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.

 

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.

 

London Strong Burton Ale 1880 - 1899

We’re moving on now to the stronger types of London Burton Ale here. A beer which was usually called KKK within the brewhouse.

One of the strongest types brewed in London, the quantities made were quite modest. In 1890, Whitbread brewed just 6,000 barrels of KKK out of a total of 381,000 barrels. Of which 210,000 barrels was X Ale.  Which is what most Londoners were drinking.

These beers are pretty much beefed-up versions of KK. Sometimes, like at Whitbread, being parti-gyled with KK. When brewed single-gyle, the hopping was often heavier in KKK.

Like KK and X Ale, KKK began down the path of darkness in the final decades of the 19th century. Who really knows why they became darker?

Though of a lower gravity, beers of the type continued to be brewed after WW I. Fullers Old Burton Extra being a good example.

Let’s take a look at some real examples.

As you can see in the table, the gravity averages about 14º higher than the weaker type of Burton Ale. And about 0.75º ABV stronger, at 8% ABV. There isn’t a huge variation across the three beers, with all being around 1090º.

The final gravities do vary more, ranging from 1025º to 1033º. Though these should be taken with a pinch of salt, as these are the gravities at the end of primary fermentation. After a long secondary Brettanomyces fermentation the true final gravity would have been much lower. And hence the degree of attenuation considerably higher.

The hopping rate, unsurprisingly, is very high. Averaging 14 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. About 2lbs per quarter more than the standard-strength Burtons. It’s even higher than the rate for London Stock Pale Ales, which is 13 lbs per quarter.

As with the standard beers, the Truman examples were brewed in Burton rather than London. However, as they were specifically for sale in the capital, I think they belong here. 

London Strong Burton Ale 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
1881	Whitbread	KKK	1089.2	1032.7	7.48	63.35%	14.13	5.84
1891	Whitbread	KKK	1087.3	1033.0	7.18	62.18%	14.07	5.70
1886	Barclay Perkins	KKK	1088.0	1024.9	8.34	71.67%	17.64	6.62
1887	Truman (Burton)	S3	1092.8	1027.7	8.61	70.15%	11.33	5.00
1897	Truman (Burton)	CS 3	1090.6	1027.7	8.32	69.42%	12.79	5.00
	Average		1089.6	1029.2	7.99	67.35%	13.99	5.63
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.

 

Brewers not for sale 1900 - 1918

Very much a statistics-based post today. Looking at the number of licences issued for brewers who weren't selling their beer.

The 1880 Free Mash Tun compelled everyone who brewed to buy a licence, whether they sold their beer or not. Those not selling their beer didn't have to pay beer duty, but they did need a licence. 

Brewers not for sale included ones operating on very different scales. Ranging from workmen brewing in their cottages to local gentry with dedicated brewhouses making beer for all their estate staff. Home brewers continued to need to buy a licence up until the 1960s, when that calss of licence was abolished.

At the start of the 20th century, over 12,000 not for sale licences were issued. The vast majority were in England, with just a handful in Scotland. To put the numbers into context, the population of England was around ten times that of Scotland. While the licences in Scotland were less than 1% of those in England.

The numbers declined dramatically in the years leading up to WW I, falling to under 5,000. There was a small rise towards the end of the war, before a total collapse in 1918. By that point only a handful of licences were still being issued in Scotland. 

Brewers not for sale 1900 - 1918
Year	Eng.	Scot.	G.B.
1900	12,607	127	12,734
1901	12,296	114	12,410
1902	11,772	100	11,872
1903	11,665	87	11,752
1904	11,275	84	11,359
1905	9,863	67	9,930
1906	9,266	56	9,322
1907	8,840	49	8,889
1908	8,438	43	8,481
1909	7,530	38	7,568
1910	6,980	26	7,006
1911	6,833	22	6,855
1912	5,953	20	5,973
1913	4,992	17	5,009
1914	4,522	15	4,537
1915	4,728	13	4,741
1916	5,982	9	5,991
1917	5,207	10	5,217
1918	1,598	4	1,602
Source:
"Drink in Great Britain 1900 - 1979", by Gwylmor Prys Williams and George Thompson Brake, 1980, page 367.

 

Adnams 2nd June 1913 XX mashing scheme

The final process is the most important one: mashing.

Surprise, surprise – it’s an underlet mash. A process beloved of English brewers both large and small. With the underlet raising the temperature of the mash by a couple of degrees. It’s not recorded in the brewing record, but there would have been a rest of 20 to 30 minutes between the initial infusion and the underlet.

