Let's Brew Wedbesday - 1937 Barclay Perkins KK (bottling)

I was going to extend the WW II tedium with another recipe from that period. But I thought: "They must be pig sick of this by now. Let's give my few remaining readers something different."

Like a recipe from the very late 1930s. Which just happens to be included in my scrupulously over-detailed book on beer during WW II, "Blitzkrieg!".

Plug done, recipe begins.

Marketed as No. 1 Southwarke Old Ale, this was a beer which was only sold in bottled format. I would say that that was to be expected, it being too strong for draught. However, Fullers Old Burton Extra was the same strength and that was only sold on draught. Mind you, that was made in tiny batches, mostly of fewer than 10 barrels.

It’s pretty typical of dark beers of the period (other than Porter and Stout) in containing very little in the way of coloured malt, just a little crystal. The bulk of the colour comes from the rather large quantity of caramel.

Slightly odd is the use of No. 2 invert. You’d expect No. 3 invert in this type of beer. There’s also a little malt extract, which is quite a rarity in Barclay Perkins beers. Only this and the strong version of IBS seem to have employed it.

The kettle hops were all English. Mid-Kent Fuggles from the 1936 harvest and two types of EK Goldings from 1935, one of which was described as “1st Grade”. Saaz from 1936 made up the dry hops. All of the hops had been cold stored. 

1937 Barclay Perkins KK (bottling)
pale malt	10.00 lb	69.57%
crystal malt 60 L	0.75 lb	5.22%
flaked maize	1.25 lb	8.70%
No. 2 invert sugar	2.00 lb	13.91%
malt extract	0.25 lb	1.74%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.125 lb	0.87%
Fuggles 150 mins	2.00 oz
Goldings 60 mins	2.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	2.00 oz
Saaz dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1069
FG	1022
ABV	6.22
Apparent attenuation	68.12%
IBU	69
SRM	18
Mash at	150º F
After underlet	153º F
Sparge at	164º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

This recipe is from 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!