Youngs adjuncts and sugars in 1940

There’s still just a single adjunct: flaked oats. Appearing in the Porter and Stout in small quantities. Though more than at many rival London breweries, such as Whitbread and Barclay Perkins, where it was often less than 1% of the grist.  I’m assuming the oats are an adjunct. The brewing records don’t indicate their form, simply calling them “oats”.

There’s one new type of sugar, “OM”, a proprietary sugar along the lines of CDM (Caramelised Dextro-Maltose). Used in in the Porter and Stout. 

Otherwise, everything is much the same as in 1939. Though the average percentage has decreased from 11.8% to 9.3%. Which is where the extra malt came from.

Malt extract is in most of the beers, except it’s been dropped from Porter and Stout. No. 1 invert is in the two Pale Ales. As you would expect. And No. 3 invert in all the dark beers.

Bit of a shock that there’s no caramel in the Black Beers. It does pop up in all the other dark beers, however. 

Youngs adjuncts and sugars in 1940
Beer	Style	flaked oat	malt extract	no. 1 sugar	no. 3 sugar	OM	caramel	total sugar
A	Mild		3.27%		4.35%		0.95%	8.57%
X	Mild		2.36%		4.72%		0.79%	7.87%
PAB	Pale Ale		2.82%	8.45%				11.27%
PA	Pale Ale		2.82%	8.45%				11.27%
P	Porter	5.00%			5.00%	5.00%		10.00%
S	Stout	5.00%			5.00%	5.00%		10.00%
XXX	Strong Ale		2.36%		4.72%		0.79%	7.87%
XXXX	Strong Ale		2.36%		4.72%		0.79%	7.87%
	Average							9.34%
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/9.

 

 

Youngs adjuncts and sugars in 1939

Moving on, let’s look at the rest of the grist. There’s not much in the way of adjuncts. There’s just the one, flaked oats. At least, I think it was flaked oats. The brewing record simply says “oats”, meaning that it could also have been in malted form. I’ve gone with flakes, simply because that was the more common form.

Not using adjuncts in their other beers is quite unusual. Though by no means unique. Whitbread, for example, also brewed adjunct-free. Most brewers, however, employed flaked maize. UK brewers’ favourite adjunct for most of the 20th century.

Every beer contains some malt extract. Presumably there to add extra enzymes. It was reasonably common in mid-20th-century recipes.

Two numbered invert sugars make an appearance. The lightest in colour, No. 1, is, logically enough, in the two Pale Ales. In a relatively large proportion of around 12%. Which would have helped to keep the colour nice and pale, as is appropriate for the style.

No. 3, on the other hand, appears in the Mild and Strong Ales. In a rather smaller amount, just 7% to 8%. Its purpose would be dual, to add both colour and flavour. There was even less in the Black Beers, a mere 5%.

Rather surprisingly, caramel doesn’t turn up in the Black Beers, only the Mild and Strong Ales. In both of the latter, the quantities are quite small. The purpose being colour correction.

The overall average of 12% is a bit below the national average of 16%. Only the two Pale Ales are close to that national figure. 

Youngs adjuncts and sugars in 1939
Beer	Style	flaked oat	malt extract	no. 1 sugar	no. 3 sugar	caramel	total sugar
A	Mild		3.30%		6.60%	0.96%	10.87%
X	Mild		2.21%		7.19%	0.97%	10.37%
PA	Pale Ale		3.23%	12.90%			16.13%
PAB	Pale Ale		2.86%	11.43%			14.29%
P	Porter	5.00%	5.00%		5.00%		10.00%
S	Stout	5.00%	5.00%		5.00%		10.00%
XXX	Strong Ale		2.68%		8.05%	0.75%	11.48%
XXXX	Strong Ale		2.68%		8.05%	0.75%	11.48%
	Average						11.83%
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/8.

 

Youngs sugars in 1960/1961

Sugar time. Always fun.

Including malt extract, there are five types of sugar.

Malt extract is the only one to appear in every beer. It’s also the only one which wasn’t added in the copper. Instead, it went into the mash tun. As it was diastatic malt extract, used to aid conversion of the mash.

Every beer contains an invert sugar. Just not necessarily the same one. With the Pale Ales going for No. 1 invert and all the other beers – the dark ones – opting for No. 3. Which makes a lot of sense.

Oddly, the only beers containing caramel are most of the Pale Ales. Admittedly, the quantities are tiny. Presumably just for colour correction.

That leaves just CDM. Or Caramelized-Dextro-Maltose, to give it its full name. It’s a type of caramelised, poorly-fermentable sugar used to add colour and body to a beer. It turns up in just two beers, XS and XXXX. Though, as both of these were parti-gyled with X, it must appear in some versions of that, too. 

Youngs sugars in 1960/1961
Year	Beer	Style	malt extract	no. 1 sugar	no. 3 sugar	CDM	caramel	total sugar
1961	X	Mild	3.03%		6.06%			9.09%
1960	XS	Mild	2.83%		4.71%	2.02%		9.56%
1960	PAB	Pale Ale	2.72%	5.44%			0.03%	8.19%
1960	PA	Pale Ale	2.72%	5.44%			0.03%	8.19%
1960	SPA	Pale Ale	2.35%	4.70%			0.02%	7.08%
1960	QSPA	Pale Ale	2.56%	5.13%			0.01%	7.70%
1961	Ex PA	Pale Ale	2.33%	9.30%				11.63%
1961	MS	Stout	3.03%		6.06%			9.09%
1961	XXX	Strong Ale	3.03%		6.06%			9.09%
1960	XXXX	Strong Ale	2.85%		4.75%	1.19%		8.79%
1961	CA	Barley Wine	3.49%		5.81%			9.30%
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/29.

 

Youngs sugars in 1990-1991

The most common type is No. 3 invert. Appearing in six of the ten beers. Rather surprisingly, one of those six is John Young’s London Lager (JYLL). Which seems an odd candidate for a dark sugar.

No. 3 invert also turns up in all of the Pale Ales. Though in relatively small quantities: around 4%. What was its purpose? To add colour, I suppose. Possibly also for flavour.

Youngs’ Special Mix, he second type of sugar turns up in all the dark beers: Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Winter Warmer and Old Nick. What was this sugar? This is how an internal Youngs document described it:

“YSM was a blend of glucose syrup, cane molasses and caramel. The actual percentages varied as the product specification was to achieve an extract of 303 lo/kg and a colour of 220 EBC (25mm).  The percentage of each would therefore have varied batch on batch depending on the raw materials.” 
The Young’s “Bible”, held at Sambrook's Brewery Heritage Centre, Wandsworth.

A typical composition was:

73%    glucose
25%    molasses
2%    caramel 2000 SRM

At a certain point, Youngs decided that, rather than using three different types of sugar, it was easier to buy them pre-mixed.

The quantity of YSM used in dark beers was quite high. Which made sense as it was the principal source of colour in some of the beers.

Old Nick contains far more sugar than any of the other beers. I assume that this was mostly to hit the high gravity. Also, possibly, to stop the beer getting to sweet and sticky. 

Youngs sugars in 1990-1991
Year	Beer	Style	no. 3 sugar	Youngs Special Mix	total sugar
1990	JYLL	Lager	6.11%		6.11%
1991	Premium Lager	Pilsner			0.00%
1990	Light Ale	Pale Ale	3.83%		3.83%
1990	PA	Pale Ale	4.09%		4.09%
1990	SPA	Pale Ale	3.94%		3.94%
1990	Export	Pale Ale	3.97%		3.97%
1990	Porter	Porter		8.70%	8.70%
1991	Oatmeal Stout	Stout		8.50%	8.50%
1991	Winter Warmer	Strong Ale		12.55%	12.55%
1990	Old Nick	Barley Wine	21.14%	8.13%	29.27%
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/59.

 

Listen to brewer John Hatch explain how they brewed at Youngs in the 1990s.  

Chapman grists in 1880

Time for the ingredients. Of which there aren’t all that many.

We’ll begin with the malts.  Only three of them. And two of those, black and crystal malt, only appear in the Stout. All the other beers only contain base pale malt.

It’s an interesting Stout grist. Usually a three-malt Stout grist would be pale, brown and black malt. While here it’s pale, black and crystal malt. With quite a lot of the latter. Not sure that I’ve ever seen a grist quite like it.

Total malt content averages out at 72%.  Which is on the low side. On the other hand, there are no adjuncts. But the sugar content is high. At 33%, the proportion in the two Mild Ales was particularly high. 

Chapman grists in 1880
Beer	Style	pale malt	black malt	crystal malt	total malt	fructose	Pale Ref.	total sugar
X	Mild	66.67%			66.67%		33.33%	33.33%
XX	Mild	66.67%			66.67%		33.33%	33.33%
XXX	Stock Ale	78.95%			78.95%	21.05%		21.05%
AK	Pale Ale	77.14%			77.14%	22.86%		22.86%
PA	Pale Ale	69.23%			69.23%	30.77%		30.77%
S	Stout	53.33%	6.67%	13.33%	73.33%		26.67%	26.67%
	Average				72.00%			28.00%
Source:
Chapman brewing record.

 

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.

 

Fullers sugars in 1910

Quite a few different sugars. Five in all. Considerably more than malts. Most of the sugars were some sort of invert.

Let’s start with the numbered inverts. No. 2 appears in both the Pale Ales and the Strong Ale. No. 1 or No. 2 are the sugars you would expect to see in Pale Ales, as they are relatively light in colour. The darker No. 3 was the obvious choice for Mild Ale. Especially at a time when the style was becoming darker.

The Special dark invert that turns up in the two Black Beers sounds like it might be something like No. 4 invert. That is, a very dark type of invert sugar. The quantity used in Porter and Stout is very large, almost a quarter of all the fermentable material.

I’ve no idea what trivert is. Other than suspecting that it’s some sort of invert. And that it was pale in colour.

I assume that the caramel was being used mostly for colour correction, as it appears in all Fullers beers, including the pale ones.

Overall, the sugar content is quite high, averaging over 18%. With Burton Old (BO) the only beer with less than 10%. While in the Black Beers it’s over 25%.

Fullers sugars in 1910
Beer	Style	no. 2 sugar	no. 3 sugar	Special dark invert	Pale Trivert	caramel	total sugar
X	Mild		8.75%		10.00%	0.65%	19.39%
AK	Pale Ale	5.25%			7.88%	0.20%	13.33%
PA	Pale Ale	8.94%			5.96%	0.16%	15.06%
P	Porter			24.06%		2.92%	26.98%
BS	Stout			24.06%		2.92%	26.98%
BO	Strong Ale	8.13%				0.41%	8.54%
	Average						18.38%
Source:
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery.

 

 

 

Garton's sugar (part two)

More about Garton's super-duper new type of brewing sugar, dextrine-dextro-laevulose. It just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

We'll kick off with an explanation of its properties.

Now my Invention consists in the employment in brewing of what I term dextrine-dextro-laevulose, or dextro-saccharum, containing a substantial proportion of dextrine with any desired proportion of fermentable sugar, and which will therefore impart a less sweet and also a fuller drinking character to the beer without the necessity of departing from the methods ordinarily practised of mashing the malt and boiling the wort. The dextrine-dextrose and the invert sugar of which the said dextrine-dextro-laevulose is composed are either blended together in the process of brewing, or, as I prefer, blended at any stage of their manufacture after neutralization, so as to constitute a merchantable article, the manufacture of which forms part of my Invention.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 2.

Basically, you didn't have to mess around changing your mashing scheme when using this type of sugar. As the unfermentable dextrine would maintain the body. You could add the deextrine and invert sugar separately, but Garton's product was simpler to use.

Now, it describes how to make this amazing product.

I conduct the manufacture of the dextrine-dextro-laevulose in two separate processes. First, I convert amylaceous substances (preferably rice) in the manner herein-after explained, whereby I obtain as much dextrine as possible. I then invert cane sugar, using acid in both cases, and after neutralizing each I blend the two together in the required proportions at any subsequent stage of the manufacture, or in the process of brewing, as already mentioned.

For converting the rice I at first employ heat and acid in the usual way, but afterwards maintain the heat so long only as any traces of starch remain, and I neutralize the solution when two equivalents of dextrine and one equivalent of sugar are formed, so as to produce as nearly as practicable a solution containing 67 per cent. of dextrine and 33 per cent. of sugar, calculated upon the dry extract. In inverting the cane sugar the well known method by the aid of dilute sulphuric acid is adopted.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 2.

The two elements were produced separately. The dextrine was made first from unmalted grains and then mixed with invert sugar. With the proportions two-thirds dextrine to one third invert.

The rival product of dextrine-maltose is now described.

I am aware that it has been proposed to manufacture and employ in brewing as a substitute for malt a substance called “dextrine-maltose,” which is said to be composed of about 33 per cent. of ordinary dextrine and 67 per cent. of maltose (containing a further quantity of dextrine soluble in alcohol), being a compound body supposed to possess the same constituents as obtained from malt by an ordinary mashing process; but the substance which I employ differs essentially from the so-called dextrine-maltose, and the processes I adopt are quite distinct. The dextrine-maltose is obtained by carrying the conversion far beyond the point at which I stop to avoid any further transformation of dextrine into glucose, and I supply the required extra amount of fermentable sugar by a separately prepared invert sugar, as herein-before explained.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 2.

Basically, I think Mr. Garton is saying how his product is better than silly old dextrine-maltose.

How was the wonder product used?

I vary the proportions of inert sugar to suit the brewing of different kinds of beer, preferring to use a sufficient quantity of the dextrine-dextrose to give at least 10 per cent, of dextrine.

In some cases, more particularly for low quality beers and porter, instead of manufacturing dextrine-dextro-laevulose, as herein-before described, I use dextrine prepared by torrefaction in the usual way, taking care that it is quite free from starch, and I employ it in combination with a suitable proportion of invert sugar, the two being blended together in the course of manufacture or in the process of brewing.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 2.

So about 10% of the sugar should be dextrine. Meaning you'd need to use a fair bit of standard invert along with the dextrine-dextro-laevulose.
 

Garton's sugar (part one)

Many thanks to Eric from Butcher's Tears for sending me a Garton's patent. Which explains what the sugar was used by Boddington and described simply as "Garton".

The patent kicks off with some general discussion about the sugar used in brewing.

William Garton, of the Town and County of Southampton, Brewer. “Improvements in Brewing, and the Preparation of a Material to be Employed THEREIN."

It has been usual for some time past to employ as a substitute for a portion of the malt used in the brewing of beer a prepared sugar known in the trade as saccharum.

This saccharum is chiefly manufactured from cane sugar by the well known processes of inverting with an acid at certain temperatures; but in consequence of its highly vinous and fermentable character, and the absence of dextrine, the malt used in conjunction with it has to be manipulated in such a way as to retain a larger proportion of dextrine than is usually left by the ordinary methods of brewing, and difficulties arise in effecting this result in some breweries, and the beer produced has in some cases too sweet a flavour, and in others it attenuates too freely.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 1.

It's good to have confirmed that saccharum was invert sugar. As well as the method of its manufacture using acid.

There was also a second method using the starch from grains.

The article is also manufactured partly from amylaceous substances and partly from cane sugar by a combined process, that is, acid is employed to convert the starch to dextrine-dextrose, when the temperature is reduced and cane sugar added to the acid solution, and as it is necessary to defer the neutralization for several hours to insure a proper inversion of the cane sugar, a further conversion of the rice product takes place and the dextrine cannot be kept intact, consequently this combined process only supplies an inappreciable amount of dextrine to the dextrose and invert sugar produced, therefore almost the same results as those above named are caused.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 1.

Invert was sometimes combined with straight glucose.

Sometimes ordinary glucose is mixed with invert sugar in brewing, but owing to the small quantity of dextrine it contains the objection before referred to is not overcome, and although the mixture gives a heavier final gravity to the beer this is due to the presence of inert bodies, which impart an undesirable bitter flavor.
Letters patent, 27th March 1876, N° 1311, page 1.

