What is Danziger Jopenbier?

 I take a look at one of the world's weirdest beer styles, Danziger Jopenbier. I beer so thick and treacly that you could barely drink it

 

Draught Bass

Or simply Draught Bass, as it was often called. Given the beer's return to popularity, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at how it changed over the years.

It's a beer than I've drunk every now and again. Sometimes more than others. 

When I lived in the East End in 1979, the only nearby pub in the Good Beer Guide was a Bass house. I spent many a happy evening there drinking Draught Bass and White Shield mixed. Both a tasty and powerful combination. Which was exactly what I was looking for at the time. A short road to oblivion

When the Grove in balderton became a Bass pub in the early 1980s, Draught Bass was one of the beers it served. Replacing keg beers from Courage's Newark brewery. When back home, I used to drink quite often in the Grove. Partly because a couple of mates lived just over the road. Rather nice, it was, the Bass.

A couple of years back, when I was in the Black Country and Burton  with the Goose Island people, we deliberately drank lots of Bass. Which had retained its popularity in that part of the country. And I was surprised at just how good it was. A wonderful example of a Burton Best Bitter. Why weren't the owners of the brand - AB Inbev - pushing it more? Well, pushing it at all?

Now they've woken up and put a little effort into the beer it's really taken off. What does that tell us? That AB Inbev were dozy bastards who had no idea of the treasure that they owned.

More to come about Draught Bass. 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1941 Youngs PA

Just like PAB, PA has seen a fall in gravity since the outbreak of war. In its case, that was 5º. Again, an increase in the rate of attenuation has mitigated that fall somewhat. It still clocks in at 4.5% ABV, a very decent strength for a beer in 1941.

Which makes it surprising just how much PA Youngs brewed. Batches were usually 200 barrels or so. While the weaker PAB was only brewed 100 barrels at a time. And sometimes PA was brewed single-gyle. PAB only ever being brewed in a parti-gyle with PA.

There’s not much to say about the recipe, as this was parti-gyled with the PAB which we’ve just seen. In a nutshell, less sugar, more malt than in 1939.

One of the biggest changes since the start of the war is the hopping rate. Which is down from 8 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. And that is reflected in a much lower calculated bitterness level: 26 IBU compared to 42 IBU in 1939. 

1941 Youngs PA
pale malt	8.50 lb	90.23%
malt extract	0.25 lb	2.65%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.67 lb	7.11%
Fuggles 120 min	0.67 oz
Fuggles 60 min	0.67 oz
Goldings 30 min	0.67 oz
OG	1043
FG	1008.5
ABV	4.56
Apparent attenuation	80.23%
IBU	26
SRM	5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	174º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	58.5º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

What is Guinness Extra Stout?

A look at the history of an iconic beer - Guinness Extra Stout.

 

Youngs adjuncts and sugars in 1943

Onwards with adjuncts and sugars.

Now that Porter and Stout have been dropped, there’s no longer any oats. Just the government-mandated adjunct, flaked barley. Though, come to think of it, this is 1943. It’s possible that it could be oats. The brewing record is very vague, just saying “flakes”.

The average sugar percentage is up a little. About 0.75%. There's less No. 1 in the Pale Ales, but more No. 3 in the Mild Ales. I've no idea what that might mean.

Also up is the proportion of malt extract. From a bit under 3% to a bit over 3%. Not sure that I would call that significant.

What can I say about the caramel? It’s pretty much exactly the same as in 1940. Nothing more that I can spin out of that. 

Youngs adjuncts and sugars  in 1943
Beer	Style	flaked barley	malt extract	no. 1 sugar	no. 3 sugar	caramel	total sugar
A	Mild	12.02%	3.00%		6.01%	0.88%	9.89%
X	Mild	14.17%	3.15%		6.30%	0.79%	10.24%
PAB	Pale Ale	13.33%	3.33%	6.67%			10.00%
PA	Pale Ale	13.33%	3.33%	6.67%			10.00%
XXX	Strong Ale	12.39%	3.10%		6.19%	0.90%	10.19%
	Average	13.05%					10.06%
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/12.

