Saturday, 19 September 2026

Let's Brew - 1941 Youngs XXX Ale

A Youngs Burton Strong Ale label featuring a drawing of a ram.
Youngs were still producing their standard-strength Burton XXX, though they had dropped the stronger XXXX.

The gravity isn’t quite as high as in 1939 – it’s 6º lower – but a higher degree of attenuation leaves the ABV a little greater. We’ve seen something similar with Youngs other beers.

The recipe has changed a bit since 1939. The pale malt has been replaced by more mild malt. And the crystal malt content has almost doubled at the expense of the No. 3 invert sugar.

A drop in the hopping rate from 7 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt forces down the calculated bitterness from 33 IBU to 21 IBU. Which must have been way more noticeable than the fall in gravity.

The hops themselves were Worcester and East Kent, both from the 1940 season.

1941 Youngs XXX Ale
mild malt 9.00 lb 81.82%
crystal malt 120 L 1.25 lb 11.36%
malt extract 0.25 lb 2.27%
No. 3 invert sugar 0.40 lb 3.64%
caramel 1000 SRM 0.10 lb 0.91%
Fuggles 120 min 0.875 oz
Fuggles 30 min 0.875 oz
OG 1051
FG 1016.5
ABV 4.56
Apparent attenuation 67.65%
IBU 21
SRM 20
Mash at 151º F
Sparge at 170º F
Boil time 120 minutes
pitching temp 58º F
Yeast WLP002 English Ale

 

 

No comments: