Get ready

With your string and eggs.

Drinkalongathon 2019 is just around the corner.

Prpeparation time.

Eggs, string, mustard. All obvious. Don't neglect the more obscure items. Lentils. Tins of anchovies. Spanners.

Hold your string taught and your eggs firmly betwen your buttocks.

Otherwise it just won't be Christmas.

Well, not my sort of crazy Christimas.

String, Start preparing your string. You'll needs lots of it. Three standard lengths and a couple of "specials", if you know what I mean. Don't worry if you don't. You just won't be taking part fully.

A 2-slice loaf of bread
1 lump of coal
1 piece of toast - very lightly toasted
2 pieces of my nan's style toast (black)
Three stickelbacks
1 cone of winkles (with vinegar)
Burma railway (Model)
Three eggs (raw)
Two eggs (soft bolied)
Four eggs, fried.
Half pint of any Mild Ale
Pint of any other Mild Ale
Pliny the Elder, or any other impossible to obtain beer
A skip, half-filled with bathroom rubble
1 Peeled apple
2 foraged quinces


Just the start.

White Christmas for beer engines

Not a good thing. If you understand what it means. Hanging white te towels on the pumps to indicate no beer would be served. The saddest sight in the world. Other than a row of keg pumps.

Because it's all about a certain custom in British pubs. Hanging a towel over the beer engines says: "No more beer". In my days, that was because last orders had been served. During WW II, the beer could just have run out.

“WHITE CHRISTMAS” FOR BEER ENGINES?
WHILE NORTHAMPTON “D1VI” CLUBS PAY OUT £100,000
THERE is every possibility that the white towel will hang forlornly over the handles of many heer engines in and around Northampton before the Christmas holiday has run its brief course.

No extra allocations have been made to the public-houses and other places where refreshment and good cheer in liquid form are available and proprietors, managers and bartenders view with little relish the prospect of facing a thirsty populace with nothing more on tap or under cork than at a normal period.

They expect the bars to be crowded from Christmas Eve on, but a “Mercury and Herald” reporter gathered from a number of them that they have little hope being able to meet the anticipated demand.

Generally, boot and shoe factories are closing down from Wednesday evening until Monday morning. Men who have been moved into munition factories in various parts of the country are also expected to home on a short two-days’ holiday.

”They will have plenty of money to spend.” said one publican, "but I doubt if they will have the opportunity of spending much of it with us.” Stocks of beer are about as large as at an ordinary weekend, but supplies of Guinness and stout are short. Bottled stuff is in very small supply and everybody is looking for it, apparently with the object of having a drop in the cupboard should all other sources run dry.

Bartenders are having an unenviable time explaining to irate customers that they are not keeping the bottles under the counters for favourites and special pals. Wines and spirits are almost as scarce as bananas.

Various schemes' are being tried by publicans in an endeavour to have least something for regular customers. At one well-known public-house women patrons have been rationed to one bottle of Guinness a night for the past few weeks. At another flow of beer for some time past has been restricted.

WISE WILL GO EARLY
Clubs are no better off than "pubs,” and the golden rule for all who would seek the sanctuary and hospitality of those places popular resort would appear to be to go early and make a little a long way.

People in the trade view the shortage in very different lights. While some are perturbed at the loss of Christmas trade, others are frankly, delighted at the prospect of having a light day or two. A feature of pre-war life which has virtually disappeared are the numerous competitions which people indulged and pitted their skill and luck against each other for seasonal prizes.

There are still seme competitions for an odd turkey, whilst a few bottles of whisky are raising the wind for deserving objects, but the majority of people who organised events of this kind in the past have found that rationing makes it impossible for them to offer worth-while prizes.
Northampton Mercury - Thursday 24 December 1942, page 1.

What's the first thing that struck me? Confirmation that bottled was at the time a woman's drink. How and why did that change. You might think it a bit mean to single out a women's drink for rationining. But it's because it wa bottled rather than being a female-preferred drink.

I'm guessing that publicans really did keep hidden supplies of stuff like spirits for regulars.

Christmas beer for Tobruk men

Here'an interesting little snippet I found about Christmas beer.

A bit of background. Tobruk in Libya was under seige for much of 1941.

"CHRISTMAS BEER FOR TOBRUK MEN
Two breweries Whitbread’s and Watney’s — have sent 35 tons of beer as a gift to the besieged troops in Tobruk to be distributed on Christmas Day.

The packing of the beer (bottled, and in large cases) has been specially arranged for easy distribution in desert conditions."
Daily Mirror - Thursday 23 October 1941, page 5.

35 tons sounds like a lot. But a pint bottle of beer, including other packaging like crates, probably weighs about 2 lbs. So that's only about 35,000 pint bottles. And there were 36,000 personnel in Tobruk. One bottle each, then.

All a bit academic, really, as the seige was lifted in November.

Let's Brew - 1965 Whitbread W (Trophy)

Treateroonie time. A classic Big Six Bitter from the 1960s. A beer which, I'm sure even by this date, was often served in evil keg form.

Whitbread’s trick in getting a national Ordinary Bitter brand, was to simply rename the appropriate beer in the range of every brewery they took over Trophy.

At one time there were 20-odd beers called Trophy, with quite different characters. Yet if you just looked at the TV adverts, you’d have assumed it was one uniform product across the country. “Whitbread big head Trophy Bitter, the pint that thinks it’s a quart.” That’s how the jingle went.

Whitbread took some strange turns in their later years, when they become a national group. After 1880, they were relatively unusual in not using adjuncts as most other UK breweries did. They brewed from malt and sugar, except for during WW II when they were forced, as all brewers were, to use adjuncts. In the later war years, this was flaked barley.

But as early as 1946, they dropped it again. Presumably as soon as they were allowed to. They reverted to brewing from malt and sugar alone. Flaked barley returned in 1963. But only in their Pale Ales. Though by 1965 it also featured in Best Ale and Forest Brown.

1965 Whitbread W
pale malt	7.00 lb	82.35%
crystal malt 60 L	0.50 lb	5.88%
flaked barley	1.00 lb	11.76%
Fuggles 75 min	0.75 oz
Goldings 40 min	0.75 oz
Goldings 20 min	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1036.5
FG	1007
ABV	3.90
Apparent attenuation	80.82%
IBU	29
SRM	6
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	75 minutes
pitching temp	64º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

The above recipe is from my overly detailed look at post-war UK brewing, Austerity!

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/austerity/23181344

Beer Prospects Good

During Christmas 1945, despite the war having been over for several months, there were still shortages of many festive items.

Food rationing continued and non-rationed items, such as beer, were in short supply. And large numbers of people remained in the armed forces.

Lookin at what servicemen were llowed on Christmas day gives you an idea of the tightness in food supply.

"TROOPS’ FARE AT CHRISTMAS
Beer Prospects Good
Naafi, which announces good beer prospects for Christmas, has arranged for every Service man and woman dining in mess on Christmas Day to have:-

In the United Kingdom.— One egg for breakfast, at least 5oz. of poultry, 4oz. of Christmas pudding, and one mince pie.

Overseas. —Four ounces of poultry (canned), 4oz. of Christmas pudding, and 1oz. of mincemeat. There will be nuts and fresh fruit according to local supplies.

B.A.O.R. troops are to have an extra ration of chocolate. There will be no extra chocolate or sweets for home units.

Local breweries overseas are producing well, says Naafi. At home, bottled beer is expected to be short, chiefly due to bottle shortage, but it is hoped that draught beer will be adequate."
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail - Saturday 03 November 1945, page 5.

One egg and one minced pie - they were really pushing the boat out. You can imagine what non-festive meal times were like.

The B.A.O.R, in case you're wondering is the British Army on the Rhine. Or the British forces occupying Germany.

In the part of Germany occupied by the British no brewing was allowed for a couple of years after the end of the war. The only exception being ones specially commissioned to brew beer for the Naafi. I'm sure that's what is meant by "local breweries" - German breweries brewing for the British forces.

Christmas Beer Will Be Rationed This Year

More about beer at Christmas in wartime. Just to get you in the mood for this year's Drinkalongathon.

First, a warning about a likely shortage of beer over the holidays:

"Christmas Beer Will Be Rationed This Year
WHILE festive drinks will remain "rationed" during the Christmas season, some of the brewery firms hope to maintain their present supplies.

The position was summarised to-day by a brewery official, who said : We are circularising our customers that no extra ration of beer, draught or bottle, will be supplied this Christmas.”

Another firm stated that it was the Government's desire that beer supnlies should be maintained. although breweries were rationed in materials and there was an acute shortage of labour."
Manchester Evening News - Tuesday 02 December 1941, page 4.

There's a reason why rationed is in inverted commas. Because alcoholic drinks were never officially rationed. At times there may not have been enough to go around, but it was first come first served. Unless the publican decided to limit how much beer each customer sould have. Or simply refuse to serve non-regulars. Breweries rationed the amount of beer each pub received, based on their pre-war sales.

It really pissed off the temperance twats that things like sugar and tea were rationed but beer wasn't. They pulled their usually crap about "destroying food" until Churchill told them to shut up.

On the other hand, the lucky old folks of Alphington were getting a free Christmas pint:

"CHRISTMAS BEER
Old Folks Of Alphington Have Their "Free Pint" Elderly residents in the village Alphington, on the outskirts of Exeter, yesterday drank to the memory of Mr. John Courtenay Bonus, who, the son of a one-time Plymouth clergyman, lived at Alphington, and died about five years ago.

Under his will Mr. Bonus left £200 for investment in Government stock, the interest to be devoted to providing at Christmas a pint of free beer, stout, or cider to "poor persons of good character" aged 60 years and over who had been residents Alphington for at least five years.

In spite of restrictions, sufficient supplies were available yesterday to meet the terms of the bequest Stout was first favourite, followed by beer and cider.
Western Morning News - Tuesday 23 December 1941, page 5.

Interesting that Stout was the favourite choice. Was that because it was stronger? Or was Stout a drink preferred by oldies?

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1851 William Younger XXS Stock Ale

In the early part of the 19th century, William Younger brewed a crazy number of crazily strong beers. They had half a dozen beers with gravities over 1100º in their range. That XXS was neither the strongest nor the most heavily hopped of the set tells you a lot.

One unusual feature of William Younger’s brewing methods is that they didn’t much go in for parti-gyling. While this isn’t so odd in the case of standard-strength beers like Pale Ale or the weaker Milds, it’s very unusual to brew super high-gravity beers like this single gyle. For a simple reason: it wasn’t very economical.

The method most breweries employed to produce very strong beers was to parti-gyle them with something much weaker. The strong beer would get all first wort and the weaker beer a blend of first and later worts. When brewing something strong single-gyle, either you’d need to boil the buggery out of the later worts to make them stronger, or you’d waste some extract.

Given this beer had a very short boil, the first of those wasn’t an option. Which begs the question: where did the weaker worts go? I don’t believe for a minute that they’d just throw away extract. Perhaps they used them as return worts. That is, they’d use the wort to mash another brew.

Not only is this beer very high gravity, it’s also hopped like mad.

This being a Stock Ale, it would have undergone an extensive maturation, probably in vats. Whether it took place in vats or in trade casks, one thing would have remained the same: the action of Brettanomyces. The secondary fermentation the beer underwent while ageing would have been accomplished by Brettanomyces slowly eating away less fermentable sugars, drying the beer out and producing the highly-valued, vinous aged character.

I’d recommend ageing this at least six months with Brettanomyces. By which time the FG should be down in the 1020’s.

1851 William Younger XXS Stock Ale
pale malt	24.25 lb	100.00%
Goldings 70 min	6.00 oz
Goldings 50 min	6.00 oz
Goldings 20 min	6.00 oz
OG	1125
FG	1050
ABV	9.92
Apparent attenuation	60.00%
IBU	137
SRM	9
Mash at	154º F
Sparge at	184º F
Boil time	70 minutes
pitching temp	55º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

The above is an excerpt from my excellent book on Scottish brewing:

Eight tons of nuts

Random Christmas stuff from the 1940s.