After the underlet, there would have been another stand, probably of around two hours. Then the sparges would have begun. As was usual, the temperature of the water was reduced as the process progressed. 

And that's Adnams done. At least the 1913 iterations of their beers.  I could go back and do an analysis of their 1879 beers as well. Or 1890. 

Anyone interested in that? I could spin another half dozen posts out of that. Or are you totally fed up of Adnams?

Adnams 2nd June 1913 XX mashing scheme
operation	barrels	strike heat	initial heat	final heat
mash	14	160º F	149.5º F
underlet	0.5	200º F		150.5º F
sparge 1	25	165º F	149º F
sparge 2	26.5	160º F		153º F
Source:
Adnams brewing record Book 1 held at the brewery.

 

Let's Brew - 1913 Adnams PA

Brewed in far smaller quantities than the Mild Ales was Adnams Pale Ale. Clearly, it was very much a minority drink.

Like the Mild Ales, the gravity has fallen a bit since 1890, down 4º. Though it’s still far stronger than their other standard beers. Then again. Both X and XX Ale were pretty weedy beers.

The only real change in the grist is the addition of some flaked maize. Other than that, it remains just base malt and No. 1 invert sugar. Though there were two types of base malt. Half was made from English barley and half from Californian. All malted in the UK, of course.

The hops are pretty diverse. Oregon from the 1911 harvest, two types of Kent from 1912 and Saaz, also from 1912. The dry hops were a combination of Saaz from 1912 and Hallertau from 1911.

My guess is that this was a semi-stock Pale Ale, aged for two or three months. 

1913 Adnams PA
pale malt	10.00 lb	83.33%
flaked maize	0.75 lb	6.25%
No. 1 invert sugar	1.25 lb	10.42%
Cluster 165 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.00 oz
Saaz 30 mins	1.00 oz
Hallertau dry hops	0.67 oz
Saaz dry hops	0.33 oz
OG	1056
FG	1011
ABV	5.95
Apparent attenuation	80.36%
IBU	41
SRM	6
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	165 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP025 Southwold

 

Adnams boiling and fermentation in 1913

Time to crack on with some processes. Beginning with boiling and fermentation.

With just a single copper, boiling was a fairly simple affair at Adnams. The Mild Ales underwent a boil of 1.75 hours. All the other beers got 15 minutes more. Nothing much more to say, really. All pretty normal.

The pitching temperatures are all around 60º F. Which is what I always think of as the standard temperature for pitching. Perhaps a degree or two lower for strong beers.

Similarly, the maximum fermentation temperatures are all within a degree or so of 70º F. Higher in the stronger beers, lower in the weaker ones. Nothing odd at all.

The normalcy theme continues with the length of fermentation. Which, for every beer except PA, was seven days. About as long as you would expect, if the brewer wasn’t in a rush.

Adnams boiling and fermentation in 1913
Beer	Style	boil time (hours)	Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)
X	Mild Ale	1.75	60º F	69.75º F	7
XX	Mild Ale	1.75	60.25º F	68.25º F	7
BLB	Pale Ale	2	60.5º F	69.5º F	7
PA	Pale Ale	2	60º F	70.25º F	8
BS	Stout	2	60º F	70.75º F	7
DS	Stout	2	59.75º F	71.25º F	7
Tally Ho	Old Ale	2	60º F	71.25º F	7
Source:
Adnams brewing record Book 1 held at the brewery.

 

 

 

Adnams hops in 1913

Quite a few different types of hops were employed at Adnams. Seven in total, four of them English and four foreign. All from either the 1911 and 1912 harvests. So nothing ridiculously old.

All of the beers, other than X Ale, contain at least three types of hops. With BS and Tally Ho both having five different types.

A majority of the English hops were from Worcester, the rest either from Kent or not specified. Nothing unusual about that, as Kent and Worcester were two of the largest producers of hops. And producers of top-quality hops.

It’s interesting that few of the foreign hops were sourced from the USA. Which was by far the largest supplier of hop imports to the UK. Rather, the foreign hops mostly come from Central Europe. Namely Saaz and Württemberg. Regions well known for good quality hops.

Saaz is, in fact, the second most common type of hop. Appearing in all the beers, other than the two Mild Ales. And it also appears as a dry hop in BLB and Tally Ho. It’s a sign of the high regard of UK brewers for Saaz that it was being used as a dry hop. 

