This was part of a four-way parti-gyle with Special Ramrod and St. George’s Beer. Though the final two were identical. It looks very like a Fullers parti-gyle, with Ordinary, Special and Ramrod being the equivalents of Chiswick. London Pride and ESB.
The grist is very simple, consisting of just two malts: pale and crystal. Though the former was a combination of Crisp Maris Otter and Simpson Maris Otter. I’m sure, if you went back a couple of decades that the recipe would have included flaked maize and sugar. That’s just how everyone brewed back then.
There were three types of hops, all English, from 2004. 2005 and 2006 seasons. There’s no indication of variety in the brewing record. Maybe I should ask Derek Prentice, as he brewed this batch. Weird personally knowing the brewer of a log I’m interpreting.
| 2006 Youngs Ordinary | ||
| pale malt | 8.00 lb | 94.12% |
| crystal malt 20 L | 0.50 lb | 5.88% |
| Fuggles 75 min | 0.75 oz | |
| Goldings 30 min | 0.50 oz | |
| OG | 1036 | |
| FG | 1006.5 | |
| ABV | 3.90 | |
| Apparent attenuation | 81.94% | |
| IBU | 17.5 | |
| SRM | 4.5 | |
| Mash at | 152º F | |
| Sparge at | 165º F | |
| Boil time | 75 minutes | |
| pitching temp | 65º F | |
| Yeast | Wyeast 1968 London ESB (Fullers) | |
Ron, 4 lbs of pale malt seems a bit low to hit the 1036 gravity even with the crystal malt.
ReplyDeleteI thought parti-gyle was a thing of the past, it’s interesting to read that it’s still in practice. Do most of the large English breweries still parti-gyle?
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather when he worked in London in the late 1960’s to early 1970’s loved to drink Young’s special bitter. I wonder how much had changed for that beer by 2006.
ReplyDeleteOscar
Just 4 pounds of base malt? Shouldn't this be higher? Something closer to 7 lb?
ReplyDeleteI first tasted Young's Ordinary at my first visit to London. Must have been around 2004. Perfect pint really, one of two standout on cask during that trip, the other was the Shepherd Neame Early Bird. Havent seen the Early Bird for a long time. Maybe they stopped making it.
ReplyDeleteYou really should get hold of Derek and question him about this beer. A potential gem for homebrewers I think.
Cheers, Torgeir
The pale malt quantity was incorrect. Now fixed.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteI don't know about large brewers , but I'm sure that quite a few of the old family brewers do,
Presumably not long before the brewery closed given that happened in 2006. Was a shame when it went, although I have to say Youngs beers gave me terrible hangovers - hangovers that suddenly ceased when they moved everything to Bedford. Have to be honest and say I found the Ordinary more palatable too.
ReplyDeleteI read this account of parti gyling which quotes Derek Prentice, and my understanding of brewing is too limited to understand exactly what he says:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2020/7/9/the-making-of-a-classic-fullers-esb
It sounds, though, like a parti gyle wouldn't yield exactly the same beer as a standard home brewers system for creating a single wort.
Have you gotten reports back from anyone who has done a side by comparison of your recipes, one using basic home methods and the other trying to emulate a parti gyle?
My guess regarding hops is that Young’s used Fuggles and Goldings as bittering hops primarily, and Goldings as late hops perhaps. Maris Otter as basemalt, high calcium waterprofile. Based on an interview I found online, London Beer Competition I belive.
ReplyDeleteTorgeir
Large brewers dinner parti gyle they high gravity brew
ReplyDeleteHi Ron,
ReplyDeletedelighted to see you checked in with John. He will also be able to answer some of your questions, I'm sure.
The Real Ale Almanac from 1992 states "Fuggles and Goldings whole hops, 13-15 EBC and 30-34 IBU." Any idea how to make that work here? Seems like colour and bitterness changed massively.
Also the adjuncts in 1992 were torrefied barley and Young's Special mixture as adjuncts. John can give you the detailed specs of the latter.
Will you publish the exact details of the party-gyle, i.e. the picture you took of the whole log? Since I recreated the Fuller's parti-gyle before, this would be really nice to try out!