Let's Brew Wednesday - 1898 Hancock XX

In 1887, XX was by far Hancock’s most popular beer, accounting for 75% of their production. Not so a decade later. When XX was only brewed occasionally and was greatly outsold by X and XXX. I’ve no idea why focus was switched away XX.

It’s a good bit weaker than in 1887, having lost more than 5º. And was only a few degrees stronger than X.

Not much has changed with the recipe, other than the proportion of pale malt increasing at the expense of No. 3 invert sugar. Nothing very dramatic. Its presence is enough to guarantee that XX a good bit darker than X. Though it’s a good bit paler than in 1887.

Fewer hops were used, but this was counterbalanced by a longer boil time. Leaving the calculated IBUs almost unchanged. Three English hops were used: East Kent from the 1896 harvest, Kent from 1894 and Sussex from 1895.

1898 Hancock XX
pale malt	8.00 lb	86.49%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.25 lb	13.51%
Fuggles 120 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1044.5
FG	1008
ABV	4.83
Apparent attenuation	82.02%
IBU	25
SRM	10
Mash at	156º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity