Wednesday 28 December 2022

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1845 Reid Single Stout

I'm not sure why I never got around to properly sorting out my photos or Reid's brewing records. Especially as they're the first records I ever collected. I've not published many of their recipes, either. Though I have published a few which I thought were theirs but turned out not to be.

Times must have been better in the mid-1840s, as the gravity of Single Stout has increased by 5º.

Most striking about the grist is a massive increase in the black malt content, up from 0.45% to 3.89%. That’s been accompanied by quite a drop in the brown malt percentage, which has fallen by 35%.  The net result is a considerably darker colour. I’m assuming that was the objective. This darkening seems to have been a general trend amongst London brewers.

All change with the mashing scheme since 1821. Most obvious being the addition of a third mash. The first two mashes are now cooler and the third mash even cooler still.

Mash number barrels strike heat tap heat
1 271 161º F 148º F
2 168 182º F 159º F
3 158 161º F 155º F

Reid were big fans of stupidly long boils. Three hours for the first wort and a crazy six hours for the second.

The copper hops were English from the 1844 and 1844 crops. 

1845 Reid Single Stout
pale malt 14.50 lb 83.24%
brown malt 2.25 lb 12.92%
black malt 0.67 lb 3.85%
Goldings 180 min 2.25 oz
Goldings 60 min 2.25 oz
Goldings 30 min 2.25 oz
Goldings dry hops 0.50 oz
OG 1073
FG 1020
ABV 7.01
Apparent attenuation 72.60%
IBU 81
SRM 29
Mash at 150º F
Sparge at 170º F
Boil time 180 minutes
pitching temp 58.5º F
Yeast Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale


3 comments:

Rob Sterowski said...


Coal must have been stupidly cheap to allow for such long boils.

Christoph Riedel said...

Any chance that you could put in the rest time between mashes? I'd guess it was very long but would like to know.

Ron Pattinson said...

Christoph Riedel,

they aren't recorded in the log so I don't know how long the rest times were. From later records which do include them, 90 to 120 minutes were typical.