Let's Brew - 1906 Drybrough X Stout

Drybrough’s records from this period are a nightmare. There’s some weird gyling and blending going on. The only brews I can make any sense of are some Pale Ale parti-gyles and a couple of X Ale parti-gyles.

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure that there wasn’t some sort of blending going on here. I’m just assuming the three gyles were left as fermented.

Usually, I’d assume X meant Mild. Not sure that’s the case here. For a start, the hopping rate is higher than for the Pale Ales. 7.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt compared to just 5 lbs. Then I noticed the No. 4 invert and black malt. These are clearly Stouts.

The first thing that strikes me is how weak this beer is. Weaker even than Table Beer.  Not really “stout” at all.

It’s a pretty complicated recipe. Especially in the sugars. Where there are three inverts, caramel and hone.  The latter is an unusual one. You see it in recipes for domestic brewers, but not for commercial brewers.

There were four types of hops. Three English, two from the 1905 harvest and one from 1903. The fourth type was Californian from 1906.
 

1906 Drybrough X
pale malt	4.25 lb	66.88%
black malt	0.15 lb	2.36%
flaked rice	0.50 lb	7.87%
flaked maize	0.33 lb	5.19%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.1875 lb	2.95%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.25 lb	3.93%
No. 4 invert sugar	0.1875 lb	2.95%
honey	0.25 lb	3.93%
caramel 500 SRM	0.25 lb	3.93%
Fuggles 120 mins	0.25 oz
Cluster 120 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1030
FG	1011
ABV	2.51
Apparent attenuation	63.33%
IBU	37
SRM	19
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	167º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale