William Younger (Abbey) processes in 1885

You'll probably be delighted to learn that this is the final post in this series. Boo hoo. I'm going to have to find something else to squeeze half a dozen posts from.

The boil times average out a bit shorter than at Holyrood. And only No. 3 pale has a boil of three hours. I would say that it was due to the types of beer being brewed. Except that there are several of the stronger beers that you would expect to have a longer boil. And they don't. So there goes that theory.

There's a wider range of pitching temperatures. Which is because of the types of beers being brewed. As there are several relatively low-gravity beers which were pitched at temperatures of 60º F and above. Whilst the strongest beers were pitched as low as 55º F.

The average rise in temperature during fermentation was a bit under 12º F. Though this varied quite a bit. For the lowest gravity beers it was below 10º F. Whilst for the strongest beers - 160/- and No. 1 - it was 18º F. This is due to the stronger beers generating more heat during fermentation. This was controlled, however. As a few days into the fermentation the temperature was lowered through the use of the attemperators. Had they wished, they could have stopped any beer hitting more than 70º F.

It's the presence of many low-gravity beers that sees the average length of fermentation a couple of days shorter than at Holyrood. They only took four or five days, whilst the stronger beers took six of seven days. 

William Younger (Abbey) processes in 1885
Beer	Style	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)
T	Table Beer	2	2.5	60.5º F	68.5º F	5
50/-	Ale	2	2.5	60.5º F	67.5º F	4
S 50/-	Ale	2		61º F	66.5º F	4
B 50/-	Ale	2.5		61º F	69º F	5
H 60/-	Ale	2	2.5	60º F	71º F	5
60/-	Ale	2	2.5	60º F	69º F	5
80/-	Ale	2	2.5	59º F	68.5º F	4
100/-	Ale	2	2.5	56º F	70º F
120/-	Ale	2		57º F	69º F	6
140/-	Ale	2	2.5	56º F	72.5º F	7
160/-	Ale	2	2.5	55.5º F	73.5º F	7
X	Mild	2	2.5	62º F	69º F	6
XX	Mild	2	2.5	60º F	69º F	6
XXX	Mild	2	2.5	59º F	69.5º F	5
XXXX	Stock Ale	2	2.5	52º F	68º F	6
P	Pale Ale	2	2.5	59º F	70º F	7
XP	IPA	2	2.5	59º F	69º F	5
XP Scotch	Pale Ale	2	2.5	59.5º F	68º F	5
DBS	Stout	2	2.5	56º F	74º F	7
S1	Stout	2	2.5	58.5º F	69º F	5
S2	Stout	2	2.5	59º F	73º F	4
1	Strong Ale	2	2.5	55.5º F	74º F	7
2	Strong Ale	2	2.5	55º F	71.5º F	7
3	Strong Ale	2	2.5	57.5º F	71º F	6
3 pale	Strong Ale	2	3	55.5º F	68.5º F	7
Average		2.02	2.52	58.2º F	69.9º F	5.6
Source:
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/2/31.

 

William Younger (Holyrood) processes in 1884

We're now moving onto some of the processes at William Yoinger. Namely boiling and fermentation. Why not mashing? Because it's too difficult to record in my spreadsheet.

The boiling times are very consistent two hours for the first wort and 2.5 hours for the second. Except for some of the stronger beers, where it was 2.5 hours and 3 hours. Oh, and the Pils. But, in that case, it was because it was parti-gyled with XXX.

Is that particularly long? The boil that supposedly reduced the first wort to a syrup? Well, no. Long boils were common at the time. For example, in 1883, in Truman's Burton brewery, every wort was boiled for three hours. Between 1.5 and 2 hours was more common, but there were plenty that were longer. What's odd is that earlier in the century Younger's boil times were very short. Sometimes an hour or even less. It's only in the 1860s that they became longer.

All of the pitching temperatures are under 60º F. Which is a little on the cool side. Though that's probably explained by the reasonably high gravity of the beers. You'll see that, in general, the stronger the beer, the lower the pitching temperature. On average, the maximum temperature was around 12º F higher. Hitting somewhere in the low 70sº F. 

The exception, quite logically, being the Pils. Starting at just 42º F and only rising a couple of degrees. As this seemed to be brewed on their standard equipment, were they achieving this just with attemperators? I suppose it would be possible if the wort had been cooled to 42º F before being transferred to the fermenter.

Around a week was pretty typical for primary fermentation. Nothing unusual there. Obviously, the cool fermentation of the Pils took much longer.
 

William Younger (Holyrood) processes in 1884
Beer	Style	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)
S XP	IPA	2	2.5	58.5º F	70º F	7
XP	IPA	2	2.5	58.5º F	69º F	7
XXP	IPA	2	2.5	58.5º F	70º F	6
XXX	Mild	2.5	3	58.5º F	69º F	6
XXXX	Mild	2.5	3	59º F	72º F	7
XXXX / 3	Mild	2	2.5	56º F	72º F	6
Ext	Pale Ale	2	2.5	57º F	72º F	7
S Ext	Pale Ale	2	2.5	59º F	69.5º F	7
PX	Pils	2.5	3	42º F	45º F	16
1	Strong Ale	2	2.5	56º F	72.5º F	7
3	Strong Ale	2.5	3	57º F	73º F	7
Average		2.18	2.68	56.4º F	68.5º F	7.5
Source:
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/3/11.

