Let's Brew - 1883 William Younger Stock Ale

You nay well ask: exactly what is the difference between Stock Ale and Special Export? They have the same gravity and a similar grist. Not that dissimilar level of hopping, either. But that’s William Younger for you. With so many beers, it’s no surprise that some are quite similar.

With more dextro-maltose (for which I’ve substituted No. 2 invert) in the grist and the name, I suspect this might have been aged longer. So perhaps two years.

The recipe is really typical for Younger: base malt and sugar. Equal amounts of three types of base malt. Not very exciting.

As usual, the hopping was more complicated. They were American from the 1882 and 1883 harvests, and East Kent and Hallertau, both from 1883. Dry hops were Württemberg and American, both from 1883.

Long, long ageing. My guess would be at least two years. With Brettanomyces, obviously. Which would really dry the beer out.  And leave it closer to 8% ABV. 

1883 William Younger Stock Ale
pale malt	13.25 lb	89.83%
No. 2 invert	1.50 lb	10.17%
Cluster 120 min	3.50 oz
Hallertau 60 min	3.50 oz
Goldings 30 min	3.50 oz
Hallertau dry hops	1.00 oz
Cluster dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1068
FG	1016
ABV	6.88
Apparent attenuation	76.47%
IBU	154
SRM	9
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	163º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	59.5º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 

 

William Younger (Abbey) processes in 1885

You'll probably be delighted to learn that this is the final post in this series. Boo hoo. I'm going to have to find something else to squeeze half a dozen posts from.

The boil times average out a bit shorter than at Holyrood. And only No. 3 pale has a boil of three hours. I would say that it was due to the types of beer being brewed. Except that there are several of the stronger beers that you would expect to have a longer boil. And they don't. So there goes that theory.

There's a wider range of pitching temperatures. Which is because of the types of beers being brewed. As there are several relatively low-gravity beers which were pitched at temperatures of 60º F and above. Whilst the strongest beers were pitched as low as 55º F.

The average rise in temperature during fermentation was a bit under 12º F. Though this varied quite a bit. For the lowest gravity beers it was below 10º F. Whilst for the strongest beers - 160/- and No. 1 - it was 18º F. This is due to the stronger beers generating more heat during fermentation. This was controlled, however. As a few days into the fermentation the temperature was lowered through the use of the attemperators. Had they wished, they could have stopped any beer hitting more than 70º F.

It's the presence of many low-gravity beers that sees the average length of fermentation a couple of days shorter than at Holyrood. They only took four or five days, whilst the stronger beers took six of seven days. 

William Younger (Abbey) processes in 1885
Beer	Style	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)
T	Table Beer	2	2.5	60.5º F	68.5º F	5
50/-	Ale	2	2.5	60.5º F	67.5º F	4
S 50/-	Ale	2		61º F	66.5º F	4
B 50/-	Ale	2.5		61º F	69º F	5
H 60/-	Ale	2	2.5	60º F	71º F	5
60/-	Ale	2	2.5	60º F	69º F	5
80/-	Ale	2	2.5	59º F	68.5º F	4
100/-	Ale	2	2.5	56º F	70º F
120/-	Ale	2		57º F	69º F	6
140/-	Ale	2	2.5	56º F	72.5º F	7
160/-	Ale	2	2.5	55.5º F	73.5º F	7
X	Mild	2	2.5	62º F	69º F	6
XX	Mild	2	2.5	60º F	69º F	6
XXX	Mild	2	2.5	59º F	69.5º F	5
XXXX	Stock Ale	2	2.5	52º F	68º F	6
P	Pale Ale	2	2.5	59º F	70º F	7
XP	IPA	2	2.5	59º F	69º F	5
XP Scotch	Pale Ale	2	2.5	59.5º F	68º F	5
DBS	Stout	2	2.5	56º F	74º F	7
S1	Stout	2	2.5	58.5º F	69º F	5
S2	Stout	2	2.5	59º F	73º F	4
1	Strong Ale	2	2.5	55.5º F	74º F	7
2	Strong Ale	2	2.5	55º F	71.5º F	7
3	Strong Ale	2	2.5	57.5º F	71º F	6
3 pale	Strong Ale	2	3	55.5º F	68.5º F	7
Average		2.02	2.52	58.2º F	69.9º F	5.6
Source:
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/2/31.