Enjoy.

"ITS CHRISTMAS BEER
FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
CAIRO, Friday.
Eight tons of nuts sounds an enormous amount, but N.A.A.F.I. assure me they will all be eaten by Boxing Day.

Forward troops of the Eighth Army have hearty appetites, especially when bully is not in the meal.

To complete the treat for them are 30,000 pounds of Christmas pudding, and 20,000 pounds of Christmas cake.

You can imagine your friends eating their dinner by moonlight dirty and happy, wearing the scarves you have knitted, because it will be cold, singing carols, and drinking your health.

A senior officer told me this morning "We shall take up as much beer as transport permits to the forward troops.”

That part of the Eighth Army which is beyond the Egyptian frontier will have 28,000,000 cigarettes, 250,000 bars of chocolate, 30,000 tins of pickles and jams, and 100,000 tins of meat. The troops will eat 30,000 pounds of turkey, 15,000 pounds of other poultry, and 30,000 tons of pork.
Newcastle Journal - Saturday 19 December 1942, page 4.

"As much beer as transport permits" Hopefully that was a shitload.

Oh no - a beer shortage in Nottinghamshire. Thankfully before I was born. Or lived in Nottinghamshire.

"Nottingham Christmas Beer Supplies
Spreading out the beer supplier will offer a problem to the local licensed victuallers during the Christmas holidays, but the Nottingham and Notts. Association are recommending their members to allocate resources so that they can be sure of opening for some part of each session from Wednesday to Sunday inclusive in Christmas week. conveying this decision to the "Post" to day, Mr. A. W. Martin, chairman of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association, said they hoped that those who might have enough beer to open for other periods than the five days of the Christmas break would do so.

Supplies would not, of course, be adequate to meet all the public demand but it seemed possible that things would be little easier."
Nottingham Evening Post - Tuesday 16 December 1947, page 1.

Christmas, beer and war

What goes together more than beer and Christmas? Beer, Christmas and war!

Extra beer for troops in India. Hooray!

"Troops' Christmas Beer
Bombay, Wednesday. British servicemen of India Command are to receive special issue of four bottles of beer on Christmas Day, addition the now "basic scale" of eight bottles each month."
Dundee Evening Telegraph - Wednesday 12 December 1945, page 3.

Seems fair enough. And in Bambury they were even letting the workhouse u=inmates have a Christmas beer. At least ratepayers weren't footing the bill.

"CHRISTMAS BEER APPROVED BY BANBURY GUARDIANS COMMITTEE.
At Monday’s meeting of the Banbury Guardians Committee, Aid. A. J. Butler presiding, Gapt. C. N. Keyser proposed what he referred to as “the hardy annual — the Christmas beer for inmates of the Warwick Road Institution.”

It was pointed out that the cost was not in any way fall upon public funds, and the usual collection to cover the cost was made amongst the members present.

The Master reported that there were at present 179 inmates at the Institution, as against 192 at a corresponding period last year.

Sanction had been obtained from the Ministry of Food to enable a pig to be killed for Christmas. Magazines from Mrs. Page were much appreciated, and had provided interesting reading for the inmates.

Friday, December 29th, had been provisionally fixed for stocktaking day.

Mrs. B. Allen, assistant nurse the Institution, having won her recent appeal against conviction, the subcommittee recommended that her suspension be cancelled and that she be reinstated."
Banbury Advertiser - Wednesday 13 December 1944, page 1.

Slightly concerned as to exactly which offence Nurse Allen had been convicted of.

Barley Varieties after WW II

Barley is divided into two main types: two-row and six-row. Tow-row barley was grown in the UK, Australia, Turkey and Chile. While six-row was grown in California, Australia, Morocco, Smyrna and Chile.

Before WW II, British brewers were convinced that you couldn’t brew good beer from exclusively UK two-row malt and that you need a percentage of six-row. Made from barley grown either in Chile or California. According to Jeffery this was because:

“Due to the sunnier and more equable climates of these countries as compared with the British climate these barleys were more uniform in quality and this was of distinct advantage to the maltster. Further, the coarser husk of the six-rowed varieties tended to give a better filtration in the mash tun and to prevent those filtration troubles caused by the too-close packing of the undissolved parts of the malt (known to the brewer as grains'), which form the medium through which the solution containing the extractable materials is filtered off”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 129.

In the mid-1950s, British two-rowed barleys could be divided into two main groups:; the Goldthorpe and Chevallier types. By crossing Goldthorpe and Chevallier various new barley varieties were developed in the early 20th century. The most successful of these were Plumage-Archer, Spratt-Archer and Standwell. By the mid-1950’s, Standwell had mostly disappeared but large quantities of Plumage-Archer and Spratt-Archer were still being grown. Though in 1955 just over half the malting barley grown in the UK was Proctor, an even newer variety. 

New varieties were being developed, mostly by cross-breeding English varieties with Scandinavian ones. The latter gave better yields and were more disease-resistant, but didn’t have such good malting characteristics as English barley. By crossing, breeders were able to combine the good features of both.

Here are some of the new barley types developed in the early 1950s:

Proctor: Plumage-Archer and Kenia.
Pioneer: Spratt-Archer and a Scandinavian variety.
Carlsberg: Archer variety. 

The above is an extract from Arusterity!, my book on brewing in the immediate aftermath of WW II.
 Buy this wonderful book.

Let's Brew - 1971 Maclay Strong Ale

Let's return to the days of my youth. When orange juice IPA was just a fever dream. 

Maclay, like most Scottish brewers, produced a Strong Ale. But they discontinues it sometime in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. It returned in the early 1970’s, but only seems to have been brewed intermittently.

As you would expect, it was just a very strong version of their Pale Ale parti-gyle. The only recipe they used. It’s exactly what you would expect: pale malt, flaked maize and sugar. Note how little crystal malt was used in Scotland. Pale Ales usually contained no other malt than the base pale malt. Even in England, crystal malt was rare in Pale Ales before WW II.

Just like with the other Maclay beers, I’ve replaced proprietary sugar DCS with No. 3 invert. And guessed about the hops and dry hopping. As brewed the colour is much paler and you’ll need to add caramel to hit 20 SRM. The real FG might well have been lower, around 1020º, so don’t get too worried if it ferments out past 1029º.

1971 Maclay Strong Ale
pale malt	12.75 lb	76.12%
flaked maize	1.75 lb	10.45%
malt extract	0.50 lb	2.99%
No. 1 invert	1.25 lb	7.46%
No. 3 invert	0.50 lb	2.99%
Fuggles 90 min	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 min	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 min	1.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.75 oz
OG	1077
FG	1029
ABV	6.35
Apparent attenuation	62.34%
IBU	30
SRM	20
Mash at	147/156º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

The above is an extract from my ground-breaking book on Scottish brewing:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/scotland-vol-2/paperback/product-23090497.html

Barmaids in the 1920s

This sort of ties in with a recent post of Boak & Bailey's about barmaids in the late 19th century. It seems as if, a couple of decades later, not much had changed.

In particular, the skill of barmaids in handling awkward customers was still much appreciated:

"It is sometimes asked whether barmaids or barmen are the better. As Shakespeare says: "Comparisons are odorous." One can only answer by asking whether men or women are the better, though woman has been described by one of themselves as "only one of Nature's agreeable blunders."

I think that, in a rough house, in a low neighbourhood, or in a very busy house, with a public bar trade mainly, men are usually to be preferred; though quarrelsome and rowdy characters will, usually, respect a woman more.

A really good barmaid will restrain heavy drinkers, and do it tactfully. She will never answer back so as to offend, but be ready with a quick answer, to the point, that must, however, not wound."
"The Art and Practice of Innkeeping" by Alexander Francis Part, published by Heinemann London, 1922, page 216.

The following passage refers to all bar staff, not just barmaids:

"They should never be allowed to drink with customers while behind the bar.

