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28-11-2012, 07:16
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2012/11/x-ale-grists-in-1860s.html)
While I'm on the topic of grists, I may as well do the ones for the Milds I've been boring you with. They aren't all that exciting, one or two unexpected ingredients excepted.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N3RWqeOo9YA/ULM7W1cR9FI/AAAAAAAAM30/HkzEn2FCNI8/s320/Tetleys_Family_Ale.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N3RWqeOo9YA/ULM7W1cR9FI/AAAAAAAAM30/HkzEn2FCNI8/s1600/Tetleys_Family_Ale.jpg)
19th-century grists can be a great disappointment to those hoping to find exciting recipes. Porter and Stout aside, most beers had very simple grists with nothing other than base malt. It's not what I'd expected to find. But, after looking at the odd few thousand brewing records, it's clear that this is just how they brewed back then.
Over-complication is a modern failing. How many current beers have recipes that are more complicated than they need to be? My guess is quite a lot. I don't want to bore you with this, but one of my favourite beers of all time, Pretty Things XXXX Mild*, has just four ingredients. That's including water and yeast.
The London X Ales definitely have the edge in terms of grist complexity. Only Barclay Perkins ones were 100% pale malt. That these beers were pale in colour is attested by the use of white malt in some. That was the palest kind of pale malt.
The Courage grists really are unusual. I'd forgotten that they included brown malt. The percentage is pretty small so I wonder what the point was. It would have added a little colour, but also flavour. I wonder which was the prime reason for its use?
The limited amount of sugar used is also worth highlighting. Sugar had been a legal ingredient since 1847, but it wasn't immediately hugely popular. Whitbread was the first of the big London brewers to adopt it in a big way, coincidentally about exactly at this time. This is when these brewers began using sugar regularly:
Whitbread 1865
Truman 1876
Barclay Perkins 1880
When we finally get to the next instalment in this series, you'll see just how much Barclay Perkins grists were transformed by the Free Mash Tun Act.
What can I say about the provincial grists? Very little as they are, with a single exception, 100% base malt. The only exception is the Medway X Ale with its small amount of crystal malt. This is a very early sighting of crystal malt. But that's another topic we'll be learning more about later.
Almost forgot my other point: the differing gravities. You can see that London X Ale was over 1060º, the provincial ones around 1050º. There's a similar gravity gap all the way up the strength scale
That's me done. I'll leave you with the tables.
London X Ale grists in the 1860's
Date
Year
Brewer
Beer
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
pale malt
brown malt
white malt
sugar
14th May
1867
Barclay Perkins
X
1061.2
1018.6
5.64
69.68%
9.85
2.77
100.00%
2nd Oct
1868
Barclay Perkins
XX
1078.9
1024.7
7.18
68.77%
12.89
4.47
100.00%
2nd Oct
1868
Barclay Perkins
XXX
1092.8
1030.2
8.28
67.46%
14.21
5.90
100.00%
8th Jul
1867
Whitbread
X
1061.2
1020.2
5.42
66.97%
10.12
2.95
86.07%
13.93%
16th May
1867
Whitbread
XL
1071.2
1026.0
5.97
63.42%
9.01
3.05
85.25%
14.75%
3rd Jun
1867
Whitbread
XX
1082.3
1031.3
6.74
61.95%
9.09
3.21
85.96%
14.04%
3rd Jul
1865
Truman
X Ale
1067.3
1013.9
7.07
79.42%
9
2.78
64.71%
35.29%
4th Jul
1865
Truman
40/- Ale
1072.6
1020.8
6.85
71.37%
9
3.00
100.00%
22nd Aug
1865
Truman
XX Ale
1081.2
1020.5
8.03
74.74%
11.0
7.17
100.00%
22nd Aug
1865
Truman
XXX Ale
1088.9
1022.7
8.76
74.45%
11.0
10.15
100.00%
23rd July
1867
Courage
Ale X
1065.9
10.00
3.10
97.82%
2.18%
30th July
1867
Courage
Ale XX
1078.9
10.00
3.71
91.90%
3.05%
5.05%
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/032 and LMA/4453/D/01/033.
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives document numbers ACC/2305/1/572 and ACC/2305/08/275.
Truman brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives document number B/THB/C/147.
Courage brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives document number ACC/2305/08/275.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6ULVTafhAs/ULMfSv0_1LI/AAAAAAAAM2M/m7vjpmrYCps/s320/London_X_Ale_grists_1860s.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6ULVTafhAs/ULMfSv0_1LI/AAAAAAAAM2M/m7vjpmrYCps/s1600/London_X_Ale_grists_1860s.jpg)
Provincial X Ale grists in the 1860's
Date
Year
Brewer
Beer
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
pale malt
crystal malt
white malt
1st Oct
1868
Tetley
X
1047.4
1020.8
3.52
56.14%
6.00
1.11
100.00%
2nd Oct
1868
Tetley
X1
1055.4
1019.4
4.76
65.00%
6.00
1.30
100.00%
5th Oct
1868
Tetley
X2
1062.0
1017.7
5.86
71.43%
8.00
2.00
100.00%
19th Oct
1868
Tetley
X3
1066.5
1022.2
5.86
66.67%
9.96
3.93
100.00%
17th Oct
1868
William Younger
X
1053
1023
3.97
56.60%
6.30
1.36
100.00%
24th Aug
1868
William Younger
XX
1057
1024
4.37
57.89%
9.58
2.25
100.00%
26th Aug
1868
William Younger
XXX
1068
1028
5.29
58.82%
8.00
2.55
100.00%
18th Jun
1869
Medway
X
1051.5
8.00
1.75
96.88%
3.13%
2nd Jun
1869
Medway
XX
1066.8
9.00
2.63
100.00%
1864
Lovibond
X Ale
1050.4
1015.5
4.62
69.23%
10.50
3.15
100.00%
1864
Lovibond
XX Ale
1065.6
1015.0
6.70
77.20%
2.73
0.81
100.00%
1864
Lovibond
XXX Ale
1074.2
1016.6
7.62
77.61%
6.50
1.04
100.00%
1864
Lovibond
XXXX Ale
1085.3
1019.9
8.65
76.62%
10.50
2.01
100.00%
Sources:
Tetley brewing record held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds document number WYL756/16/ACC1903
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive document number WY/6/1/2/21
Medway brewing record owned by me
Lovibond brewing record owned by me
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMGY3HajyOY/ULMfYzOSjKI/AAAAAAAAM2U/pO18FM9bt7g/s320/Provincial_X_Ale_grists_1860s.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMGY3HajyOY/ULMfYzOSjKI/AAAAAAAAM2U/pO18FM9bt7g/s1600/Provincial_X_Ale_grists_1860s.jpg)
* Dann has promised he'll be brewing it again soon. I can't wait to get my hands on some more of it.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-3016812760205046506?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2012/11/x-ale-grists-in-1860s.html)
While I'm on the topic of grists, I may as well do the ones for the Milds I've been boring you with. They aren't all that exciting, one or two unexpected ingredients excepted.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N3RWqeOo9YA/ULM7W1cR9FI/AAAAAAAAM30/HkzEn2FCNI8/s320/Tetleys_Family_Ale.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N3RWqeOo9YA/ULM7W1cR9FI/AAAAAAAAM30/HkzEn2FCNI8/s1600/Tetleys_Family_Ale.jpg)
19th-century grists can be a great disappointment to those hoping to find exciting recipes. Porter and Stout aside, most beers had very simple grists with nothing other than base malt. It's not what I'd expected to find. But, after looking at the odd few thousand brewing records, it's clear that this is just how they brewed back then.
Over-complication is a modern failing. How many current beers have recipes that are more complicated than they need to be? My guess is quite a lot. I don't want to bore you with this, but one of my favourite beers of all time, Pretty Things XXXX Mild*, has just four ingredients. That's including water and yeast.
The London X Ales definitely have the edge in terms of grist complexity. Only Barclay Perkins ones were 100% pale malt. That these beers were pale in colour is attested by the use of white malt in some. That was the palest kind of pale malt.
The Courage grists really are unusual. I'd forgotten that they included brown malt. The percentage is pretty small so I wonder what the point was. It would have added a little colour, but also flavour. I wonder which was the prime reason for its use?
The limited amount of sugar used is also worth highlighting. Sugar had been a legal ingredient since 1847, but it wasn't immediately hugely popular. Whitbread was the first of the big London brewers to adopt it in a big way, coincidentally about exactly at this time. This is when these brewers began using sugar regularly:
Whitbread 1865
Truman 1876
Barclay Perkins 1880
When we finally get to the next instalment in this series, you'll see just how much Barclay Perkins grists were transformed by the Free Mash Tun Act.
What can I say about the provincial grists? Very little as they are, with a single exception, 100% base malt. The only exception is the Medway X Ale with its small amount of crystal malt. This is a very early sighting of crystal malt. But that's another topic we'll be learning more about later.
Almost forgot my other point: the differing gravities. You can see that London X Ale was over 1060º, the provincial ones around 1050º. There's a similar gravity gap all the way up the strength scale
That's me done. I'll leave you with the tables.
London X Ale grists in the 1860's
Date
Year
Brewer
Beer
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
pale malt
brown malt
white malt
sugar
14th May
1867
Barclay Perkins
X
1061.2
1018.6
5.64
69.68%
9.85
2.77
100.00%
2nd Oct
1868
Barclay Perkins
XX
1078.9
1024.7
7.18
68.77%
12.89
4.47
100.00%
2nd Oct
1868
Barclay Perkins
XXX
1092.8
1030.2
8.28
67.46%
14.21
5.90
100.00%
8th Jul
1867
Whitbread
X
1061.2
1020.2
5.42
66.97%
10.12
2.95
86.07%
13.93%
16th May
1867
Whitbread
XL
1071.2
1026.0
5.97
63.42%
9.01
3.05
85.25%
14.75%
3rd Jun
1867
Whitbread
XX
1082.3
1031.3
6.74
61.95%
9.09
3.21
85.96%
14.04%
3rd Jul
1865
Truman
X Ale
1067.3
1013.9
7.07
79.42%
9
2.78
64.71%
35.29%
4th Jul
1865
Truman
40/- Ale
1072.6
1020.8
6.85
71.37%
9
3.00
100.00%
22nd Aug
1865
Truman
XX Ale
1081.2
1020.5
8.03
74.74%
11.0
7.17
100.00%
22nd Aug
1865
Truman
XXX Ale
1088.9
1022.7
8.76
74.45%
11.0
10.15
100.00%
23rd July
1867
Courage
Ale X
1065.9
10.00
3.10
97.82%
2.18%
30th July
1867
Courage
Ale XX
1078.9
10.00
3.71
91.90%
3.05%
5.05%
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/032 and LMA/4453/D/01/033.
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives document numbers ACC/2305/1/572 and ACC/2305/08/275.
Truman brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives document number B/THB/C/147.
Courage brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives document number ACC/2305/08/275.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6ULVTafhAs/ULMfSv0_1LI/AAAAAAAAM2M/m7vjpmrYCps/s320/London_X_Ale_grists_1860s.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6ULVTafhAs/ULMfSv0_1LI/AAAAAAAAM2M/m7vjpmrYCps/s1600/London_X_Ale_grists_1860s.jpg)
Provincial X Ale grists in the 1860's
Date
Year
Brewer
Beer
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
pale malt
crystal malt
white malt
1st Oct
1868
Tetley
X
1047.4
1020.8
3.52
56.14%
6.00
1.11
100.00%
2nd Oct
1868
Tetley
X1
1055.4
1019.4
4.76
65.00%
6.00
1.30
100.00%
5th Oct
1868
Tetley
X2
1062.0
1017.7
5.86
71.43%
8.00
2.00
100.00%
19th Oct
1868
Tetley
X3
1066.5
1022.2
5.86
66.67%
9.96
3.93
100.00%
17th Oct
1868
William Younger
X
1053
1023
3.97
56.60%
6.30
1.36
100.00%
24th Aug
1868
William Younger
XX
1057
1024
4.37
57.89%
9.58
2.25
100.00%
26th Aug
1868
William Younger
XXX
1068
1028
5.29
58.82%
8.00
2.55
100.00%
18th Jun
1869
Medway
X
1051.5
8.00
1.75
96.88%
3.13%
2nd Jun
1869
Medway
XX
1066.8
9.00
2.63
100.00%
1864
Lovibond
X Ale
1050.4
1015.5
4.62
69.23%
10.50
3.15
100.00%
1864
Lovibond
XX Ale
1065.6
1015.0
6.70
77.20%
2.73
0.81
100.00%
1864
Lovibond
XXX Ale
1074.2
1016.6
7.62
77.61%
6.50
1.04
100.00%
1864
Lovibond
XXXX Ale
1085.3
1019.9
8.65
76.62%
10.50
2.01
100.00%
Sources:
Tetley brewing record held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds document number WYL756/16/ACC1903
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive document number WY/6/1/2/21
Medway brewing record owned by me
Lovibond brewing record owned by me
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMGY3HajyOY/ULMfYzOSjKI/AAAAAAAAM2U/pO18FM9bt7g/s320/Provincial_X_Ale_grists_1860s.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMGY3HajyOY/ULMfYzOSjKI/AAAAAAAAM2U/pO18FM9bt7g/s1600/Provincial_X_Ale_grists_1860s.jpg)
* Dann has promised he'll be brewing it again soon. I can't wait to get my hands on some more of it.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-3016812760205046506?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2012/11/x-ale-grists-in-1860s.html)