 

Brussels

I was in Brussels with Dolores a couple of weeks ago. It had been a long time since my previous visit.

A decade or more ago I was a frequent traveller to Belgium. It's close to Amsterdam, easy to get to and has lots of interesting beer. No wonder that I went there often. But, in recent years, my travels have mostly taken me farther afield. As in, to other continents.

We stayed right in the centre, not far from the Grand Place. Which was handy for the city centre pubs. Not that we really got to visit many of them. Once, I knew my was around Brussels city centre. Not any more. I had to rely on maps.

Before we get any further, I really need to show you my breakfasts.

Not bad, eh? Bacon, scrambled egg and hash browns. That'll do me nicely. Along with some token fruit to appear healthy. In contrast to Dolores, who goes for a more diverse selection of food from the buffet.

I suppose that I should show you some pictures of my beers, too. Not that I drank all that many different ones.

One thing I did appreciate - and which you don't usually get in Amsterdam - is the choice of sizes for draught beers. Meaning that you can get a half litre, or even 75 cl, of a nice Tripel. It would have been rude not to take advantage. Though I didn't ever quite dare go for a 75 cl measure.

Why were we in Brussels? It wasn't just a random trip. It was Pete Slosberg's 75th birthday party, held in the Lambic-o-Droom just outside the city in Lot. I knew most of the people there. And all of them I'd met somewhere exotic doing the beer judging thing. Even the people from Holland and Belgium.

Brussels City Centre was very touristy. But not quite as bad as Amsterdam. I don't think anywhere is. It's the one upside of living in an expensive, tourist-infested town. Pretty much everywhere I go seems relatively cheap and uncluttered by tourists. 

What is Crimea Porter?

A short video about a very short-lived type of beer: Crimea Porter.

 

Youngs malts in 1943

Ingredients time now. Beginning, as always, with the malts.

There are fewer malts than in 1940, five rather than seven. There's a simple explanation for that: black and amber malt only appeared in Porter and Stout and those beers have been dropped. 

That's not the big story. Which is the reduction in the total malt percentage. Down from an average just short of 90% to 77%. Why such a drop? Because Youngs didn't use adjuncts in most of their beers pre-war. And during the war they were compelled to use adjuncts, at this point, that was flaked barley.

The Pale Ales have a base of all pale ale malt, without the standard pale malt that they had in 1940. While the Mild Ales remain a mix of mild malt and pale malt. The crystal malt content of the Milds and the Burton Ale is unchanged.

Enzymic malt, in both of the Pale Ales in 1940, is only in the full-strength Pale Ale here. But it wasn't consistent. It turns up sometimes in the Pale Ale parti-gyle. Only sometimes. Perhaps they were struggling to get supplies of it. 

Youngs malts in 1943
Beer	Style	pale malt	mild malt	PA malt	crystal malt	enzymic malt	total malt
A	Mild	30.04%	36.05%		12.02%		78.10%
X	Mild	37.80%	28.35%		9.45%		75.59%
PAB	Pale Ale			76.67%			76.67%
PA	Pale Ale			73.33%		3.33%	76.67%
XXX	Strong Ale	61.94%	6.19%		9.29%		77.42%
	Average						76.89%
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/12.

 

Let's Brew - 1941 Youngs PAB

What have a couple of years of war done to Young’s weaker Pale Ale? A few things. But nothing too dramatic.

For a start, the gravity has been reduced by 4º. Though a higher degree of attenuation leaves this version actually a teeny bit stronger. I think I would have been able to live with that. A slightly thinner, but more alcoholic, beer.

Exactly the same elements are present in the grist: pale malt, No. 1 invert sugar and malt extract. Though I have included in the base pale malt a small quantity of enzymic malt. I’m pretty sure that enzymic malt no longer exists, so I’ve just substituted pale malt.

There has been a change in the quantities of the grist elements. The quantity of No. 1 invert has been halved, replaced by more base malt. Meaning that the percentage of malt has increased, from 85% to 90%.

Two types of hops, Worcester and Est Kent, both from the 1940 harvest. 

1941 Youngs PAB
pale malt	7.00 lb	90.32%
malt extract	0.25 lb	3.23%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.50 lb	6.45%
Fuggles 120 min	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 min	0.50 oz
Goldings 30 min	0.50 oz
OG	1035
FG	1006.5
ABV	3.77
Apparent attenuation	81.43%
IBU	20
SRM	4.5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	174º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	58.5º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

 

This is 4d Mild Ale

Another little video. This one taking a look at a specific 4d Mild Ale recipe: 1939 Youngs Ale.

 

My YouTubes

My YouTubes seem to be taking off. At least by my very modest terms. This is the link to my channel

https://www.youtube.com/@patto1ro

Recently, I've been concentrating on short - 5 minutes, or so - videos about beer styles. Which seem to be going down well.

Do you look that sort of content, or would you prefer I concentrate on something else? Let me know. I'm totally open to suggestions.

I quite enjoy doing the short videos. Partly, because they are short and don't take long to edit. Or record. It's just a single take with a few coughs and ers chopped out. As you can probably tell, I'm not too worried about the production values. It's about the content.

I'm trying to be informative, without getting bogged down in too much detail. Pretty much the opposite of my books. 

 Let me know if you think it's working. 

 

 

Youngs beers in 1943

Let’s jump a couple of years forward and see what things are like at Youngs in the middle of the war. How, exactly, had their beers changed?

The most obvious change is that three beers have been dropped: Porter, Stout and XXXX. The last isn't much of a surprise. The strongest beers were some of the first to disappear. The first isn't a great shock, either. All London brewers discontinued their Porters in the early war years.

But Stout, that's another matter. At the time, it was still a fairly standard draught beer in London. It's really odd for a London brewery to have no Black Beer in their portfolio. In fact, it was unusual for any English brewery to not brew a Stout.

Let's look at the remaining beers in more detail. Kicking off with the gravities. Which, unsurprisingly, have been reduced since 1940. Though the reduction was very inconsistent across the different beers.

The biggest fall was in PAB and XXX. In both cases around 15%. AX Ale was a little behind with a 12% drop. Interestingly, the smallest reductions were in PA, one of the strongest beers, and A, one of weakest. In the latter case, there's a pretty obvious reason. It didn't have anywhere further to go. Because of the tax system, 1027º was effectively the lowest economic gravity. You could brew a weaker beer, but you'd have to pay the tax for a beer of 1027º.

I'm not quite so sure why PA should have got off so lightly. Interestingly, after falling 1040º in 1942, the gravity was raised again in early 1943 to 1042.7º. Which is weird. The gravities of beers very rarely increased during the war.

The rates of attenuation are pretty similar to in 1940. Around 80% for the Mild Ales, 75% for the Pale Ales, 68% for XXX. Which means that The ABVs have fallen in line with the gravity drop. Though the two strongest - PA and XXX - are still both over 4%. Which was a pretty decent strength for this stage of the war.

There's also been a significant reduction in the hopping rates. In the case of the Mild Ales, it's fallen from 6 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt to 4.5 lbs. For the Pale Ales, the reduction is from 7 lbs per quarter to 5.5 lbs. 

Youngs beers in 1943
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
A	Mild	1026.8	1005.5	2.81	79.33%	4.41	0.51
X	Mild	1029.9	1005.3	3.26	82.40%	4.40	0.57
PAB	Pale Ale	1032.9	1008.3	3.25	74.74%	5.56	0.74
PA	Pale Ale	1042.7	1011.1	4.18	74.05%	5.56	0.96
XXX	Strong Ale	1045.9	1015.5	4.02	66.20%	4.54	0.89
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/12.

 

Youngs beers gravity changes 1940 - 1943
Beer	Style	1940	1943	% drop
A	Mild	1029	1026.8	7.59%
X	Mild	1034	1029.9	12.06%
PAB	Pale Ale	1039	1032.9	15.64%
PA	Pale Ale	1047	1042.7	9.15%
XXX	Strong Ale	1055	1045.9	16.55%
	Average			12.20%
Sources:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/9.
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/12.