They should be well-dressed and smart, and regard themselves as professionals while there, and so, too, should the proprietor, so long as he is there. The smoking of fags behind the bar, or the existence of dirty, untidy, and unclean conditions, spoil the customer's enjoyment."
"The Art and Practice of Innkeeping" by Alexander Francis Part, published by Heinemann London, 1922, page 216.

I can remember back in the dark days of the 1970s barstaff would sometimes have a fag in their hand. Disgusting, really. Then again, pubs back then were blue with fag smoke most of the day. They really were quite nasty, smelly places. The smoking ban hugely improved the atmosphere inside pubs. It's made them much more pleasant places.

This echoes something Boak & Bailey mentioned about many people having a very low opinion of barmaids. Mostly based around weird sexual fantasies.

"Anyone who is experienced in the Trade has as high an opinion of bar-assistants, especially barmaids, as those who never frequent a bar, have a low one. Have we not the authority of Cardinal York for saying that Queen Anne's grandmother was a tub-woman — the barmaid of that period ? This poor opinion may be due to jealousy, for Barmaids always have beautiful hair, which frequently assumes new tints, like a sunrise.

Some barmaids are too confidential, and show a decided preference for particular customers. These are no good to you as proprietor.

Bar-hands, of either sex, should be pleasant to look at, and dress to make the best of themselves, but beauty does not necessarily pay. Keen powers of expressing sympathy do, especially in listening."
"The Art and Practice of Innkeeping" by Alexander Francis Part, published by Heinemann London, 1922, page 217.

I love the joke about barmaids' hair. It a surprisingly witty book in places. The author has a very dry humour which I appreciate.

Scottish fermentation temperatures

Several authors have rather ludicrously claimed that Scottish beer was fermented at near-Lager temperatures. Even more ridiculously claiming that the climates of Edinburgh and Munich are similar. While in reality, they aren’t even in the same climate group.

If you just look at the pitching temperatures, you could be forgiven for thinking Scottish beer was fermented cooler than English. A look at full fermentation records soon put me straight. Many Scottish beers were pitched a few degrees cooler than the English norm of around 60 F.

There’s a simple explanation: a higher percentage of very strong beers were made in Scotland. The higher the gravity, the lower the pitching temperature to accommodate the extra heat generated during fermentation. The maximum fermentation temperatures in England and Scotland were roughly similar.

The other claim is that primary fermentation was much longer in Scotland than in England, because of the low temperature it was carried out at. To put it bluntly, this is total bollocks. Most Scottish brewing records contain a full fermentation record making it easy to check. Scottish beer took no longer to ferment than English.

The William Younger brewing logs have columns charmingly entitled “Heats and Beats in Guile”. They record the progress of the fermentation and when the wort was roused to encourage fermentation. Here’s an example:

William Younger Shilling Ale fermentations in 1848
		Heats and Beats in Guile
Beer	OG	day 1	day 2	day 3	day 4	day 5	day 6	day 7
Table	1035	59º F	60º F	62º F	64º F
42/-	1043	59º F	61º F	63º F	66º F
60/-	1064	58º F	59º F	62º F	65º F
80/-	1074	58º F	59º F	62º F	64º F	66º F	67º F
100/-	1086	57º F	58º F	60º F	63º F	66º F	68º F	68º F
120/-	1103	54º F	56º F	59º F	62º F	66º F	69º F	70º F
140/-	1115	54º F	58º F	62º F	66º F	70º F	72º F
Source:
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/2/3.

Fermented almost as cold as Lager? I think not. Seven days primary fermentation for a beer with an OG of over 1100º is by no means excessive.

I’ll admit that this totally contradicts what W.H. Roberts wrote about Scottish fermentation temperatures:

". . while the English brewers frequently set their worts as high as 75º, or, according to some practical writers, occasionally 80º, the Scottish seldom if ever exceed 58º, and, in some cases, fall so low as 44º.
. . . it is not uncommon for Scottish brewers to have their gyles in the tun for twenty-one days, whilst in England, so long a period as even six days is considered as of rare occurrence."
"Scottish Ale Brewer" by W.H. Roberts, 1847, page 108.