 

Fullers vs Youngs in the early 1930s last Porter and Stout tables

You're probably feeling relieved that I'm finally getting to the end of this interminable series. Meaning I'm going to have to think up something new to write about. I wonder what that might be?

And what about the hops? Pretty much the same as all the other beers. That is, two types of English hops from the two most recent seasons.

Unlike in modern brewing, back in the day it wasn’t unusual to use the same hops in every beer. Or to use the same mashing scheme for every beer. Basically, they didn’t piss around as much as modern brewers do.

Process time. The funnest bit of all. Tables. Any big surprises? Well. No. The Fullers beers were boiled for longer. And pitched a few degrees warmer. Resulting in fermentations that were a few days shorter than at Youngs. 

Fullers vs Youngs Porter and Stout hops
Brewer	Beer	Style	hop 1	hop 2
Fullers	P	Porter	English 1929	English 1930
Fullers	BS	Stout	English 1929	English 1930
Youngs	P	Porter	Kent 1930 CS	Sussex 1931
Youngs	S	Stout	Kent 1930 CS	Sussex 1931
Sources:
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery.
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/1.

Fullers vs Youngs Porter and Stout processes
Brewer	Beer	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)
Fullers	P	1.5	1.75	61º F	68º F	7
Fullers	BS	1.5	1.75	61.5º F	68.5º F	5
Youngs	P	2	2	59º F	68º F	8
Youngs	S	2	2	59º F	69.25º F	9
Sources:
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery.
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/1.

Fullers vs Youngs Pale Ale processes in the early 1930s

We see the same differences in the processes as for the other styles. That is, the boiling times are shorter at Fullers. 30 minutes for the first copper and 15 minutes or the second.

The Fullers Pale Ales were all pitched a few degrees warmer. Though, unlike at Youngs, the temperature was different for each beer. The maximum temperatures are pretty similar, at around 70º F.

There’s quite a difference in the length of fermentation. Which was five days at Fullers but eight days at Youngs.

Fullers vs Youngs Pale Ale processes
Brewer	Beer	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)
Fullers	AK	1.5	1.75	62º F		5
Fullers	XK	1.5	1.75	63º F	66º F	5
Fullers	PA	1.5	1.75	60.5º F	70º F	5
Youngs	PAB	2	2	59º F	69º F	8
Youngs	PA	2	2	59º F	69º F	8
Sources:
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery.
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/1.

 

 

 

 

Fullers vs Youngs Strong Ale processes

Another tabletastic post. Why has it been fun time on the blog recently? Because I'm travelling. Or will be when this is published. I'm in Tennessee at Little Animals in Johnson City.

At the moment, I'm bashing out blog posts to cover the 13 days that I'll be away. Only three more to go after this one. I think I can stretch out some tables to cover those.

There’s an even bigger difference in the boil times than with the Mild Ales. Being 30 minutes for the first copper and 45 minutes for the second. The Fullers beers are still pitched warmer, but it’s only a couple of degrees.

The length of fermentation is identical for all the beers: eight days. 

Fullers vs Youngs Strong Ale processes
Brewer		boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermentation temp	length of fermentation (days)
Fullers	BO	1.5	1.75	61º	71º	8
Fullers	OBE	1.5	1.75	60º	71º	8
Youngs	XXX	2	2.5	59º F	67º F	8
Youngs	XXXX	2	2.5	59º F	70.5º F	8
Sources:
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery.
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/1.

Fullers vs Youngs Mild Ale processes in the early 1930s

Some processes next. The boil times are a little shorter at Fullers. No crazily large difference. But one all the same.

The Fullers Milds were pitched quite a bit warmer than those from Youngs. But they weren’t allowed to rise as much in temperature as at Youngs. The rise was 4º to 5º at Fullers compared with 7º to 10º at Youngs.

Fermentation time was also a couple of days shorter at Fullers. But it wasn’t just the length of fermentation that differed. The methods diverged, too. As fullers were using the dropping system. Where the fermentation started in tall round vessels and the wort was transferred after a day or so to a shallow flat vessel where the process completed. While at Youngs they just used simple open fermenters.

Fullers vs Youngs Mild Ale processes
Brewer	Beer	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)
Fullers	X	1.5	1.75	63º F	67º F	6
Fullers	XX	1.5	1.75	62.5º F	67.5º F	6
Youngs	A	2	2	59º F	69º F	7
Youngs	X	1.75	1.75	59º F	66º F	9
Sources:
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery.
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/1.

 

Young's processes in 1932

Now it’s time for a couple of processes. Namely, boiling, fermentation and mashing.

