Wednesday, 16 July 2025

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1885 William Younger XP Scotch

A William Younger Wee Willie Pale Ale Label featuring a drawing of a bearded old man with a long white beard in a top hat, carrying a cane in one hand and a mug of beer in the other.
Younger produced several versions of XP, this one, presumably, being for the Scottish market. Which was fairly common for Younger, who had specifically Scottish versions of other beers, such as No. 3.

The recipe isn’t hugely different from the other XP versions. Three types of pale malt make up the grist. It’s as simple as that. Nothing really much I can add to that.

Lots of hops again: Kent from the 1884 and 1885 harvests, American from 1884 and 1885, Californian from 1884 and Württemberg also from 1884. The hopping rate is higher than in the other XPs, which is reflected in the higher (calculated) IBUs.

Interestingly, all of this brew was racked into hogsheads. That implies to me that this was a beer intended for bottling. Though I could be wrong. My guess is that this was a semi-Stock Pale Ale, aged for maybe three or four months. 

1885 William Younger XP Scotch
pale malt 12.75 lb 100.00%
Cluster 120 min 2.00 oz
Fuggles 60 min 0.75 oz
Hallertau 60 min 1.25 oz
Fuggles 30 min 2.00 oz
Goldings dry hops 0.50 oz
OG 1055
FG 1016
ABV 5.16
Apparent attenuation 70.91%
IBU 80
SRM 5
Mash at 155º F
Sparge at 163º F
Boil time 120 minutes
pitching temp 59.5º F
Yeast WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 

 

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