It’s a contemporary account, written by someone with practical experience of brewing. But, In this case, I have to go with the William Younger’s brewing records. They show temperatures well above 58º F and nothing anywhere near as low as 44º F. I’ve never seen a Scottish fermentation that was longer than 7 days. It’s hard to reconcile with Roberts’ description. Perhaps he was talking about older practices that had been superseded.

The above is an excerpt from my excellent book on Scottish brewing:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/scotland-vol-2/paperback/product-23090497.html

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1940 Truman Stock 1

Standing at the top of the Truman strength tree was Stock 1. The base beer for their Barley Wine.

It wasn’t something that Truman brewed that often. After some time maturing in Burton – I assume at this point in wood – Stock 1 was shipped down to London where it was blended with a Running version. The blend then being bottled as No. 1 Burton Barley Wine.

There seems to be much in common with Bass No. 1. I’m sure this isn’t a coincidence. They were both at the top end of Burton Ales and were both sold as Barley Wine. The gravities are very similar, in any case.

While the grist contains most of the elements found in Truman’s other beers, there are some differences. The most obvious being that Stock 1 was an all-malt beer. At least a non-adjunct beer. The flaked rice in all their other beers is absent here.

The invert sugar in Truman beers is a bit problematic. Because there’s no indication of which type they were using. Or even if they were using more than one type. You’d expect a Pale Ale to contain either No.1 or No. 2. While No. 3 was the preferred option for Mild Ales.

Based on an analysis from 1953 which gives the colour as around 16 SRM, I’ve assumed No.3 invert was used in the original. That’s the only way to get the colour to the correct shade.

The hopping is insanely heavy. It looks like a beer from 50 or 60 years earlier. There were just short of 6 lbs of hops per 36-gallon barrel. I’ve reduced the quantity a little. But, as the hops were all pretty fresh, not by very much.

Of course, the running version, would have been far less heavily hopped. Sadly, I don’t have a log for that. I do have s Runner and a Stock brewing record from the 1960s. There the hopping of the Runner is about 60% of that of the Stock version. Also after 12 months at least maturing, the bitterness levels in the Stock beer would have fallen a fair bit.

1940 Truman Stock 1
pale malt	17.50 lb	72.92%
high dried malt	5.50 lb	22.92%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.00 lb	4.17%
Fuggles 150 mins	4.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	4.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	4.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1105.5
FG	1035
ABV	9.33
Apparent attenuation	66.82%
IBU	106
SRM	14
Mash at	155º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	56º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1028 London Ale (Worthington White Shield)

My books 15% off - but only today

Until the end of today you can get 15% off my print books the extract came from with this code:

ONEFIVE

First is my most recent masterpiece, Armistice!, which takes a detailed look at the exciting world of WW I brewing. Including some of the most watery beer recipes ever.

 Buy this wonderful book.

To summarise the next book: seemingly the dullest of matt shades post-war period is way more fun than you might think. Or maybe that's just me bigging it up. Buy the effing thing and make up your own mind.

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/austerity/23181344

Now my contract limitations have expired, I can tart to my heart's content what  I like to call my expansion pack to The Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer. Recipes? That's all it is. Loads  and loads of them. With North American and Lager recipes that Idropped from the original book for reasons of space.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/lets-brew/paperback/product-23289812.html

My pride and joy. An award-winning book. The truth about Scottish beer and brewing. If I could find some bastard to publish it properly, I'm sure it would shake the world to its very foundations. Or at least joggle the odd noddle.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/scotland-vol-2/paperback/product-23090497.html 

You can find more of my lovely books here:

London Mild Ale during WW I

Courage’s X Ale went through quite a few changes during the war.

There was quite a change in the rate of attenuation. My guess is that they were trying to compensate for the fall in gravity. In 1918, with gravities under 1025º, they were really pushing the limits of what you could call beer. Because of the rules about average gravity, every barrel they brewed at 1021º meant they could brew one at 1039º, or a half barrel at 1047º. It was very tempting to slash the gravity of a big seller like Mild to maximise the amount of stronger, more profitable beer you could brew.

It’s interesting to note that the hopping rate per barrel remaining fairly constant at around 1 pound per barrel when the gravity was more than halved. That’s reflected by the increase in the hopping rate per quarter, which rose from 4-5 lbs to over 10 lbs. Again, I assume that to compensate for the fall in gravity and boost flavour.

The grist was tweaked several times during the war years:

The big increase in the proportion of crystal malt from 1917 on is intriguing. As it seems to correlate with the fall in gravity. It looks like another attempt to compensate for the falling strength of X Ale. While the appearance of black malt corresponds to a fall in the percentage of No. 3 invert sugar. So it’s surely a colour correction.

The 1920 recipe is quite different from the 1914 one: far less base malt, slightly more No. 3 invert, almost three times as much crystal malt.

Courage X Ale 1914 - 1920
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
17th Oct	1914	1054.6	1019.4	4.65	64.47%	4.96	1.05
8th Mar	1915	1049.9	1018.3	4.18	63.33%	4.00	0.78
23rd Sep	1915	1048.2	1011.1	4.91	77.01%	4.96	0.96
11th Oct	1916	1048.2	1007.2	5.42	85.06%	5.00	0.97
9th May	1916	1044.9	1006.9	5.02	84.57%	6.51	1.18
2nd Jan	1917	1045.7	1010.0	4.73	78.18%	3.88	0.76
8th Jun	1917	1041.6	1007.2	4.54	82.67%	8.72	1.16
19th Oct	1917	1034.6	1006.4	3.74	81.60%	7.57	1.13
18th Jan	1918	1034.6	1006.9	3.66	80.00%	7.38	1.13
20th Apr	1918	1023.8	1004.4	2.57	81.40%	9.41	1.01
19th Nov	1918	1021.1	1003.9	2.27	81.58%	10.89	1.01
30th Jun	1919	1023.5	1003.6	2.64	84.71%	6.78	0.75
7th Jul	1919	1027.4	1004.4	3.04	83.84%	8.17	0.99
29th Dec	1919	1037.7	1007.2	4.03	80.88%	5.98	1.00
22nd Apr	1920	1037.7	1007.5	3.99	80.15%	5.91	0.98
Sources:
Courage brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/08/247, ACC/2305/08/248, ACC/2305/08/249, ACC/2305/08/250 and ACC/2305/08/251.

Courage X Ale grists 1914 - 1920
Date	Year	OG	pale malt	black malt	crystal malt	no. 3 sugar	caramel	glucose	black invert
17th Oct	1914	1054.6	82.1%	0.8%	6.1%	11.0%
8th Mar	1915	1049.9	82.8%		6.1%	11.1%
23rd Sep	1915	1048.2	82.4%		6.3%	11.3%
11th Oct	1915	1048.2	82.8%		6.1%	11.1%
9th May	1916	1044.9	80.5%		6.0%	13.4%
2nd Jan	1917	1045.7	75.0%		9.1%	15.9%
8th Jun	1917	1041.6	73.6%		11.3%	15.1%
19th Oct	1917	1034.6	76.2%	1.7%	13.3%	6.6%			2.2%
18th Jan	1918	1034.6	76.1%	1.7%	13.0%	9.2%
20th Apr	1918	1023.8	70.9%	2.9%	18.4%	7.8%
19th Nov	1918	1021.1	64.5%	5.4%	19.4%			10.8%
30th Jun	1919	1023.5	66.3%	2.0%	15.3%	13.6%	2.7%
7th Jul	1919	1027.4	67.6%	2.0%	15.4%	13.7%	1.4%
29th Dec	1919	1037.7	64.4%		19.8%	15.8%
22nd Apr	1920	1037.7	69.1%		16.7%	13.2%	1.0%
Sources:
Courage brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/08/247, ACC/2305/08/248, ACC/2305/08/249, ACC/2305/08/250 and ACC/2305/08/251.

The above is an excerpt from Armistice!, which takes a detailed look at the exciting world of WW I brewing. Including some of the most watery beer recipes ever.

 Buy this wonderful book.