Sugar next. Rather a lot of different types, as you’ll see in the table.
Six types of sugar in total. Greenock being the commonest. I suspect that it’s a type of invert. It appears in all the Pale Ales and the weaker Shilling Ales. The quantity is pretty consistent at 10% to 12%. Given that it’s in the Pale Ales, it must have been pretty light in colour.
Next most common is dextro-laevulose. Which crops up in all the Mild Ales and Stouts. The dextrin will be there to add body. And laevulose is just another word for fructose. That will just be providing fermentable material.
Cane sugar appears in all the Mild Ales. I assume that what is meant is some type of raw cane sugar. Penang sounds like something similar.
The last two sugars only crop up in the Stouts. I’ve no idea what Maltosan was. It sounds like a proprietary sugar. Oatine sounds like a sugar especially for Oatmeal Stout. Which was all the rage before WW I.
The total sugar content of the Mild Ales and Stouts, at around 20%, is pretty high. It’s a more reasonable 10% to 12% for the other styles.
| Thomas Usher sugars in 1914 | ||||||||
| Beer | Style | Greenock | dextro-laevulose | cane sugar | Penang | Maltosan | oatine | total sugar |
| 40/- Br | Ale | 12.12% | 12.12% | |||||
| 50/- Br | Ale | 12.12% | 12.12% | |||||
| 60/- Br | Ale | 11.76% | 11.76% | |||||
| 44/- MA | Mild | 8.16% | 12.24% | 20.41% | ||||
| 50/- MA | Mild | 8.16% | 12.24% | 20.41% | ||||
| 60/- MA | Mild | 7.27% | 10.91% | 18.18% | ||||
| 80/- MA | Mild | 7.27% | 10.91% | 18.18% | ||||
| 100/- MA | Mild | 8.16% | 12.24% | 20.41% | ||||
| X | Pale Ale | 10.91% | 10.91% | |||||
| X 60/- | Pale Ale | 8.38% | 8.38% | |||||
| IP | IPA | 11.20% | 11.20% | |||||
| 40/- PA | Pale Ale | 10.91% | 10.91% | |||||
| PA | Pale Ale | 10.91% | 10.91% | |||||
| PA 60/- | Pale Ale | 12.12% | 12.12% | |||||
| 48/- | Stout | 3.20% | 12.80% | 1.60% | 3.20% | 20.80% | ||
| 54/- | Stout | 3.20% | 12.80% | 1.60% | 3.20% | 20.80% | ||
| XP | Strong Ale | 9.68% | 9.68% | |||||
| Source: | ||||||||
| Thomas Usher brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archives, document number TU/6/1/5. | ||||||||
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6 comments:
Sorry, don‘t want to be a smart arse, however: Dextrose should be the same thing as Glucose, just a different name. And be therefore fully fermentable, iirc. In Germany it‘s available as „Traubenzucker“ and I used to use it as primings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose
The terminology is confusing but "dextro-" in this case refers to dextrin, not dextrose. Dextro-laevulose was an invert sugar with dextrin syrup (made from starch) mixed in to make it less fermentable. So yes, it was used to add body.
Maltosan is a polysaccharide derived from maltose, primarily composed of glucose units linked by glycosidic bonds. It is often categorized as a type of maltodextrin and is recognized for its role in various biological and industrial processes. Maltosan is typically produced during the enzymatic breakdown of starch, where enzymes such as amylase catalyze the hydrolysis of starch into smaller saccharides, including maltose and maltosan. This compound is notable for its unique structure, which allows for various applications in food, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.
Must have created quite a sweet taste.
Oscar
The modern meaning of maltosan (an anhydro-sugar generated during cellulose pyrolysis) seems to be a later naming. That being said, "pyrodextrins" made by the torrification of starch, which may be the same or similar to British gum, were used in porters already in the 19th century according to William Garton, the sugar manufacturer.
However, at least two companies (Dr A Wander in Switzerland and Kongens Bryghus in Denmark) were marketing pure malt extract under the name Maltosan in the early 1900's. https://www.flaskesamler.dk/foedevareflasker/
I should correct myself here: "Dextro-" actually refers to sugars made by the conversion of starch, and "laevo-" to sugars made by inversion of sucrose. It has to do with the positive vs negative angle of the sugar molecule when using a polarimeter.
But dextro-sugars nevertheless did contain a percentage of dextrin (before the invention of enzymatic conversion in the 1930's) as full conversion with the original acid process led to off-flavours.
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