At mostly around two hours, the boil time are a little on the long side, compared to other London breweries. Though not as long as those at Barclay Perkins.

Interestingly, all the beers were pitched at the same temperature: 59º F. Which is a bit low for the weaker beers and a bit high for the strongest ones. There’s more variation in the maximum temperatures, which are mostly a couple of degrees below 70º F. Which is towards the low end, but not crazily so.

The fermentation times are quite long. Most lasting over a week. Possibly as a result of the fermentation being kept relatively cool.

Finally, it’s the turn of mashing.

It’s a pretty typical mashing scheme: initial infusion, underlet and sparge. Not really a huge deal more that I can say. Loads of breweries mashed in a generally similar way. 

Young's boiling and fermentation in 1932
Beer	Style	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp	length of fermen-tation (days)
A	Mild	2	2	59º F	69º F	7
X	Mild	1.75	1.75	59º F	66º F	9
XXX	Strong Ale	2	2.5	59º F	67º F	8
XXXX	Strong Ale	2	2.5	59º F	70.5º F	8
PAB	Pale Ale	2	2	59º F	69º F	8
PA	Pale Ale	2	2	59º F	69º F	8
P	Porter	2	2	59º F	68º F	8
S	Stout	2	2	59º F	69.25º F	9
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/1.

PA mash 1st July 1932
action	barrels	strike heat	tap heat
mash	70	162º F	151º F
underlet	20	174º F
sparge	132	160º F	154º F
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/44.

Young's processes in 1975

A couple of processes are in the next table. Namely, boiling and fermentation.

The boiling times are a little on the long side at mostly 1.75 hours. A 90-minute boil was more usual at this point. Not really much more I can say about that.

Pitching temperatures, which are mostly in the low 60ºs F, are pretty typical. As is the pitching of the strong beers at a little under 60º F. The temperatures weren’t allowed to rise that high, mostly finishing around 70º F.

That also applies to Saxon Lager, which pitched a little cooler than the other beers of a similar gravity, but ended up at just under 70º F. Like their other beers.

All the beers – including Saxon Lager – had pretty much identical mashing schemes.

It’s a very typical mashing process, where an initial infusion is followed by an underlet and a couple of sparges. A very large number of English breweries mashed this way. 

Young's boil and fermentation in 1975
Beer	Style	boil time (hours)			Pitch temp	max. fermentation temp	length of fermentation (days)
BMA	Mild	1.5			62º F	68º F	8
PAB	Pale Ale	1.75	1.75	1.75	62º F	69º F	6
YPV	Pale Ale	1.75	1.75	1.75	62º F	68.5º F	8
PA	Pale Ale	1.75	1.75	1.75	62º F	71º F	8
SPA	Pale Ale	1.75	1.75	1.75	61º F	69º F	8
SPA	Pale Ale	1.75	1.75	1.75	61º F	70º F	8
Ram Rod	Pale Ale	1.75	1.75	1.75	61º F	70.25º F	8
EXPA	Pale Ale	1.75	1.75	1.75	57º F	69.5º F	8
Winter Warmer	Strong Ale	1.75	1.75		61.25º F	70º F	8
Old Nick	Barley Wine	1.75	1.5		59º F	72º F	8
Saxon	Lager	1.75	1.75		58.25º F	68º F	7
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/44.

SPA/PA mash 2nd April 1975
action	barrels	strike heat	stand	tap heat
mash	172	155º F	30 mins	140º F
underlet	18	180º F
sparge 1	60	180º F		153º F
sparge 2	270	150º F		146º F
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/44.

Thomas Usher boiling and fermentation in 1894

Time now for processes.

For most beers, there were two boils. The first of 90 minutes and the second of 120 minutes. The big exceptions were the Stouts, where there was a single, much longer boil. I wonder if the boil was that long to add colour. Which was the case often in London.

The pitching temperatures are all pretty consistent at between 58º F to 60º F. Which is all pretty standard. With 60º F being the most common pitching temperature generally for standard-strength beers.

The maximum temperatures, on the other hand, are a little on the low side, being mostly between 67º F and 69º F. While at most breweries the temperature was allowed to rise over 70º F. 

Thomas Usher boiling and fermentation in 1894
Beer	Style	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp
XX 60/-	Mild	1.75	2.25	58º F	71º F
50/- Br	Ale	1.5	2	60º F	67º F
60/-	Ale	2		60º F	68º F
60/- Br	Ale	1.5	2	59º F	67º F
80/-	Ale	1.5	2	60º F	68º F
100/-	Ale	1.5	2	58º F	68º F
3 XX	Stock Ale	1.5	2.25	58º F	70º F
IP	IPA	1.5	2	58º F	68º F
PA	Pale Ale	1.5	2	58º F	68º F
PA 60/-	Pale Ale	1.5	2	58º F	68º F
Stout	Stout	3		59º F	69º F
Stout Export	Stout	3.5		58º F	72º F
Source:
Thomas Usher brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archives, document number TU/6/1/2.