Monday 22 April 2024

Thomas Usher boiling and fermentation in 1894

Time now for processes.

For most beers, there were two boils. The first of 90 minutes and the second of 120 minutes. The big exceptions were the Stouts, where there was a single, much longer boil. I wonder if the boil was that long to add colour. Which was the case often in London.

The pitching temperatures are all pretty consistent at between 58º F to 60º F. Which is all pretty standard. With 60º F being the most common pitching temperature generally for standard-strength beers.

The maximum temperatures, on the other hand, are a little on the low side, being mostly between 67º F and 69º F. While at most breweries the temperature was allowed to rise over 70º F. 

Thomas Usher boiling and fermentation in 1894
Beer Style boil time (hours) boil time (hours) Pitch temp max. fermen-tation temp
XX 60/- Mild 1.75 2.25 58º F 71º F
50/- Br Ale 1.5 2 60º F 67º F
60/- Ale 2   60º F 68º F
60/- Br Ale 1.5 2 59º F 67º F
80/- Ale 1.5 2 60º F 68º F
100/- Ale 1.5 2 58º F 68º F
3 XX Stock Ale 1.5 2.25 58º F 70º F
IP IPA 1.5 2 58º F 68º F
PA Pale Ale 1.5 2 58º F 68º F
PA 60/- Pale Ale 1.5 2 58º F 68º F
Stout Stout 3   59º F 69º F
Stout Export Stout 3.5   58º F 72º F
Source:
Thomas Usher brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archives, document number TU/6/1/2.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's interesting to see fermentation temperatures hit the upper 60s to low 70s. There's a lot of standard wisdom in homebrewing that Scottish beer fermentation has to be kept significantly cooler than that, but this looks like the history says otherwise.

Ron Pattinson said...

Anonymous,

that stuff about low Scottish fermentation temperatures seems to be total bollocks. At least based on the brewing records I've seen.

Cheers,

Ron.

Anonymous said...

Most of what is written about beer tends to be total bollocks.
Oscar