Let's Brew Wednesday - 1912 Russell Imperial

I almost missed this beer. Because I only have a single photo of it. And it took a while for me to read exactly what the name of the beer was.

OK, so it’s called Imperial. What sort of style does that mean that it is? And it’s effing strong. My guess would be Barley Wine. Though I’m not sure how the brewery would have classified it. Possibly, just simply as a Strong Ale.

The grist is simpler than for their other beers, consisting of just two elements, base malt and No. 1 invert sugar. The latter, for once, specifically named in the brewing record. A small percentage of the malt was made from foreign barley, the rest from English. That’s about the only complication in the recipe.

The two types of English hops were pretty fresh, both coming from the 1911 harvest. This beer was brewed in February,

I can’t imagine that Imperial was sold without ageing. Most likely, quite a bit. A minimum of twelve months, I reckon. In the company of Brettanomyces, obviously.

1912 Russell Imperial
pale malt	21.25 lb	90.43%
No. 1 invert sugar	2.25 lb	9.57%
Fuggles 150 mins	3.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	3.50 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	3.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.50 oz
OG	1109
FG	1030
ABV	10.45
Apparent attenuation	72.48%
IBU	89
SRM	9.5
Mash at	156º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	56º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1768 English Special Bitter