Let's Brew Wednesday - 1906 Drybrough XX Stout

Next branch on the strength tree is, logically enough, XX Stout. That’s assuming they were all marketed as Stout. Given the low strength of X and XX, they could have been presented as Porters. Except the style was stone dead in Scotland. And Scottish brewers were already making feeble Stouts, something they would take to extremes after WW II.

I can’t recall seeing an English Stout as weak as this before WW I.

I’ll not repeat a discussion of the recipe. Consult the entry for X, XX’s parti-gyle, chum, above.

XX was mostly racked into relatively small casks. In this case: 4 butts, 3 barrels, 74 kilderkins and 24 firkins. In contrast, PI 60/-, a Pale Ale of similar strength, mostly went into larger casks. For example: 35 hogsheads, 60 barrels, 11 kilderkins and 6 firkins.

My guess is that the 4 butts were for bottling. Which is why some was putt into such a large cask.  Smaller casks tended to be preferred by private customers. Families who bought casks to drink at home. At least in England. Not sure if that was the case in Scotland, too.
 

1906 Drybrough XX Stout
pale malt	6.00 lb	66.23%
black malt	0.25 lb	2.76%
flaked rice	0.75 lb	8.28%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	5.52%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.25 lb	2.76%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.33 lb	3.64%
No. 4 invert sugar	0.25 lb	2.76%
honey	0.33 lb	3.64%
caramel 500 SRM	0.40 lb	4.42%
Fuggles 120 mins	0.33 oz
Cluster 120 mins	0.67 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1042
FG	1012
ABV	3.97
Apparent attenuation	71.43%
IBU	45
SRM	27
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	167º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale