Shepherd Neame grists in 1971

Time to look at what went into these beers. Starting off with the malts and adjuncts.

Pale malt was the only base employed. Nothing very unusual about that. More uncommon is the presence of crystal malt in every single beer. Which was a bit of a turnaround. Because up until at least 1966, they didn’t use crystal malt at all.

Even more odd is the presence of amber malt in one of the Pale Ale parti-gyles. It’s not a malt you’d usually find in a Pale Ale. In fact, you rarely see it in anything other than Porter and Stout. And then mostly before WW I.

I’m not 100% that the wheat was in malted form. It’s not clear from the brewing record. Though, as it just says “wheat” and not “flaked wheat” but it does say “flaked maize”. I assume wheat is there for its head-promoting properties.

Speaking of which, it’s a little strange that flaked maize only appears in the one Pale Ale parti-gyle. And not in the Mild and Brown Ale. Looking back through the logs, it’s another ingredient which was only introduced sometime after 1966. 

Shepherd Neame grists in 1971
Beer	Style	pale malt	amber malt	crystal malt	wheat malt	total malt	flaked maize
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	67.28%		4.81%		72.08%
Mild	Mild	67.28%		4.81%		72.08%
Light Ale	Pale Ale	60.55%	5.50%	5.50%	5.50%	77.06%	5.50%
Bitter	Pale Ale	84.65%		7.43%		92.08%
Best Bitter	Pale Ale	84.07%		8.24%		92.31%
Abbey Ale	Pale Ale	61.15%	5.73%	5.73%	3.82%	76.43%	3.82%
Old English Stock Ale	Pale Ale	60.55%	5.50%	5.50%	5.50%	77.06%	5.50%
Bishop's Finger	Strong Ale	59.57%	6.38%	6.38%	4.26%	76.60%	4.26%
Stout	Stout	85.71%		6.12%		91.84%
Source:
Shepherd Neame brewing book held at the brewery, document number H-5O5.

Coloured malts 1880 - 1914

Towards the end of the 19th century some coloured malts, such as brown and amber became less popular and brewers relied on other malts to mimic them. This doesn’t seem to have been a total success, leading to a resurgence in their use.

“Brown and amber malts have of late years fallen somewhat into disfavour, black being relied upon for colour, crystal for flavour. There is. however, latterly a tendency to employ an increased proportion of brown and amber malt, and without doubt such malt if really well made gives a characteristic flavour not possessed by either black or crystal. It is, indeed, by a skilful blending of the several types of coloured malt that some of the most successful black beers are produced. It is true that in such grists the total proportion of the coloured malts will often be large and the cost price of the beer as a consequence high, but the result of the adoption of such grists generally fully justifies the expenditure." 

One of the problems with brown and amber malts had been their extreme variability, both in terms of flavour and colour. A brown malt from one maltster was often very different to that from another. However, changes in the method of manufacturing such malts to a large degree eliminated these differences making their use more attractive to brewers. 

Coloured malt analyses
	Black.	Brown.	Amber.	Crystal.
Extract per quarter (336 lbs. )	57.75	57.12	84.33	58.26
„ per cent. .	44.3	44.04	65.02	45.07
Acidity of wort	0.29	0.23	0.19	0.17
Total proteids or albuminoids	6.11	7.13	7.62	8.71
Soluble	3.99	4.81	5.69	5.88
Insoluble ,, ,,	3.99	4.81	5.69	5.88
Mineral matter or ash	0.32	0.29	1.2	0.76
Moisture	5.37	6.23	4.14	2.12
Source:
The Brewers Analyst, by R. Douglas Bailey, 1907, page 234

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1868 William Younger DBS

As part of my Scottish decade, we'll be continuing with Scottish recipes for some time. It's so exciting to be able to present real Scottish recipes. Not just any old made-up nonsense.

Today it's DBS, or Double Brown Stout. Porter and Stout never dominated the Scottish market like they did in England. Yes, Scottish brewers made them, but in far smaller quantities than Pale Ales or Mild Ales.

In the 1860's, William Younger only brewed one Porter and one Stout. We've already had a recipe for the bottling version of the Porter, called Bg. The non-bottling version was confusingly called both P and BS (standing presumably for Brown Stout). How did these compare to the Porter and Stout brewed in London? Let's take a look

1868 William Younger:
Bg Porter 1046
BS Porter 1041
DBS Stout 1062

1868 Whitbread:
P 1048
SS 1080
SSS 1099

1870 Truman:
Running Porter 1057
Running Stout 1072
Double Stout 1080
Imperial Stout 1084
Double Export Stout 1092

One thing is obvious: Younger's versions were lower in gravity. 1062 was their strongest - a gravity that would barely qualify a beer as a Stout in London.

Truman brewed their Porters and Stouts from pale, black, brown and amber malt. Whitbread went for pale, brown and black malt, plus sugar. The difference with Younger's grists is the use of brown malt. That's a habit London brewers never gave up, not even in the 20th century.

As the 19th century progressed, Younger's beers digressed further from London Stout. They became sweeter and less alcoholic, with apparent attenuation barely hitting 50%. This trend continued into the 20th century, finally resulting in beers like George Younger's Sweetheart Stout.






That's me done. Let's see what Kristen has to say . . . . . . . .

Kristen’s Version:

Same deal as the previous Younger logs. Very simple stuff. Lots of repeats from last week. That will happen when we are doing the Scots stuff.

Ingredients

Grist – Four times the malts as normal on this baby! Two pale malts some toasty amber malt and some tasty blackness. I really like Maris Otter for stouty things. I had some Great Western pale malt for the other pale so I decided to go with that one. I’d equally go with the MFB pale but I have more of this and the tastacular MFB would get kinda buried. The amber makes up a pretty good portion of the grist so use something you really like. I tried this also with the MFB special aromatic that would be similar to old timey amber malt. Very different. Give it a shot. The black malt was more Fawcett as its nice and dark.

Hops – Three different hops, from three different areas give this beer a really unique profile. Some herby English Fuggles provide most of the bitterness backbone. The Popering Goldings really add a nice citrusy orange character and the Saaz are well, saazy. Very unique but awesome all the way around.

Yeast – Use something dry. I really like the Fullers strain…or Nottingham.

Coloured malts in the 1920's (part one)

Where was I? WW II, the 1920's or the Edwardian Age? I'm beginning to lose track, I've so many threads going at once. I remember. Malt in the 1920's. Courtesy of our good friend JR.

But enough of my failing mental capacities and on with a plump, juicy quote, as ripe as a golden grain of barley. Here you go:

"Brown or Blown Malt is made by subjecting well-vegetated barley — after the moisture has been duly got rid of — to a sudden blast of intense heat generated by heaping up the kiln fire with oak or beechen faggots or billets. The result is an increase of bulk averaging 25%, if all the conditions are favourable. Owing to the risk and tho high rates of insurance demanded in consequence, this malt is generally made at certain centres by maltsters, the large London breweries being alone able to profitably make for themselves.

Amber Malt is manufactured from ordinary malt which, however, is subjected on the kiln to the colouring and flavouring influences obtained from high temperatures maintained for a relatively long period in the presence of a fairly heavy moisture content. These temperatures range from 160 to 180; or even higher, and with careful preparation the diastase should not be completely destroyed, leaving a D.P. of from 8 to 10 Lintner. Amber malt is valuable in the direction of contributing a "malty" flavour and aroma to stouts, but its employment has been found useful for the same reasons in beer production when using large proportions of maize and rice flakes. Amber malt yields an extract of exceptional brilliancy, and it assists the clarification of other worts by increasing coagulation or "break" due to the degree of caramelisation the malt receives in the special kiln treatment to which it is submitted on the kiln.

Crystal Malt is prepared as follows: after undergoing normal germination on the floors the grain is soaked in a somewhat dilute sugar solution, or any weak solution of saccharine substances. The malt is then cured in the ordinary manner on the kiln and its manufacture completed by methods similar to that adopted — although in a modified form — for roasted or so-called patent malt. Crystal malt yields an intensely malty flavour and aroma peculiar to itself. It is valuable for colouring mild ale, to which it confers improved flavour, an enhanced palate-fulness and an attractive rich colour."
"Brewing and Malting" by John Ross Mackenzie, 1927 , pages 254 - 255.

I collect descriptions of brown malt and its manufacture. "You need hobbies to keep yourself sane." The reverse is true in my case. Ross Mackenzie describes the dangerous method of manufacture used in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Where the temperature of the kiln is suddenly raised by throwing on wooden faggots.

I've quickly checked his claim that the large London brewers made their own brown malt. Unfortunately, there's nothing conclusive. Whitbread in this period were buying their brown malt in. Courage and Barclay Perkins don't specify any source in their brewing records. All, of course, continued to include brown malt in all their Porter and Stout grists.

So amber malt aids clarification. I'm not exactly sure I understand why caramelisation should help clarification. Barclay Perkins were very keen on amber malt in the 1920's. It was in all their Stouts and Milds. Whitbread, on the other hand, didn't use it at all. Their stronger Stouts - SS and SSS - had contained amber malt, but these beers had been discontinued during WW I. Courage didn't use it either.

Crystal malt has been used in different ways over the years. Initially it was mostly used in Mild Ales. In the 1920's, Courage included it in the grist of all their Mild and Strong Ales, but not in their Porter or Stout. Truman used no crystal malt in their Burton brewery until after WW II. Lees were the same, only introducing it to their grists in the 1940's. Whitbread occasionally used it in their Porter and Stout, and always in their Milds. Their Pale Ales contained none until 1927, after which it was a constant in their grists. Barclay Perkins confined the use of crystal malt to its Mild Ales and Strong Ales.

It's funny. I always thought of crystal malt as a typical ingredient in Bitter. But that only really became true after WW II.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1919 Barclay Perkins X

Sorry for the slight delay with this one. I needed to check some stuff.

Ah. WW I. What fun it was. I remember the dates for the war sometimes being 1914-1919 on some war memorials. Counting the armistice as a ceasefire, not the final end of hostilities. That makes this a sort of WW I beer.

It definitely is in some respects. Wartime restrictions on gravity had been relaxed, but not removed. Hang on . . . I've got them somewhere.

There you go:

Price control 1917-1921
Price	Oct 1917	Apr 1918	Feb 1919	Jul 1919	Apr 1920
2d				<1019
3d			<1022	1020-1026	<1019
4d	<1036	<1030	1023-1028	1027-1032	1020-1026
5d	1036-1042	1030-1034	1029-1034	1033-1038	1027-1032
6d			1035-1041	1039-1045	1033-1038
7d			1042-1049	1045-1053	1039-1045
8d			>1050	>1054	1045-1053
9d					>1054
Sources: The Brewers' Almanack 1928 pages 100 - 101. "The British Brewing Industry 1830-1980"

The beer below was brewed 26th May 1919, so the middle column applies. At 1036.5, it was at the lower end of the 6d gravity range. It was party-gyled with Ale 4d. That had a gravity of 1029.4  . . . . just over the maximum for a 4d beer. Naughty Barclay Perkins.

Onto the details of this beer. It's a transitional one. A year later, the OG of Barclay Perkins X was 1043. Where it would stay for quite a while. Ironically - given the claims that the demise of Porter was caused by dark malts being restricted in WW I - this beer contains pale, brown and amber malt. Before the war, it had been just pale and amber. After the war, pale, amber and crystal.

Crystal malt. I should say something about that. I've not seen much of it used until after WW I.




Now it's Kristen time . . . . . . .

Barclay Perkins - 1919 - X
General info:  The older X recipes usually feature all amber, black and brown malt. The ‘later’ old ones feature a lot of sugars. This one, is a cross between the old and the newer. Amber and brown malt and a good deal of dark invert. Nearly half of the color comes from the addition of the caramel colorant. This beer was absolutely a beer for the masses. This single batch of beer was nearly 36,000 gallons alone!
Beer Specifics			Recipe by percentages
Gravity (OG)	1.037		31.9% English pale malt 1			3.8% Brown malt
Gravity (FG)	1.014		32.6% English pale malt 2			13.4% Invert No3
ABV	3.07%		8.2% Amber malt			0.6% Caramel colorant
Apparent attenuation	62.85%		9.4% Flaked maize			0%
Real attenuation	51.49%
IBU	12.9		Mash	120min@154°F		0.92qt/lb
SRM	20			120min@68°C		1.92L/kg
EBC	39.5
			Boil	1.25 hours
	Homebrew @ 70%				Craft @ 80%
Grist	5gal		19L		10bbl		10hl
English pale malt 1	2.26	lb	1.029	kg	122.67	lb	47.40	kg
English pale malt 2	2.31	lb	1.053	kg	125.49	lb	48.48	kg
Amber malt	0.58	lb	0.266	kg	31.66	lb	12.23	kg
Flaked maize	0.67	lb	0.304	kg	36.20	lb	13.99	kg
Brown malt	0.27	lb	0.123	kg	14.71	lb	5.68	kg
Invert No3	0.95	lb	0.432	kg	51.48	lb	19.89	kg
Caramel colorant	0.64	oz	18.2	g	2.15	lb	0.83	kg
					384.36
Hops
Goldings 4.5% 90min	0.47	oz	13.2	g	28.91	oz	0.699	kg
Goldings 4.5% 30min	0.23	oz	6.5	g	14.20	oz	0.343	kg
Fermentation	67°F /19.4°C
Yeast	Nottingham ale yeast
	1028 London Ale Yeast  - WLP013 London Ale Yeast
Tasting Notes: Lady fingers, toasted wheat bread and caramel. A good dose of stone fruits with a crisp tannic dryness on the end. Very smooth and easy to drink. Much more character than the gravity would suggest.

xxxx