 

 

What is Gold Label?

 Another one of my little videos. This time it's about one of my beery obsessions: Gold Label.

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1941 Youngs Ale

If you know anything in the UK tax system, you’ll understand why the gravity of Ale hadn’t fallen very much. A gravity of under 1027º wasn’t economically sensible.

A reasonable degree of attenuation leaves it at just a touch under 3% ABV. So just about intoxicating. And stronger than the beer in most of Europe at the time.

Have there been any changes to the grist? Well, a few. The base malt is now all mild malt, rather than a mixture of pale and mild malt. There’s rather more crystal malt. Possibly, to compensate for the quantity of No. 3 invert being halved.

There were two types of hops: Sussex from 1940 and spent hops. The latter are always fun in a recipe. How do I take them into account? With great difficulty is the answer. 

1941 Youngs Ale
mild malt	5.00 lb	82.37%
crystal malt 120 L	0.67 lb	11.04%
malt extract	0.175 lb	2.88%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.175 lb	2.88%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.05 lb	0.82%
Fuggles 120 min	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.50 oz
OG	1028
FG	1006
ABV	2.91
Apparent attenuation	78.57%
IBU	14
SRM	14
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

War in brewing records

For the most part, brewing records note the details of a specific brew. With, perhaps, details of the weather that day. But, occasionally, the outside world intrudes on the cosy industrial documentation.

I came across this one yesterday. In a Young's brewing record. (PA, it you're interested. Which was 4.5% ABV. I doubt that there was anywhere else in Europe you could have found a beer that strong on that date.)

VE Day was a big deal. Especially in London, which had been under attack for virtually the whole of the war. VE Day represented a return to normality. Even though the war ewith Japan continued. AT least there was no longer a need for the blackout.

Going back a couple of years, on 9th September 1940, a brew of Porter and several Stouts noted:

Air Raid Warnings:_
5:15 p.m. to 6:25 p.m.
AND 8:40 p.m. to 5:45 a.m.

This was the fag end of the Battle of Britain and the start of the Blitz. Look at how long those warnings were. Around ten hours in total. That must have been both disruptive and scary.
 
A few months later, things were even worse for Boddington in Manchester. Their brewery suffered sever damage

"BIG AIR RAID ON MANCHESTER
ON NIGHTS OF DEC 23RD & 24TH
BREWERY BADLY DAMAGED
BY FIRE & EXPLOSIVES
ALL BEER IN F.V.S & R.S.S
SPOILT
RAN AWAY"

The damage was so bad, that the next brew was around 9 months later, on 25th August 1941. 

What is Table Beer?

 Another of my little videos. This one is about the most watery type of UK beer: Table Beer.

 

London Strong Burton Ale hops 1880 - 1899

Logically, now we come to the hops. All of which are reasonably fresh.

A majority of the beers have multiple types of hops, mostly English. Sadly, the region of origin is only mentioned in the Barclay Perkins records. Where they were all from Kent. At least the English ones. There were also some Bavarian hops.

American hops – which were used in huge quantities in the UK in the late 19th century – only appear in the Whitbread examples. That so many fresh, English hops were used is a sure sign that these were expensive beers.

London Strong Burton Ale hops 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	Beer	hop 1	hop 2	hop 3
1881	Whitbread	KKK	American 1881	English 1880	English 1881
1891	Whitbread	KKK	English 1890	English 1891	American 1890
1886	Barclay Perkins	KKK	Bavarian 1886	EK 1886	MK 1886
1887	Truman (Burton)	S3	English 1886
1897	Truman (Burton)	CS 3	English 1896	English 1896
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047 and LMA/4453/D/01/057.
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/583.
Truman brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers B/THB/BUR/11 and B/THB/C/327.

 

 

London Strong Burton Ale adjuncts and sugars 1880 - 1899

There’s not much more in the way of adjuncts and sugars. 

Barclay Perkins KKK is the only adjunct beer, with just shy of 10% flaked rice. Which is a surprise, as, by the 1890s, adjuncts had become fairly common in English brewing. Usually in the form of flaked maize. Occasionally rice, as in this case.

