Saturday, 12 July 2025

Let's Brew - 1885 William Younger No. 1

A William Younger No. 1 Strong Ale label with the slogan "King of Ales" and a drawing of a bearded man in highland dress wearing a crown and holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other.
Strongest of the numbered Ales was, logically enough, No. 1. Though it wasn’t the strongest beer Younger produced. That honour lay with 160/-.

No. 1 is roughly equivalent to 140/- in terms of strength. And the grist is quite similar. So what was the difference between the two? The hopping rate. 120/- was hopped at 8.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, No. 1 at 12.5 lbs. To me, that’s an indication that No. 1 was intended to be aged longer.

The grist is much like that of No. 2. Base malt and dextro-maltose. Though with only two types of malt. There may have been some caramel added to darken the colour.

Rather more complicated hopping: Kent from the 1884 and 1885 harvests, American from 1884 and 1885, and Californian from 1884. Quite a lot of hops, too. Leaving it with over 100 IBU (calculated).

Long ageing for this big boy. Between 18 and 24 months, is my guess. 

1885 William Younger No. 1
pale malt 21.00 lb 90.32%
No. 2 invert 2.25 lb 9.68%
Cluster 120 min 4.50 oz
Fuggles 60 min 4.50 oz
Fuggles 30 min 4.50 oz
Goldings dry hops 2.00 oz
OG 1108
FG 1035
ABV 9.66
Apparent attenuation 67.59%
IBU 133
SRM 12
Mash at 155º F
Sparge at 163º F
Boil time 120 minutes
pitching temp 56.5º F
Yeast WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 

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