Adnams hops in 1913
Beer	Style	hop 1	hop 2	hop 3	hop 4	hop 5	dry hop 1	dry hop 2
X	Mild Ale	Eng 1911	Eng 1912
XX	Mild Ale	B n B	Wür 1911	Wo 1912
BLB	Pale Ale	Wo 1912	Sz 1912	Kt 1911			Sz 1912	Wo 1912
PA	Pale Ale	Sz 1912	Wo 1912	Kt 1911
BS	Stout	Wür 1911	Or 1911	Wo 1912	Sz 1912	Kt 1911
DS	Stout	Wür 1911	Wo 1912	Sz 1912
Tally Ho	Old Ale	Wür 1911	Or 1911	Wo 1912	Sz 1912	Kt 1911	Sz 1912	Wo 1912
Key:
Wür. = Württemberg
Wo = Worcester
Eng = English
Or = Oregon
Kt = Kent
Sz = Saaz
Source:
Adnams brewing record Book 1 held at the brewery.

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1913 Adnams X Ale

Moving forward in time a couple of decades, we find a new version of X Ale. Which looks very much like a modern Mild. And is not very typical of the style pre-WW I.

A gravity of just 1033º was low even for a Mild Ale brewed way out in the sticks. Even a very high degree of attenuation leaves it not much over 3.5% ABV

Simple is an understatement when it comes to the recipe. Just base malt, sugar and caramel colouring. And really just one type of base malt. I can’t imagine that it was a very full-bodied beer. That’s about all I can say. I assume that the caramel had a dark colour as it was called “tintose”.

Two types of hops. Worcester from the 1911 harvest and English from 1912. Hopped at a puny rate of 3.75 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt.

My guess is that a Mild like this would have been consumed just a couple of days after racking. 

1913 Adnams X Ale
mild malt	5.75 lb	84.31%
glucose	1.00 lb	14.66%
caramel 5000 SRM	0.07 lb	1.03%
Fuggles 105 mins	0.33 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.33 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.33 oz
OG	1033
FG	1005.5
ABV	3.64
Apparent attenuation	83.33%
IBU	13
SRM	23
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP025 Southwold

 

Adnams sugars in 1913

Sugars are always fun. At least in this case there are no weird proprietary sugars. Many of which leave me totally stumped.

The total sugar content is a little on the high side at 16% to 18%. While the average sugar usage for whole country was 13% in 1913. 

No. 1 invert appears in both the Pale Ales and Tally Ho. It’s exactly the type of sugar that you would expect in Pale Ales, being very light in colour

The darker beers – the two Mild Ales and the Stouts – contain rather large amounts of glucose. So, half invert. A bit surprising, as it would have been very pale in colour. And would have lightened the colour, especially in the quantities used.

Counteracting that, there’s a very dark sugar, CDM (Caramelised Dextro-Maltose) in both Stouts. Dextrin not being very readily fermentable, this would have added body as well as colour.

The final sugar type is Tintose. Which, judging by its name and the tiny quantities used, was a type of caramel. It appears in both the Mild Ales and Tally Ho. 

Adnams sugars in 1913
Beer	Style	no. 1 sugar	glucose	CDM	Tintose	total sugar
X	Mild Ale		15.84%		0.99%	16.83%
XX	Mild Ale		17.41%		0.97%	18.38%
BLB	Pale Ale	16.00%				16.00%
PA	Pale Ale	9.30%				9.30%
BS	Stout		14.16%	3.54%		17.70%
DS	Stout		13.11%	3.28%		16.39%
Tally Ho	Old Ale	15.53%			0.64%	16.16%
Source:
Adnams brewing record Book 1 held at the brewery.

 

Adnams adjuncts in 1913

All the beers except for X Ale contain an adjunct of some sort. In most cases, that’s flaked maize. In quite small quantities, 7% at most. Which is less than the 8.5% average for the whole country. 

Both Stouts contain oats. It’s not clear from the brewing records exactly what form those oats are in. I’m guessing that it’s probably flaked oats. Obviously, they’re there so that some could be marketed as Oatmeal Stout. Unlike at some breweries – I’m looking at you London – there’s more than a nominal amount. Maybe even enough to have an impact on the character of the beer. 

Adnams adjuncts in 1913
Beer	Style	oats	flaked maize	total adjuncts
X	Mild Ale			0.00%
XX	Mild Ale		6.53%	6.53%
BLB	Pale Ale		6.00%	6.00%
PA	Pale Ale		6.98%	6.98%
BS	Stout	5.31%		5.31%
DS	Stout	4.92%	2.46%	7.38%
Tally Ho	Old Ale		4.66%	4.66%
Source:
Adnams brewing record Book 1 held at the brewery.