London Stock Pale Ale hops 1900 - 1914

I'm off to Brazil tomorrow. That's my excuse reason for yet another excerpt from an unfinished book.

For the first time, there’s a confirmed sighting of some foreign hops. From the West Coast of the USA. Not such a surprise, as massive quantities of hops were shipped across the Atlantic before WW I.

Other than that, the majority were pretty local, coming from Kent. Mostly East Kent, with some Mid-Kent thrown in. Along with one lot from Worcester, England’s other major hop region.

Pretty fresh most of the hops remain. No real surprise there, as this was a style that would attract the best hops in the loft.

London Stock Pale Ale hops 1900 - 1914
Year	Brewer	Beer	hops 1	hops 2	hops 3	hops 4
1900	Barclay Perkins	PA	EK 1898	EK 1899
1908	Barclay Perkins	PA	EK 1906	EK 1907	??? 1907
1902	Fullers	IPA	English 1900	English 1901
1910	Fullers	PA	Oregon 1907	??? 1909	MK 1909	EK 1908
1914	Fullers	PA	MK 1913	Cobbs 1913	Cobbs 1914	Oregon 1913
1901	Whitbread	PA	EK 1900	Worcs 1900
1905	Whitbread	PA	EK 1903 CS	EK 1904	MK 1903
1910	Whitbread	PA	EK 1909	EK 1909	EK 1909
1914	Whitbread	PA	EK 1912 CS	EK 1913
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/593, ACC/2305/1/605.
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/066, LMA/4453/D/01/070, LMA/4453/D/01/075, LMA/4453/D/01/079.

London Stock Pale Ale sugars 1900 - 1914

Yet more about what I, probably irrationally, believe to be the Golden Age of UK brewing. Before the ravages of two wars knocked all the stuffing out of most styles. I’m sure that the reality wasn’t quite as rosy as I paint it in my mind.

I’m grateful that the brewing logs are often, but not always, more explicit about the type of sugar used. And every single example has quite a lot of it – between 14% and 24%.

At least three different types of sugar were used in addition to caramel. Favourites being, as you might have guessed No. 1 and No. 2 invert. Chances are that the sugar used in the 1900 Barclay Perkins PA was also No. 1, just that they couldn’t be arsed to note it down. The same applies to the 1901 Whitbread PA.

Fullers became big fans of glucose, and, with the exception of a short period during WW I, used it until at least the late 1960s in their Pale Ales.

The tiny amounts of caramel betray that it was being used for colour correction, a practice which became very common during the 20th century as brewers became more conscious of hitting a standard colour for their beers. 

London Stock Pale Ale sugars 1900 - 1914
Year	Brewer	Beer	no. 1 sugar	no. 2 sugar	glucose	other sugar	caramel	total sugar
1900	Barclay Perkins	PA				18.18%		18.18%
1908	Barclay Perkins	PA	14.29%					14.29%
1902	Fullers	IPA				16.81%	0.15%	16.96%
1910	Fullers	PA		8.94%		5.96%	0.16%	15.06%
1914	Fullers	PA		7.13%	7.13%		0.12%	14.39%
1901	Whitbread	PA				21.05%		21.05%
1905	Whitbread	PA	23.53%					23.53%
1910	Whitbread	PA	20.38%					20.38%
1914	Whitbread	PA	20.28%					20.28%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/593, ACC/2305/1/605.
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/066, LMA/4453/D/01/070, LMA/4453/D/01/075, LMA/4453/D/01/079.

Florida?

This is embarrassing. I'm trying to set up some sort of event in Florida in February. Using my standard method of posting on my blog and waiting for responses. 

It usually works. But not this time. So far.

I'll give it another go. Anyone in Florida fancy hosting me for a talk and maybe brewing a collaborative beer? Or, perhaps, you know a suitable candidate brewer or homebrew club?

In either case, get in touch. Or I might have to try another state I haven't visited yet. I wouldn't want to have to choose a cold one.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1880 Whitbread XX xpt

In the 20th-century, I’m pretty sure what style all the beers that I find in brewing records are. While some from the end of the preceding century can be a mystery. Here’s another one of those.

When I see a London beer called XX, my immediate thought is: Mild Ale. On closer examination, XX xpt doesn’t really fit the profile for that style. Yes, Mild Ales of this period could be pretty hoppy. The rate in this case, however – 15 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) – is at the level of Stock Pale Ale or Stock Ale.

The “xpt” – presumably standing for “export” is a clue to the heavy hopping. This weas a beer intended for export. The only question is: what was it sold as in export markets? I’ve no real idea. I very much doubt it was Mild Ale. That sometimes leaked outside the UK, but not often. I’ve no clue, to be honest. Perhaps it was an Australian Ale or some other enigmatic export.

There’s no great secret to the recipe. Base malt, sugar and loads of hops. The latter from the 1879 and 1880 seasons. And all English, which was usually a sign of a classy, expensive beer.

1880 Whitbread XX xpt
mild malt	13.25 lb	84.13%
No. 2 invert sugar	2.50 lb	15.87%
Fuggles 90 mins	3.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	3.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	3.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1078
FG	1025
ABV	7.01
Apparent attenuation	67.95%
IBU	103
SRM	12
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	56º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

 

London Stock Pale Ale grists 1900 - 1914

Apologies for banging on about the 1880 to 1914 period. I need to bash out a shitload of posts and I'm just recycling my work on my book "Free!".

A little more complexity has crept into the recipes. Mostly in the sugars, but a little amongst the grains, too. The share claimed by malt is much the same as in the preceding two decades, hovering around 80%. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.

Whitbread liked to use a mix of base malts and not just in their Pale Ales. Their Stock Ales having both standard pale malt and SA malt (“SA” standing, presumably, for either “Strong Ale” or “Stock Ale”) . After WW I, their Mild Ales had a combination of pale and mild ale malts.

Adjuncts appear in more beers, in far lower quantities, however. In the case of Fullers, less than 5% of the total. It makes you wonder why they bothered. Such restrained dipping into the adjunct box wouldn’t last for long.

London Stock Pale Ale grists 1900 - 1914
Year	Brewer	Beer	pale malt	PA malt	total malt	flaked maize	flaked rice
1900	Barclay Perkins	PA	70.91%		70.91%		10.91%
1908	Barclay Perkins	PA	85.71%		85.71%
1902	Fullers	IPA	83.04%		83.04%
1910	Fullers	PA	81.59%		81.59%	3.35%
1914	Fullers	PA	82.94%		82.94%	2.68%
1901	Whitbread	PA	13.16%	65.79%	78.95%
1905	Whitbread	PA	17.65%	58.82%	76.47%
1910	Whitbread	PA	19.11%	60.51%	79.62%
1914	Whitbread	PA	23.60%	56.12%	79.72%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/593, ACC/2305/1/605.
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.

London Stock Pale Ale 1900 - 1914

Time to look at the situation after the turn of the 20th century.

In the run up to WW I, gravities dipped a little in reaction to tax increases. Falling by a couple of degrees. There was a corresponding small decrease in the alcohol content. It should be borne in mind that, at the time of sale, the ABV would have been higher as the FG given here is the racking gravity, before secondary fermentation.

The drop in hopping was even more pronounces, averaging around 12%. However, if you look at the rates for just before WW I, the difference is even greater. The fall in the Whitbread version between 1895 and 1914 was a full 25%. Such a large change must have had an impact on the character of the beer.

As in the earlier period, the FG at time of sale would have been lower than the racking gravity listed in the brewing records and my table. I would have expected all of the examples to hit at least 80% apparent attenuation.

London Stock Pale Ale 1900 - 1914
Year	Brewer	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
1900	Barclay Perkins	PA	1060.0	1017.0	5.69	71.67%	11.38	4.00
1908	Barclay Perkins	PA	1060.4	1011.5	6.47	80.96%	12.00	3.00
1902	Fullers	IPA	1054.0	1011.4	5.64	78.97%	10.44	2.36
1910	Fullers	PA	1054.2	1012.2	5.55	77.49%	8.92	2.15
1914	Fullers	PA	1054.2	1012.2	5.56	77.52%	8.14	1.98
1901	Whitbread	PA	1057.6	1016.0	5.51	72.23%	11.01	2.88
1905	Whitbread	PA	1063.2	1021.0	5.58	66.75%	12.02	3.45
1910	Whitbread	PA	1060.6	1022.0	5.11	63.70%	8.87	2.38
1914	Whitbread	PA	1061.0	1021.0	5.29	65.59%	9.00	2.36
	Average		1058.4	1016.0	5.60	72.76%	10.20	2.73
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/593, ACC/2305/1/605.
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/066, LMA/4453/D/01/070, LMA/4453/D/01/075, LMA/4453/D/01/079.

London Stock Pale Ale hops 1880 - 1899

Not much to relate this time. I do have a lovely table, though.

As high-class beers, Pale Ales expected the best hops. At the time, that usually meant ones grown in England. Except for a couple of ones I can’t decipher, that’s what every single one is. Mostly pretty fresh, too, coming from the most recent two seasons. No American hops, which were common in cheaper styles, such as Mild Ale.

London Stock Pale Ale hops 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	Beer	hops 1	hops 2	hops 3
1886	Barclay Perkins	PA	EK 1884	EK 1885	Worcs 1885
1892	Barclay Perkins	PA	MK 1890	Worcs 1891
1887	Fullers	IPA	HB 1886	EK 1886
1897	Fullers	IPA	EK 1896	??? 1896	MK 1895
1882	Whitbread	PA	English 1881	English 1881
1885	Whitbread	PA	English 1884
1890	Whitbread	PA	English 1888	English 1889
1895	Whitbread	PA	English 1894
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/584 and ACC/2305/1/588.
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047, LMA/4453/D/01/051, LMA/4453/D/01/056, LMA/4453/D/01/061.

Let's Brew - 1881 Whitbread XL

I'm off to Brazil soon. Which is why I've been writing recipes like crazy, to get some posts banked before I leave town. Also, because I really need to crack on with the recipes for my next book. based on my experience with "Blitzkrieg!", I can never start writing recipes too soon.

If you thought Whitbread’s base Mild Ale was way over the top for the style, XL will blow your mind. It weighs in at over 7% ABV and 50 IBU. How mild is that?

A little explanation of the name. No, it doesn’t mean “extra-large”. Having stared endlessly at beer names trying to make sense of them – and having seen lots of brewing records from the capital – I know exactly what the “L” stands for: London. The Cockneys liked their beer to have a bit of whallop meaning that London versions of a beer were always stronger than those intended for the “country”.

Simply put, XL is a souped-up version of X Ale. Though the hopping is rather classier, with Hallertau standing in for those nasty American hops. They were all pretty fresh, too, being from either the 1880 of 1881 crop.

1881 Whitbread XL
mild malt	15.25 lb	92.42%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.25 lb	7.58%
Hallertau 90 mins	2.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	2.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1077
FG	1022
ABV	7.28
Apparent attenuation	71.43%
IBU	51
SRM	10
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

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London Stock Pale Ale grists 1880 - 1899

You can probably guess what I've been up to this week - getting seriously stuck into "Free!".

Despite the freedoms given to brewers by the Free Mash Tun Act, most weren’t taking full advantage of them, sticking to just malt and sugar. The latter having already been legal since 1847.

Barclay Perkins were the exception, slinging some flaked rice into the mix.

The sugar content was pretty high. Higher than in cheaper styles such as Mild. The explanation is simple: brewers wanted to keep their Pale Ales as light as possible in terms of colour and body. A good dose of sugar helped them achieve that. No. 1 invert was a popular option, though in many cases brewing records don’t specify the type of sugar.

The late 19th century saw the development of specialist base malts, designed for a specific style of beer. PA malt – Pale Ale malt – was, as the name suggests, designed for use in Pale Ales. Made from the best quality barley, it was also kilned lightly to give the pale colour brewers desired for this type of beer. 

London Stock Pale Ale 1880 - 1899 grists
Year	Brewer	Beer	pale malt	PA malt	flaked rice	no. 1 sugar	other sugar
1886	Barclay Perkins	PA	71.64%		13.43%	14.93%
1892	Barclay Perkins	PA	72.97%		16.22%	10.81%
1887	Fullers	IPA	80.06%				19.94%
1897	Fullers	IPA	82.13%				17.87%
1882	Whitbread	PA	78.57%				21.43%
1885	Whitbread	PA	85.71%				14.29%
1890	Whitbread	PA	78.57%				21.43%
1895	Whitbread	PA	64.38%	13.70%			21.92%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/584 and ACC/2305/1/588.
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047, LMA/4453/D/01/051, LMA/4453/D/01/056, LMA/4453/D/01/061.

London Stock Pale Ale 1880 - 1899

The oldest type of these Pale Ales (I’m not including the lightly-hopped beers of the same name brewed in the 18th century), they were universally Stock Ales. That is, Ales which were aged for up to 12 months or more. With gravities similar to those of Burton Pale Ales.

As you can see in the table, that gravity was around 1060º. Which wasn’t particularly strong by the standards of the day. Averaging over 13 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, the hopping is very robust. As you would expect of a beer which would need to survive a long period of ageing.

Talking of ageing, that would have included a secondary Brettanomyces fermentation. Which would have greatly increased the degree of attenuation to 85% or more. Boosting the ABV to more like 7%.

These were expensive beers, using top-quality ingredients and taking a long time to produce. Hence, they sold in very modest quantities. For example, in 1881, Whitbread brewed a mere 9,088 barrels of PA, out of a total of 465,423 barrels.

London Stock Pale Ale 1880 - 1899
Year	Brewer	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
1886	Barclay Perkins	PA	1058.0	1013.0	5.95	77.55%	12.00	2.95
1892	Barclay Perkins	PA	1063.0	1021.1	5.55	66.58%	12.46	3.03
1887	Fullers	IPA	1060.9	1016.6	5.86	72.73%	12.38	3.45
1897	Fullers	IPA	1057.6	1015.2	5.61	73.56%	13.43	3.20
1882	Whitbread	PA	1062.6	1015.8	6.19	74.78%	15.34	4.59
1885	Whitbread	PA	1060.4	1015.0	6.01	75.23%	15.02	4.44
1890	Whitbread	PA	1060.1	1013.0	6.23	78.37%	11.69	3.25
1895	Whitbread	PA	1059.3	1015.0	5.86	74.70%	12.00	3.15
	Average		1060.2	1015.6	5.91	74.19%	13.04	3.51
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/1/584 and ACC/2305/1/588.
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/047, LMA/4453/D/01/051, LMA/4453/D/01/056, LMA/4453/D/01/061.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1881 Whitbread X

Mild Ale was very much on the up in the second half of the 19th century. At Whitbread, X Ale had overtaken Porter as their most popular beer just a couple of years before, in 1875 . In 1881, it accounted for more than half the beer they brewed.

To modern eyes, a Mild Ale like this looks ridiculously strong and heavily hopped. But the 19th century was a different country when it comes to beer styles. A Mild of 6% ABV was nothing out of the ordinary. Especially in London, where beers tended to be stronger than in the sticks.

There’s nothing much to the grist: base malt and sugar. No adjuncts, despite them being legal since the year before. Unlike most English brewers, Whitbread eschewed the use of unmalted grains.

The brewing record doesn’t specifically mention either mild or No. 2 invert. It’s rather vague about the ingredients. They’re just my best guess.

It reveals a few more details about the hops. At least in terms of their age. American from the 1880 season and English from 1880 and 1881, to be precise.

1881 Whitbread X
mild malt	12.00 lb	92.31%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.00 lb	7.69%
Cluster 90 mins	2.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	2.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1060
FG	1016
ABV	5.82
Apparent attenuation	73.33%
IBU	57
SRM	8
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale