Youngs Pale Ale 1939 – 1945

In order to give some idea of what was going on in UK brewing during WW II, we'll take a look at a single beer, Youngs Pale Ale. And see what happened to it between 1939 and 1945.

In a way, it is totally typical of what went on in the war. Because the drop in gravity - just 5º over the whole period - is quite a bit less than usual. Though the gravity did fall lower: to 1039.7º in 1942. But, rather oddly, increased again early in 1943 to 1042.5º. And stayed at that level for the remainder of the war.

To make changes easier to spot, I’ve highlighted them in red

There are relatively few changes in gravity. But loads in the hopping rate. Which kicked off the war at 8 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. Dropping to 7 lbs in May 1940, then just over 5 lbs in May 1941 and 4.75 lbs in July of the same year. That’s quite a fall.

Though the rate did quickly bounce back to 5 lbs per quarter. Over the next couple of years the rate varied between 4.5 lbs and 6 lbs per quarter. Which I think is a reflection of variations in the supply of hops.

Youngs PA 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
27th Jul	1939	1047.6	1013.3	4.54	72.09%	7.98	1.50
22nd May	1940	1047.0	1013.3	4.46	71.71%	7.00	1.29
1st May	1941	1043.0	1010.5	4.30	75.52%	5.14	0.83
3rd Jul	1941	1043.0	1008.3	4.59	80.67%	4.79	0.80
8th Jul	1941	1043.0	1010.0	4.37	76.81%	5.04	0.85
23rd Oct	1941	1042.4	1013.9	3.78	67.33%	5.09	0.85
7th May	1942	1040.0	1010.5	3.90	73.69%	4.48	0.72
9th Jul	1942	1039.7	1012.2	3.64	69.30%	5.46	0.87
20th Oct	1942	1039.9	1011.1	3.81	72.23%	4.52	0.73
30th Apr	1943	1042.5	1014.4	3.72	66.11%	4.89	0.82
20th Jul	1943	1042.3	1011.1	4.13	73.81%	5.46	0.95
1st May	1944	1042.5	1011.1	4.16	73.93%	5.56	0.93
8th May	1944	1042.7	1011.1	4.18	74.05%	6.00	0.99
19th Oct	1944	1042.8	1011.1	4.20	74.11%	5.46	0.93
8th May	1945	1042.8	1008.9	4.49	79.29%	5.41	0.94
3rd Jul	1945	1042.5	1011.1	4.16	73.93%	4.85	0.87
12th Jul	1945	1042.8	1011.1	4.20	74.11%	4.94	0.86
Sources:
Young's brewing records held at Battersea Library, document numbers YO/RE/1/8 YO/RE/1/9 YO/RE/1/10, YO/RE/1/11, YO/RE/1/12, YO/RE/1/13 and YO/RE/1/14.