of beer as pretty much the same everywhere. In general, London brewers were larger and more efficient, hence could produce stronger beer for the same price. They didn't compete on price, but on strength.
Thanks, that makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteHow long did this go on? For instance, during the 1970s were brewers like Whitbread and Watney using their scale to turn out stronger beer at the same price than their little competitors? Or had the cutomer taste for bigger gravity faded at that point?
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteit ended with WW I. In the 1970s, the beer from the Big Six breweries was generally worse value than that from regional brewers. Same strength - or weaker - and more expensive.