Next time we'll discuss dextrine-dextro-laevulose. Won't that be fun?
 

Boddington grists in 1901

Time to look at what went into these beers. Which, it turns out, wasn’t a whole lot.

Only two types of malt were employed: pale and black. That’s pretty minimal. Especially as only three beers – the two Stouts and the Strong Ale – contained black malt. And, even in those, the quantity is pretty small. There’s not really anything else to say about the malts.

Similarly, there were just two types of sugar: Garton and invert. Both of which are pretty vague descriptions. And pretty similar, as Garton was a producer of invert. I did wonder if they were different names for the same thing. Until I came across beers that included both.

In general, the malt content is very high. Over 90% in most cases. And there are no adjuncts of any type. Which, as you’ve probably noticed, wasn’t very typical. By 1900, most breweries had taken advantage of the opportunity to use unmalted grains given by the 1880 Free Mash Tun Act.

Boddington grists in 1901
Beer	Style	pale malt	black malt	Garton	invert	total sugar
TA	Table Ale	91.30%		8.70%		8.70%
X	Mild	92.86%		7.14%		7.14%
XX	Mild	91.58%		8.42%		8.42%
XXX	Mild	88.89%			11.11%	11.11%
XXXX	Mild	93.75%			6.25%	6.25%
AK	Pale Ale	90.70%			9.30%	9.30%
IPA	IPA	91.84%			8.16%	8.16%
S	Stout	86.98%	1.97%	5.52%	5.52%	11.05%
DS	Stout	85.86%	1.42%	9.54%	3.18%	12.72%
BB	Strong Ale	91.13%	0.19%		8.68%	8.68%
Source:
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/125.

 

Thomas Usher sugars in 1914

Sugar next. Rather a lot of different types, as you’ll see in the table.

Six types of sugar in total. Greenock being the commonest. I suspect that it’s a type of invert. It appears in all the Pale Ales and the weaker Shilling Ales. The quantity is pretty consistent at 10% to 12%. Given that it’s in the Pale Ales, it must have been pretty light in colour.

Next most common is dextro-laevulose. Which crops up in all the Mild Ales and Stouts. The dextrin will be there to add body. And laevulose is just another word for fructose. That will just be providing fermentable material. 

Cane sugar appears in all the Mild Ales. I assume that what is meant is some type of raw cane sugar. Penang sounds like something similar.

The last two sugars only crop up in the Stouts. I’ve no idea what Maltosan was. It sounds like a proprietary sugar. Oatine sounds like a sugar especially for Oatmeal Stout. Which was all the rage before WW I.  

The total sugar content of the Mild Ales and Stouts, at around 20%, is pretty high. It’s a more reasonable 10% to 12% for the other styles.

Thomas Usher sugars in 1914
Beer	Style	Greenock	dextro-laevulose	cane sugar	Penang	Maltosan	oatine	total sugar
40/- Br	Ale	12.12%						12.12%
50/- Br	Ale	12.12%						12.12%
60/- Br	Ale	11.76%						11.76%
44/- MA	Mild		8.16%	12.24%				20.41%
50/- MA	Mild		8.16%	12.24%				20.41%
60/- MA	Mild		7.27%	10.91%				18.18%
80/- MA	Mild		7.27%	10.91%				18.18%
100/- MA	Mild		8.16%	12.24%				20.41%
X	Pale Ale	10.91%						10.91%
X 60/-	Pale Ale	8.38%						8.38%
IP	IPA	11.20%						11.20%
40/- PA	Pale Ale	10.91%						10.91%
PA	Pale Ale	10.91%						10.91%
PA 60/-	Pale Ale	12.12%						12.12%
48/-	Stout		3.20%		12.80%	1.60%	3.20%	20.80%
54/-	Stout		3.20%		12.80%	1.60%	3.20%	20.80%
XP	Strong Ale	9.68%						9.68%
Source:
Thomas Usher brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archives, document number TU/6/1/5.