Wednesday, 11 February 2026

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1932 Youngs XXX Ale

A Youngs Winter Warmer label featuring a drawing of a ram.
Stronger than either of the Bitters was Youngs Burton Ale, XXX. Probably their strongest regular draught beer, too.

The recipe is similar to that of X Ale. Identical, sometimes, as they were often parti-gyled together. Fullers also parti-gyled their Mild and Burton in the 1930s. Though large London brewers like Barclay Perkins and Whitbread, had separate gyles for their Burtons.

Note that XXX is also adjunct-free. Just two types of mild malt, a touch of crystal, No. 3 invert and caramel.  Pretty simple stuff.

There’s nothing very complicate about the hops, either. Just two types: East Kent from the 1931 season and English of unspecified region and age. Though they were cold stored and probably not from the most recent harvest.

Was this aged? I don’t think so. No more than a couple of weeks, anyway, between racking and consumption. 

1932 Youngs XXX Ale
mild malt 9.25 lb 79.03%
crystal malt 60 L 0.875 lb 7.48%
No. 3 invert sugar 1.50 lb 12.82%
caramel 1000 SRM 0.08 lb 0.68%
Fuggles 120 min 2.00 oz
Fuggles 30 min 2.00 oz
OG 1056
FG 1016.5
ABV 5.23
Apparent attenuation 70.54%
IBU 44
SRM 18.5
Mash at 152º F
Sparge at 170º F
Boil time 120 minutes
pitching temp 59º F
Yeast WLP002 English Ale

Learn more about brewing at Youngs from former brewer John Hatch. 

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