Let's Brew - 1884 Mew Langton 4d

This beer is probably called 4d because of the retail price. Though, like Four Ale Bar, it must refer to the price per quart. No-one was paying 4d per pint for a Mild in the 1880s. Odd, because after WW I 4d Ale (which really did retail at 4d per pint) was a watery Mild of 3% ABV, if you were lucky.

Like most 19th-century beers, there’s little complication to the recipe. Two types of pale malt, both English, and raw sugar. Hard to get much simpler than that. This being before Mild started going dark, the colour is pretty pale.

For outside London, this is a pretty high-gravity beer for a base-level Mild. By this point many standard Milds were below 1050º in rural areas.

Three types of hops, all pretty fresh being from the 1883 season. Kent, American and Bavarian are their origins.

1884 Mew Langton 4d
pale malt	10.00 lb	85.11%
brown sugar	1.75 lb	14.89%
Cluster 90 mins	0.75 oz
Hallertau 90 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1056
FG	1009
ABV	6.22
Apparent attenuation	83.93%
IBU	33
SRM	10
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	65º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale