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23-10-2013, 07:36
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http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lJfLrynT7zI/UmYtMVcpmfI/AAAAAAAASLM/QweiL--2daU/s320/Whitbread_Best_Mild_beermat.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lJfLrynT7zI/UmYtMVcpmfI/AAAAAAAASLM/QweiL--2daU/s1600/Whitbread_Best_Mild_beermat.jpg)
It seems several lifetimes ago that I was last discussing Whitbread's post-WW II beers. Surely time to return to them?
And where better to begin than Mild? At the time, one of Whitbread's biggest sellers. At the start of the period, they brewed just one Mild - XX. This had been introduced in 1940, replacing X Ale. Initially with a gravity of 1031, tthough by 1942 it was below 1030. A level it remained at until its demise in 1949. For a brief period in 1949, Whitbread brewed two Milds, XX at 1027.7 and B or Best Ale about three points higher.
Between 1950 and 1954, Best Ale was Whitbrewed's only Mild, then they introduced XXX at 1037.5 What I guess would have been called Best Mild, if their other Milds hadn't already been called Best Ale.
There are a couple of points I'd like to make about the brewing techniques. The boil times a very short, almost certainly a consequence of the war. In 1914, the two coppers used for X Ale were boiled for 1.75 hours. In the 1930's it was 1.25 hours for the first and 1.5 hours for the second. In 1940, it was down to 1.25 hours and 1 hour. By 1944, it was just 1 hour and 0.75 hours. The reasonong was simple: saving fuel.
Whitbread Mild Ale 1945 - 1954
Date
Year
Beer
OG
FG
ABV
App. Attenuation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
Pitch temp
length of fermentation (days)
colour
31st Dec
1945
XX
1027.8
1009.0
2.49
67.63%
5.77
0.68
1
1
65º
5
15 + 40
19th Oct
1945
XX
1028.2
1008.5
2.61
69.86%
5.77
0.72
1
1.33
65º
6
13 + 40
22nd Jan
1946
XX
1028.3
1009.0
2.55
68.20%
5.77
0.70
1
1
65º
5
14 + 40
29th Jan
1947
XX
1027.7
1005.5
2.94
80.14%
6.28
0.72
1
1
65º
4
14 + 40
21st Jun
1948
XX
1027.7
1006.0
2.87
78.34%
7.03
0.82
1
1
65º
4
11 + 40
22nd Jun
1949
B
1030.5
1007.5
3.04
75.41%
6.33
0.78
1
1
65º
6
16 + 40
20th Oct
1949
Best Ale
1029.1
1010.0
2.53
65.64%
6.73
0.81
1
1.08
65º
8
16 + 40
21st Jun
1949
XX
1027.7
1007.5
2.67
72.92%
7.26
0.83
1
1.25
65º
5
13 + 40
16th May
1950
Best Ale
1032.3
1008.0
3.21
75.23%
7.13
0.89
1
0.75
65º
5
18 + 40
17th Jul
1951
Best Ale
1031.8
1009.0
3.02
71.70%
7.32
0.93
0.75
65º
5
15 + 40
4th Feb
1952
Best Ale
1030.8
1008.0
3.02
74.03%
7.35
0.88
1
0.75
65º
5
16 + 40
28th Jan
1953
Best Ale
1030.6
1008.5
2.92
72.22%
6.66
0.83
1
0.75
65º
8
17 + 40
21st Jan
1954
Best Ale
1031.0
1010.0
2.78
67.74%
5.49
0.71
1
0.75
65º
7
18 + 40
29th Sep
1954
MA
1030.8
1010.5
2.69
65.91%
5.66
0.72
1
1
65º
6
120
29th Sep
1954
XXX
1037.5
1012.0
3.37
68.00%
5.66
0.88
1
1
65º
7
125
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/113, LMA/4453/D/01/114, LMA/4453/D/01/116, LMA/4453/D/01/117, LMA/4453/D/01/119, LMA/4453/D/01/120, LMA/4453/D/01/121 and LMA/4453/D/01/122.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cRgQaJH9seQ/UmYxsYGqdPI/AAAAAAAASLY/81yIx-_lVGY/s320/Whitbread_Mild_1945_1954.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cRgQaJH9seQ/UmYxsYGqdPI/AAAAAAAASLY/81yIx-_lVGY/s1600/Whitbread_Mild_1945_1954.jpg)
The pitching temperature, at 65º F, is pretty high, but more likely just a simple reflection of the very modest gravity of these beers. In general, the stronger the beer, the lower the pitching temperature, presumably because of the greater amount of heat generated by the fermentation of a stronger wort.
Talking of modest gravity, you'd have struggled to get very pissed on just about any of these beers.Only a couple poke their heads above 3% ABV. The weakest, I'd barely count as alcoholic drinks.
Moving on to the ingredients, you can see that there were some odd hops and hop extract or substitute used in the immediate postwar period. Britain was basically broke by the time hostilities ended and the first few years of peace were difficult ones. By the time the 1950's kick in, you can see that there's been a transformation in hop usage, with almost exclusively British hops being used, with the exception of occasionally a few Californian (CF) hops. It's one of the ironies of British brewing that imported hops became much less important after WW I and mostly disappeared in the two or three decadess after WW II.
Whitbread Mild Ale 1945 - 1954
Date
Year
Beer
OG
hops
pale malt
crystal malt
MA malt
no. 3 sugar
other sugar - Hay
flaked barley
31st Dec
1945
XX
1027.8
American and MK hops. Hopulon.
7.51%
63.33%
10.02%
1.97%
17.17%
19th Oct
1945
XX
1028.2
Oregon, Old Continentals, and MK hops.
7.51%
63.33%
10.02%
1.97%
17.17%
22nd Jan
1946
XX
1028.3
MK and EK hops. Hopulon.
7.51%
63.33%
10.02%
1.97%
17.17%
29th Jan
1947
XX
1027.7
MK and Jugoslav hops. Hopulon.
8.09%
82.08%
7.71%
2.12%
21st Jun
1948
XX
1027.7
MK and KT hops. Hopulon.
20.79%
7.87%
63.48%
5.99%
1.87%
22nd Jun
1949
B
1030.5
MK hops.
8.22%
84.25%
5.48%
2.05%
20th Oct
1949
Best Ale
1029.1
MK and KT hops.
7.66%
84.31%
5.84%
2.19%
21st Jun
1949
XX
1027.7
MK and KT hops.
7.98%
85.55%
4.56%
1.90%
16th May
1950
Best Ale
1032.3
MK, EK and Worcester hops.
7.29%
86.46%
4.17%
2.08%
17th Jul
1951
Best Ale
1031.8
MK and CF hops.
7.30%
86.61%
4.17%
1.91%
4th Feb
1952
Best Ale
1030.8
KT hops.
7.30%
86.61%
4.17%
1.91%
28th Jan
1953
Best Ale
1030.6
MK hops.
7.41%
85.71%
4.94%
1.94%
21st Jan
1954
Best Ale
1031.0
MK, EK and SX hops.
6.74%
80.31%
11.05%
1.90%
29th Sep
1954
MA
1030.8
MK, EK and KT hops.
6.35%
80.42%
11.29%
1.94%
29th Sep
1954
XXX
1037.5
MK, EK and KT hops.
6.35%
80.42%
11.29%
1.94%
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/113, LMA/4453/D/01/114, LMA/4453/D/01/116, LMA/4453/D/01/117, LMA/4453/D/01/119, LMA/4453/D/01/120, LMA/4453/D/01/121 and LMA/4453/D/01/122.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UPMmO2JwCYE/UmYyB8-jmVI/AAAAAAAASLg/Aw9okrNV3ag/s320/Whitbread_Mild_1945_1954_grists.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UPMmO2JwCYE/UmYyB8-jmVI/AAAAAAAASLg/Aw9okrNV3ag/s1600/Whitbread_Mild_1945_1954_grists.jpg)
The grists aren't the most exciting you'll ever see. Whitbread hadn't used adjuncts before the war and the use of flaked barley was almost certainly dictated by the authorities. After 1946, no adjuncts were used. Though obviously lots of lovely sugar. Which is where most of the dark brown colour came from. As was typical in Milds of this period, there was no malt darker than crystal. I'm not sure why the sugar content fell in the first few years of the 1950's. That aside, the recipe was pretty stable: 7% crystal malt, 80-85% MA (mild ale) malt, 11% No. 3 sugar, 2% Hay sugar. That latter is some sort of proprietary sugar, which was presumably dark.
What should I do next - follow Mild through subsequent decades or look at the other styles for this same period?
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/10/whitbread-mild-ale-1945-1954.html)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lJfLrynT7zI/UmYtMVcpmfI/AAAAAAAASLM/QweiL--2daU/s320/Whitbread_Best_Mild_beermat.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lJfLrynT7zI/UmYtMVcpmfI/AAAAAAAASLM/QweiL--2daU/s1600/Whitbread_Best_Mild_beermat.jpg)
It seems several lifetimes ago that I was last discussing Whitbread's post-WW II beers. Surely time to return to them?
And where better to begin than Mild? At the time, one of Whitbread's biggest sellers. At the start of the period, they brewed just one Mild - XX. This had been introduced in 1940, replacing X Ale. Initially with a gravity of 1031, tthough by 1942 it was below 1030. A level it remained at until its demise in 1949. For a brief period in 1949, Whitbread brewed two Milds, XX at 1027.7 and B or Best Ale about three points higher.
Between 1950 and 1954, Best Ale was Whitbrewed's only Mild, then they introduced XXX at 1037.5 What I guess would have been called Best Mild, if their other Milds hadn't already been called Best Ale.
There are a couple of points I'd like to make about the brewing techniques. The boil times a very short, almost certainly a consequence of the war. In 1914, the two coppers used for X Ale were boiled for 1.75 hours. In the 1930's it was 1.25 hours for the first and 1.5 hours for the second. In 1940, it was down to 1.25 hours and 1 hour. By 1944, it was just 1 hour and 0.75 hours. The reasonong was simple: saving fuel.
Whitbread Mild Ale 1945 - 1954
Date
Year
Beer
OG
FG
ABV
App. Attenuation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
Pitch temp
length of fermentation (days)
colour
31st Dec
1945
XX
1027.8
1009.0
2.49
67.63%
5.77
0.68
1
1
65º
5
15 + 40
19th Oct
1945
XX
1028.2
1008.5
2.61
69.86%
5.77
0.72
1
1.33
65º
6
13 + 40
22nd Jan
1946
XX
1028.3
1009.0
2.55
68.20%
5.77
0.70
1
1
65º
5
14 + 40
29th Jan
1947
XX
1027.7
1005.5
2.94
80.14%
6.28
0.72
1
1
65º
4
14 + 40
21st Jun
1948
XX
1027.7
1006.0
2.87
78.34%
7.03
0.82
1
1
65º
4
11 + 40
22nd Jun
1949
B
1030.5
1007.5
3.04
75.41%
6.33
0.78
1
1
65º
6
16 + 40
20th Oct
1949
Best Ale
1029.1
1010.0
2.53
65.64%
6.73
0.81
1
1.08
65º
8
16 + 40
21st Jun
1949
XX
1027.7
1007.5
2.67
72.92%
7.26
0.83
1
1.25
65º
5
13 + 40
16th May
1950
Best Ale
1032.3
1008.0
3.21
75.23%
7.13
0.89
1
0.75
65º
5
18 + 40
17th Jul
1951
Best Ale
1031.8
1009.0
3.02
71.70%
7.32
0.93
0.75
65º
5
15 + 40
4th Feb
1952
Best Ale
1030.8
1008.0
3.02
74.03%
7.35
0.88
1
0.75
65º
5
16 + 40
28th Jan
1953
Best Ale
1030.6
1008.5
2.92
72.22%
6.66
0.83
1
0.75
65º
8
17 + 40
21st Jan
1954
Best Ale
1031.0
1010.0
2.78
67.74%
5.49
0.71
1
0.75
65º
7
18 + 40
29th Sep
1954
MA
1030.8
1010.5
2.69
65.91%
5.66
0.72
1
1
65º
6
120
29th Sep
1954
XXX
1037.5
1012.0
3.37
68.00%
5.66
0.88
1
1
65º
7
125
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/113, LMA/4453/D/01/114, LMA/4453/D/01/116, LMA/4453/D/01/117, LMA/4453/D/01/119, LMA/4453/D/01/120, LMA/4453/D/01/121 and LMA/4453/D/01/122.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cRgQaJH9seQ/UmYxsYGqdPI/AAAAAAAASLY/81yIx-_lVGY/s320/Whitbread_Mild_1945_1954.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cRgQaJH9seQ/UmYxsYGqdPI/AAAAAAAASLY/81yIx-_lVGY/s1600/Whitbread_Mild_1945_1954.jpg)
The pitching temperature, at 65º F, is pretty high, but more likely just a simple reflection of the very modest gravity of these beers. In general, the stronger the beer, the lower the pitching temperature, presumably because of the greater amount of heat generated by the fermentation of a stronger wort.
Talking of modest gravity, you'd have struggled to get very pissed on just about any of these beers.Only a couple poke their heads above 3% ABV. The weakest, I'd barely count as alcoholic drinks.
Moving on to the ingredients, you can see that there were some odd hops and hop extract or substitute used in the immediate postwar period. Britain was basically broke by the time hostilities ended and the first few years of peace were difficult ones. By the time the 1950's kick in, you can see that there's been a transformation in hop usage, with almost exclusively British hops being used, with the exception of occasionally a few Californian (CF) hops. It's one of the ironies of British brewing that imported hops became much less important after WW I and mostly disappeared in the two or three decadess after WW II.
Whitbread Mild Ale 1945 - 1954
Date
Year
Beer
OG
hops
pale malt
crystal malt
MA malt
no. 3 sugar
other sugar - Hay
flaked barley
31st Dec
1945
XX
1027.8
American and MK hops. Hopulon.
7.51%
63.33%
10.02%
1.97%
17.17%
19th Oct
1945
XX
1028.2
Oregon, Old Continentals, and MK hops.
7.51%
63.33%
10.02%
1.97%
17.17%
22nd Jan
1946
XX
1028.3
MK and EK hops. Hopulon.
7.51%
63.33%
10.02%
1.97%
17.17%
29th Jan
1947
XX
1027.7
MK and Jugoslav hops. Hopulon.
8.09%
82.08%
7.71%
2.12%
21st Jun
1948
XX
1027.7
MK and KT hops. Hopulon.
20.79%
7.87%
63.48%
5.99%
1.87%
22nd Jun
1949
B
1030.5
MK hops.
8.22%
84.25%
5.48%
2.05%
20th Oct
1949
Best Ale
1029.1
MK and KT hops.
7.66%
84.31%
5.84%
2.19%
21st Jun
1949
XX
1027.7
MK and KT hops.
7.98%
85.55%
4.56%
1.90%
16th May
1950
Best Ale
1032.3
MK, EK and Worcester hops.
7.29%
86.46%
4.17%
2.08%
17th Jul
1951
Best Ale
1031.8
MK and CF hops.
7.30%
86.61%
4.17%
1.91%
4th Feb
1952
Best Ale
1030.8
KT hops.
7.30%
86.61%
4.17%
1.91%
28th Jan
1953
Best Ale
1030.6
MK hops.
7.41%
85.71%
4.94%
1.94%
21st Jan
1954
Best Ale
1031.0
MK, EK and SX hops.
6.74%
80.31%
11.05%
1.90%
29th Sep
1954
MA
1030.8
MK, EK and KT hops.
6.35%
80.42%
11.29%
1.94%
29th Sep
1954
XXX
1037.5
MK, EK and KT hops.
6.35%
80.42%
11.29%
1.94%
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/113, LMA/4453/D/01/114, LMA/4453/D/01/116, LMA/4453/D/01/117, LMA/4453/D/01/119, LMA/4453/D/01/120, LMA/4453/D/01/121 and LMA/4453/D/01/122.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UPMmO2JwCYE/UmYyB8-jmVI/AAAAAAAASLg/Aw9okrNV3ag/s320/Whitbread_Mild_1945_1954_grists.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UPMmO2JwCYE/UmYyB8-jmVI/AAAAAAAASLg/Aw9okrNV3ag/s1600/Whitbread_Mild_1945_1954_grists.jpg)
The grists aren't the most exciting you'll ever see. Whitbread hadn't used adjuncts before the war and the use of flaked barley was almost certainly dictated by the authorities. After 1946, no adjuncts were used. Though obviously lots of lovely sugar. Which is where most of the dark brown colour came from. As was typical in Milds of this period, there was no malt darker than crystal. I'm not sure why the sugar content fell in the first few years of the 1950's. That aside, the recipe was pretty stable: 7% crystal malt, 80-85% MA (mild ale) malt, 11% No. 3 sugar, 2% Hay sugar. That latter is some sort of proprietary sugar, which was presumably dark.
What should I do next - follow Mild through subsequent decades or look at the other styles for this same period?
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/10/whitbread-mild-ale-1945-1954.html)