Every beer, with the exception of the 1897 Truman example, contains some sugar. The proportion varying between around 10% and 15%. Averaging about 11%.

Unfortunately, the type of sugar mostly isn’t specified. Probably some sort of invert, in most cases. I wouldn’t like to guess exactly which exact type. Quite likely No. 2 invert, as in the case of Barclay Perkins KKK. No. 3 is also a possibility, especially in the beers from the 1890s. 

London Strong Burton Ale adjuncts and sugars 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	Beer	flaked rice	no. 2 sugar	other sugar	total sugar
1881	Whitbread	KKK			15.25%	15.25%
1891	Whitbread	KKK			13.41%	13.41%
1886	Barclay Perkins	KKK	9.60%	16.00%		16.00%
1887	Truman (Burton)	S3			9.30%	9.30%
1897	Truman (Burton)	CS 3				0.00%
	Average					10.79%
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047 and LMA/4453/D/01/057.
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/583.
Truman brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers B/THB/BUR/11 and B/THB/C/327.

 

Let's Brew - 1909 Maclay Table Beer 28/-

Now here’s a real oddity: a 20th-century Table Beer. The type had been pretty common at the start of the 19th century. However, when it disappeared as a tax category in 1830, it quickly disappeared from England. While in Scotland, in continued to be brewed. Albeit in quite modest quantities.

In Edwardian Britain a beer of under 2% ABV, such as this one, was pretty much treated as non-alcoholic. In England, no-one was brewing a beer this week in 1909.

For a Scottish beer, the grist is incredibly complex. With three malts: pale, amber and black malt. Something that you wouldn’t see at any other Scottish brewery, other than in Stout. As you’ll see in a moment, the Mild Ales have pretty much the same recipe. Making this essentially a type of very weak Mild.

There are no fewer than six types of hops. Hallertau from the 1905, 1906 and 1907 vintage; Californian from 1907, Farnham from 1908 and Worcester from 1905. 

1909 Maclay Table Beer 28/-
pale malt	3.00 lb	63.16%
amber malt	0.125 lb	2.63%
black malt	0.125 lb	2.63%
grits	1.00 lb	21.05%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.50 lb	10.53%
Cluster 120 min	0.25 oz
Hallertau 60 min	0.25 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.50 oz
OG	1022
FG	1007
ABV	1.98
Apparent attenuation	68.18%
IBU	16
SRM	8
Mash at	146º F
after underlet	154º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	63º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 

What is 4d Mild Ale?

Yet another video. This time looking at the most watery of Mild Ales.

 

London Strong Burton Ale malts 1880 - 1899

Time to take a look at the ingredients. Starting with the malts.

There aren’t a great number of them. Just three, two of them base malts.

All but one have a base of standard pale malt. The exception being the 1881 Whitbread example, which uses SA malt. Which is a type of malt which produces a wort with a higher proportion of less readily-fermentable sugars. Something desirable in a beer which would undergo a long secondary fermentation. Note that it is one of the beers with the lowest degree of attenuation.

The only coloured malt is a small quantity of brown malt in the 1891 Whitbread beer. That is significant. As it’s around the time when Mild Ale and Burton Ale started to darken in colour. By the time WW I rolled around, they would fairly dark brown.

Only the 1897 Truman beer is 100% malt. Though the malt content is pretty high in all but Barclay Perkins KKK., averaging 87%. 

London Strong Burton Ale malts 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	Beer	pale malt	SA malt	brown malt	total malt
1881	Whitbread	KKK		84.75%		84.75%
1891	Whitbread	KKK	84.92%		1.68%	86.59%
1886	Barclay Perkins	KKK	74.40%			74.40%
1887	Truman (Burton)	S3	90.70%			90.70%
1897	Truman (Burton)	CS 3	100.00%			100.00%
	Average					87.29%
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047 and LMA/4453/D/01/057.
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/583.
Truman brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers B/THB/BUR/11 and B/THB/C/327.