Let's Brew - 1941 Youngs X Ale

What have two years of war done to Young’s standard Mild? 

For a start, it’s whittled off 5º of gravity. Leaving it barely over 3% ABV and not much stronger than Ale had been in 1939. There’s also been a big reduction in the hopping rate, down from 6 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt to just 4 lbs. 

The result is a pretty weak and lightly-hopped beer. Looking very much like a post-war version of the style.

The recipe itself hasn’t change much. Other than dropping the pale malt and going to a 100% mild malt base. There’s also been in an increase in the proportion of crystal malt and a reduction in No. 3 invert. 

Just one type of hops, Sussex from the 1940 season. Which, as this beer was brewed in May, were from the most recent harvest. 

1941 Youngs X Ale
mild malt	5.50 lb	83.33%
crystal malt 120 L	0.675 lb	10.23%
malt extract	0.125 lb	1.89%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.25 lb	3.79%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.05 lb	0.76%
Fuggles 120 min	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.50 oz
OG	1030
FG	1006.5
ABV	3.11
Apparent attenuation	78.33%
IBU	13
SRM	13.5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

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

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1911 Eldridge Pope X

Part of the unusual parti-gyle with the Pale Ale above was this Mild Ale. Now, you may be asking why the ingredients aren’t the same. The answer is simple: The Pale Ale was pretty much all first wort and a couple of the sugars were only added to the second and third coppers.

All of which means that, despite being weaker, this beer is significantly darker than the Pale Ale. Being what I would class as semi-dark. Which is quite typical for Mild Ales of the period. Few were fully dark before WW I.

The hops are also different as the first and second coppers were hopped quite differently. While the first copper had five different types of English hops, the second had two types of English hops and one of Oregon.

With a gravity of just 1036º, this isn’t that far away from a modern Mild. And is much weaker than a London Mild Ale, which would have had a gravity over 1050º. 

1911 Eldridge Pope X
pale malt	6.25 lb	81.22%
flaked maize	0.375 lb	4.87%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.75 lb	9.75%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.25 lb	3.25%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.07 lb	0.91%
Cluster 120 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1036
FG	1009
ABV	3.57
Apparent attenuation	75.00%
IBU	37
SRM	11
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1877 Strangman X Ale

Here’s another confusing beer from Strangman. On the face of it, the name, X Ale, indicates that this was a Mild Ale. But it’s not that simple.

The gravity is very much in the range of a London X Ale. However, the hopping is a good bit heavier. At 14 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, the rate is about double that of London Mild Ales. And similar to the hopping rate of a London Pale Ale. It’s also higher than the hopping rate for Strangman Beer. Which makes no sense, as Ale should be more lightly hopped than Ale.

Not much to the recipe: just one type of malt and one of hops. The malt was made from English barley by Strangman themselves. The hops, from grower Springett, were, I assume, English. And were pretty fresh, being from the 1876 harvest.
 

1877 Strangman X Ale
pale malt	13.00 lb	100.00%
Fuggles 90 mins	2.25 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	2.25 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	2.25 oz
OG	1056
FG	1013
ABV	5.69
Apparent attenuation	76.79%
IBU	75
SRM	5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP004 Irish Stout

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1880 Chapman X

Another Chapman beer today. I've just spent a whole day writing up my Cairo trip. The another posting them out for the next week or so.

Unlike London brewers, who had mostly cut back to just a single Mild Ale by this point, Chapman still brewed a range of X Ales. This being the weakest of the set.

As was typical for Mild Ales at the time, there’s not much to the grist. It’s just base malt and sugar. There is some interest in the base malt, as there are two types. The majority is made from Saale, that is German, barley.

The sugar is described as “Pale Ref”. Not sure what that might be and have substituted No. 1 invert.  Whatever, the result is a pretty pale beer. Which is similar in colour to their Pale Ales.

Just the two types of hops: Kent from 1878 and Californian from 1879. No dry hops.

1880 Chapman X
pale malt	6.50 lb	68.42%
No. 1 invert sugar	3.00 lb	31.58%
Cluster 90 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1051
FG	1006
ABV	5.95
Apparent attenuation	88.24%
IBU	30
SRM	7.5
Mash at	145º F
Sparge at	167º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58.5º F
Yeast	WLP023 Burton Ale

 

Let's Brew - 1899 Barclay Perkins X Ale

At the end of the 1880s, there was quite a big cut in the gravity of X Ale. Followed by another, smaller one, in the second half of the 1890s. Presumably in reaction to increases in duty.

The recipe was also quite unstable in that period. In addition to base malt, sometimes there was brown malt, sometimes crystal malt and others both. After 1891, They settled on just pale and crystal malt. Along with a bit of flaked maize and a shitload of sugar. As often in the 19th century, it’s just described as “saccharum”. I’ve opted for No. 3. Partly because it feels right. But also because it gets the colour to about the right spot.

In the copper, were some American hops, from the most recent harvest, 1898. There were also some Mid-Kent hops from the same year. The other type of Mid-Kent hops were a year older, but are specifically described as Goldings.

The finished beer would have been semi-dark, fairly hoppy and with a decent alcoholic kick. My type of Mild. 

1899 Barclay Perkins X Ale
pale malt	6.75 lb	63.26%
crystal malt 60L	0.25 lb	2.34%
flaked maize	1.00 lb	9.37%
No. 3 invert sugar	2.67 lb	25.02%
Cluster 120 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 120 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.25 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.25 oz
OG	1055
FG	1009
ABV	6.09
Apparent attenuation	83.64%
IBU	55
SRM	16
Mash at	148º F
After underlet	153º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

Let's Brew - 1911 Russell X

As at most breweries, X Ale, base level Mild, was one of the most popular beers. And a good bit stronger than today’s version of Ordinary Mild.

The gravity is a touch lower than in equivalent London beers, which were mostly a few degrees over 1050º.

It’s not a very complicated grist. Just base malt, maize and sugar. Though the malt is split 50-50 between English and foreign. Barley that is. It would all have been malted in the UK. Described as “pale invert”, I’m pretty sure that the sugar was No. 1 invert.

It’s interesting to see what is happening with the colour. I’d describe this as semi-dark, which is about right for the period. Few Milds had gone properly dark brown, but many were dark enough to be easily distinguishable from Bitter.

Just two types of English hops, two thirds from the 1910 harvest, the other third from 1908. 

1911 Russell X
pale malt	7.00 lb	72.99%
flaked maize	0.75 lb	7.82%
No. 1 invert sugar	1.75 lb	18.25%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.09 lb	0.94%
Fuggles 90 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1048
FG	1012
ABV	4.76
Apparent attenuation	75.00%
IBU	27
SRM	12
Mash at	147º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1768 English Special Bitter

Let's Brew - 1888 Tetley X3

There are certain beers where, in the absence of a price list to tell you exactly what they were marketed as, it’s hard to be certain about the style just from the brewing records.

It’s particularly tricky at the top end of Mild Ales. Is it still a Mild Ale or is it an Old Ale? Or even just Strong Ale? This is a good example. The X implies a Mild Ale and it sits neatly atop three other beers in the style.

However, the hopping rate is much higher than even for X2 – 12 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt compared to 8 lbs. That’s 50% higher. One of the features of beers meant for ageing was a higher level of hopping, leading me to infer that X3 was probably an Old Ale. I could be wrong. Without more evidence, it’s impossible to be sure.

No complication of any sort in the grist, other than there being two types of base malt, pale malt and mild malt.

Rather more complexity in the hopping, where there are four different types: Kent from the 1886 and 1887 harvests, Worcester from 1886 and Bohemian from 1887. To account for the age of some of the examples, I’ve cut the original hopping rate by 20%. 

1888 Tetley X3
pale malt	8.00 lb	49.23%
mild malt	8.25 lb	50.77%
Fuggles 180 mins	4.50 oz
Saaz 120 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1071
FG	1016
ABV	7.28
Apparent attenuation	77.46%
IBU	71
SRM	6.5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	180 minutes
pitching temp	63º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale Timothy Taylor

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1888 Tetley X2

We.re continuing our walk up Tetley’s Mild hill with X2. The next to strongest of the four.

I’ve mentioned that the recipes for the Milds are basically all the same. But there is one are where they differ: the hopping rate. While X has just 4.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, X2 has 8.5 lbs.  Obviously, this is reflected in the bitterness level, which is much higher in X2.

The grist is much the same as the weaker Milds: pale malt, mild malt and some sugar. Once again “Inality”. Slightly more legible in this record. Not that it helps me much. I’ve still no idea what it was.

The same hops again, but lots more of them. Kent from the 1886 and 1887 harvests, Alsace from 1886 and Altmark from 1887. 

1888 Tetley X2
pale malt	4.75 lb	34.55%
mild malt	8.00 lb	58.18%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.00 lb	7.27%
Fuggles 180 mins	2.00 oz
Strisselspalt 180 mins	2.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1063
FG	1016.5
ABV	6.15
Apparent attenuation	73.81%
IBU	50
SRM	8
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	180 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale Timothy Taylor

Let's Brew - 1888 Tetley X1

Next on the Mild pile was X1, logically enough.

The recipe is pretty much the same as X, even though the two were not parti-gyled together. Which is to say a combination of pale and mild malts along with some sugar. The last again being the enigmatic “Inchity”. Whatever that might be.

It’s really just a slightly beefed-up version of X. Which isn’t surprising, really.

The hops were the same as in X. Just a few more of them. Kent from the 1886 and 1887 harvests, Alsace from 1886 and Altmark from 1887. 

1888 Tetley X1
pale malt	4.00 lb	34.78%
mild malt	6.50 lb	56.52%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.00 lb	8.70%
Fuggles 120 mins	1.00 oz
Strisselspalt 120 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1053
FG	1016.5
ABV	4.83
Apparent attenuation	68.87%
IBU	25
SRM	7.5
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	63º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale Timothy Taylor

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1888 Tetley X

Despite all their newspaper adverts pushing their East India Pale Ale, in the 1880s Tetley was basically a Mild Ale brewery. They produced four different versions, all brewed single-gyle.

Bottom of the pile was X. Or rather, X with a line through it. Unlike other breweries, Tetley didn’t go from X to XXXX. Instead, all were a single X, just with varying numbers of horizontal lines through it. No idea why.

There are only three elements to the grist: mild malt, pale malt and sugar.  I’ve no idea what the last was exactly. I can’t really read the description. It looks something like “Inchity”. I’ve gone for a conservative guess with No. 2 invert.

The hops are more comprehensible: Kent from the 1886 and 1887 harvests, Alsace from 1886 and Altmark from 1887.

1888 Tetley X
pale malt	6.50 lb	66.67%
mild malt	2.25 lb	23.08%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.00 lb	10.26%
Fuggles 120 mins	0.75 oz
Strisselspalt 120 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1046
FG	1016.5
ABV	3.90
Apparent attenuation	64.13%
IBU	20
SRM	7
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	65º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale Timothy Taylor

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1885 William Younger X

Now we’re done with one set of Younger’s Ales, it’s time to start on another one: the X’s.

If the Shilling Ales are Milds and the X Ales are Milds, what the hell is the difference between them? You tell me. I can’t work it out. The Shilling Ales seem to be less well attenuated, but that’s about it. Perhaps the X Ales were draught and the Shilling Ales bottled.

This X is a little lower in gravity than its London equivalent. At least one from a large brewery. It’s still over 5% ABV, mind.

Another very simple grist from Younger.  Just base malt and, er, that’s it. Oh, and “5 flgs pat”. Which is probably patent malt. But what the hell is a flg? If that indeed is what it says. I’m not totally sure.  Getting back to the base malt, there are two types, one from the Middle East.

In contrast, there were many different types of hops. American from the 1884 harvest, Californian from 1884, Württemberg from 1884, Kent from 1884 and 1885 as copper hops. Loads of dry hops, too: American from 1884 and 1885, Californian from 1884, Württemberg from 1884 and 1885, EK from 1884.
 

1885 William Younger X
pale malt	11.75 lb	100.00%
Cluster 120 min	1.00 oz
Spalt 60 min	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 min	1.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1051
FG	1013
ABV	5.03
Apparent attenuation	74.51%
IBU	41
SRM	4.5
Mash at	155º F
Sparge at	163º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1889 Harveys X Ale

We’re outside the major cities again with Harveys. Not exactly rurally based, but a fairly small market town.

The surprise here is that the base-level Mild Ale, X Ale, has a similar gravity to a London Mild. And is a good bit stronger than other small-town X Ales from Adnams and Hancock. Why is this? Perhaps because, being not that far from London, they were in direct competition with brewers from the capital.

There’s no malt other than pale base malt. Though there were three types of that: two made from English barley and one from Smyrna, i.e., Middle Eastern, barley. Nothing particularly unusual in that, given that the UK couldn’t grow enough malting barley to service the brewing industry.

The only other element in the grist is No. 2 invert sugar. Which darkens the beer a little, while still leaving it well short of a modern Dark Mild.

The hops, in contrast to the malt, were all English. Specifically, Kent from the 1888 harvest and East Kent from 1887 and 1888.

1889 Harveys X Ale
pale malt	10.25 lb	85.42%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.75 lb	14.58%
Fuggles 85 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings 60 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1058
FG	1014
ABV	5.82
Apparent attenuation	75.86%
IBU	35
SRM	9
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	85 minutes
pitching temp	57.5º F
Yeast	White Labs WLP025 Southwold

 

Let's Brew - 1909 Truman X

A final Mild recipe for Mild Month. I've published a couple of things on the topic. I've done my bit.

When WW I was lurking the corner, the recipe of Truman X was starting to look rather familiar. Rather like that of a modern Dark Mild. Except in terms of gravity, that is.

Which is an impressive 1057º.  Though that is 6º down on 1881. It would be all downhill, gravity-wise, from here on.

Mild and crystal malt formed the bulk of the grist. Along with some flaked maize. The sugar was No. 2 invert and not No. 3 as you might have expected. Which is why the colour is fairly pale. Semi-dark, I’d call it.

Considerably fewer hops were chucked in the copper than back in 1881. As you’d expect the (calculated) bitterness is much lower, 37 IBU compared to 65 IBU. The hops themselves were English, Oregon and Hallertau, all from the 1908 harvest. 

1909 Truman X
mild malt	8.75 lb	74.47%
crystal malt	0.50 lb	4.26%
flaked maize	1.00 lb	8.51%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.50 lb	12.77%
Cluster 90 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.00 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1057
FG	1014
ABV	5.69
Apparent attenuation	75.44%
IBU	37
SRM	10
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale