Let's Brew Wednesday - 1940 Barclay Perkins KK

As the strongest regular draught beer KK was always going to see its OG fall considerably during the war. And that’s exactly what happened, with 4.5º being chopped off in the first year of the war.

Though KK remained not far shy of 5% ABV, well above average strength.

There have been only minimal changes to the grist. There’s less pale malt and more mild and SA malt (combined in the recipe as mild malt). And the adjunct has changed from flaked maize to flaked rice. Exactly the same substitution as in all their beers.

The boil time has been reduced by 15 minutes, but the level of hopping remains identical. Which, as this version is slightly weaker, means that the (calculated) IBUs have increased slightly.

The hops themselves were Mid-Kent Fuggles from the1938 and 1939 harvests, both kept in a cold store. The dry hops were East Kent from 1939.
 

1940 Barclay Perkins KK
pale malt	1.00 lb	8.79%
mild malt	7.75 lb	68.13%
crystal malt 60 L	0.50 lb	4.40%
flaked rice	0.50 lb	4.40%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.50 lb	13.19%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.125 lb	1.10%
Fuggles 120 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.33 oz
OG	1052.5
FG	1015.5
ABV	4.89
Apparent attenuation	70.48%
IBU	37
SRM	23
Mash at	147º F
Sparge at	172º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

This recipe is one of 553 in my recently-released BlitzKrieg!, the definitive book on brewing during WW II.

Get your copy now!

The second volume contains the recipes. But not just that. There are also overviews of some of the breweries covered, showing their beers at the start and the end of the conflict.

Buy one now and be the envy of your friends!