A beer I drank quite a bit of back in the 1970s. It was my go-to beer in London when I lived there. Partly because Hock was rarely on in Fullers pubs.
London Pride is a typical product of post-war London. WW II restrictions knocked the strength stuffing out of Bitters. When the shackles were taken off a few years after the end of hostilities, many brewers introduced a new, stronger Bitter. Not quite up to pre-war strength. But a good bit stronger than austerity Bitters.
Called SPA (Special Pale Ale) in the brewhouse, it was first marketed as Chiswick Pride. Before adopting the iconic London Pride name.
Though this wasn’t in the parti-gyle with the LA and PA above, the recipe is pretty much the same. With just some tinkering with the sugar quantities.
| 1968 Fullers London Pride | ||
| pale malt | 7.50 lb | 77.52% |
| crystal malt 120L | 0.175 lb | 1.81% |
| flaked maize | 1.50 lb | 15.50% |
| No. 3 invert sugar | 0.25 lb | 2.58% |
| No. 2 invert sugar | 0.125 lb | 1.29% |
| glucose | 0.125 lb | 1.29% |
| Fuggles 75 min | 1.00 oz | |
| Styrian Goldings 60 min | 0.75 oz | |
| Goldings 30 min | 1.00 oz | |
| OG | 1043 | |
| FG | 1013 | |
| ABV | 3.97 | |
| Apparent attenuation | 69.77% | |
| IBU | 38 | |
| SRM | 7 | |
| Mash at | 147º F | |
| Sparge at | 168º F | |
| Boil time | 75 minutes | |
| pitching temp | 61º F | |
| Yeast | WLP002 English Ale | |
That is about the same strength and bitterness as Dungarvan Comeragh Challenger bitter.
ReplyDeleteOscar
bjcp.org
ReplyDeleteJust curious, but do you have a sense how similar today's version tastes to this one?
ReplyDeleteMy recollection from a few years ago is that it was very nice but I have no sense if that's better, worse, or the same as it used to be.
I guess it is a bit different. Here is a photo from the brewing journal of a party gyle of Chiswick Bitter, London Pride, and ESB. Published by one of the brewers.
Deletehttps://twitter.com/SirenCBHayley/status/946762356914352133?t=PItwf_Bcl7wa7qbp_JET2A&s=19
Other than high malt prices was there any other reason to use maize? I think Fullers stopped using it maybe 20 years ago. Maybe because the whole malting industry got shaken out with the emergence of big companies such as Bairds and Crisp and a fall in malt prices?
ReplyDeleteOr was there some sort of enzymatic purpose, malts being less modified back then?
Anonymous BJCP,
ReplyDeleteglad to see you back again. You should really post this link to the BJCP style guidelines:
file:///C:/Users/patto/Downloads/2021_Guidelines_Beer-1.pdf
because that's where you'll see me listed as a contributor.
The pdf document you refer to is stored locally on your computer. So, we aren't able to read it.
DeleteBribie G,
ReplyDeleteI think it might just have been a habit to use maize.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeletefrom what I remember, the flavour hasn't changed that much. Still full of Londony goodness.
Stefan Pettersson,
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bjcp.org/download/2021_Guidelines_Beer.pdf
Anonymous BJCP,
ReplyDeleteglad to see you back again. You should really post this link to the BJCP style guidelines:
https://www.bjcp.org/download/2021_Guidelines_Beer.pdf
because that's where you'll see me listed as a contributor.
As a homebrewer who uses lots of corn, I can attest that maize adds a nice corn sweetness that is different from crystal malt sweetness.
ReplyDeleteI believe maize was used for a long time to improve clarity of the beer, or more accurately to properly adjust the levels of protein (usually called "nitrogen level") in the beer to get the right fermentation behaviour.
ReplyDeleteJohn Keeling is credited with having pushed the move to all-grain brewing. I would assume that was only possible because maltsters could produce malt with just the right protein level, otherwise it would have been difficult without doing protein rests during the mash.