Saturday, 11 May 2024

Let's Brew - 1970 Youngs Special London Ale (EXPA)

The strongest Pale Ale in Young’s lineup was called EXPA in the brew house and was presumably first brewed for export. Though at some point it was sold in the UK under the name Special London Ale.

With an OG over 1060º, it looks very much like a pre-WW I Stock Pale Ale. At least in terms off strength. Which is typical of Pale Ales later in the 20th century which were brewed for export. They tended to not be affected by the fall in gravity of domestic beers.

The grist is quite different from the other Pale Ales. With neither flaked maize nor malt extract. I’m guessing that without the flaked maize there was no need for the extra enzymes from the malt extract.

There’s also a higher hopping rate than in the other Pale Ales. Which is reflected in the much higher level of bitterness. A single type of English hops were used. 

1970 Youngs Special London Ale (EXPA)
pale malt 11.25 lb 86.34%
No. 1 invert sugar 1.75 lb 13.43%
caramel 1000 SRM 0.03 lb 0.23%
Goldings 120 min 2.00 oz
Goldings 15 min 2.00 oz
OG 1062
FG 1018
ABV 5.82
Apparent attenuation 70.97%
IBU 41
SRM 9
Mash at 148º F
Sparge at 170º F
Boil time 120 minutes
pitching temp 59º F
Yeast WLP002 English Ale


1 comment:

Matt said...

I used to regularly buy bottle-conditioned Young's Bitter and Special London Ale in supermarkets around south Manchester until about a dozen years ago. I'm guessing that they stopped producing them after Wells bought out their share in the merged company and Young's became just a pub chain.