Saturday, 21 February 2026

Let's Brew - 1990 Youngs Special

A Youngs Special label featuring a drawing of a ram.
Another beer brewed in large quantities was Special.  This batch, for example, was 715 barrels. A bit less than Ordinary, but still quite a lot of beer.

Though it doesn’t seem to have been parti-gyled with Ordinary, the recipe was pretty much the same. Base malt, crystal, torrefied barley and No. 3 invert sugar.

I should, perhaps, make some mention of the hops. There were three types, all English, with no vintage listed. I know from brewer John Hatch that the hops they used were Fuggles and Goldings. Which seems right for a traditional cask brewer.

I have, again, upped the hop quantities to hit the bitterness level indicated in the brewing record.

1990 Youngs Special
pale malt 9.50 lb 89.41%
crystal malt 120 L 0.125 lb 1.18%
torrefied barley 0.67 lb 6.31%
No. 3 invert sugar 0.33 lb 3.11%
Fuggles 70 min 2.75 oz
Goldings 10 min 0.67 oz
OG 1047
FG 1010.5
ABV 4.83
Apparent attenuation 77.66%
IBU 39
SRM 7
Mash at 148º F
Sparge at 165º F
Boil time 70 minutes
pitching temp 61º F
Yeast WLP002 English Ale


Listen to brewer John Hatch explain how they brewed at Youngs in the 1990s.  

No comments: