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25-12-2013, 07:19
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/12/lets-brew-wednesday-1972-whitbread-gold.html)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HmGn13FrDoM/UrlegUjuOpI/AAAAAAAASrE/Hktons3SjX0/s400/Tennants_Gold_Label_1944.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HmGn13FrDoM/UrlegUjuOpI/AAAAAAAASrE/Hktons3SjX0/s1600/Tennants_Gold_Label_1944.jpg)
Today is a very special day. Not because it's Christmas, but because I'm finally publishing a recipe for a beer that's fascinated and intoxicated me for years: Whitbread Gold Label.
Though that isn't the name it started out with. It was originally brewed by Tennant in Sheffield, who were later taken over by Whitbread. When introduced in the 1950's, it was something of a sensation. Why? Because of its colour. At a time when Barley Wines were a dark shade of brown, Gold LAbel was, er, golden. Or at least a pale amber. About the colour of Bitter.
The Mermaid, the pub on the caravan site in Mablethorpe where I spent most summer weekends as a child was a Tennant's pub. Come to think of it, probably the first pub I went in. They used to allow children in the lounge, something not exactly legal at the time. I can remember they had horizontal cylinder diaphragm electric pumps. Something that was pretty common in the Midlands in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Was it cask or bright beer they dispensed? No idea, I'm afraid.
The Mermaid must have sold Gold Label. Funnily enough I can remember drinking another Barley Wine in Mablethorpe: Bass No. 1. In a Bass pub whose name escapes me. It's now closed, so it doesn't really matter.
"Strong as a double scotch less than half the price." was a slogan I can remember seeing on posters as a teenager. They wouldn't get away with that now. It certainly got my attention as a 14 year old. Sounded like the perfect drink.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ReNQb2dLK8w/Urle__JItfI/AAAAAAAASrM/MiARE6RPUyU/s320/Whitbread_Gold_Label_beermat.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ReNQb2dLK8w/Urle__JItfI/AAAAAAAASrM/MiARE6RPUyU/s1600/Whitbread_Gold_Label_beermat.jpg)Sadly, the ABV has been dropped and Gold Label is only available in cans. Do you know what it reminds me of? A strong, early 19th-century Mild. Something like an XXX Ale or XXXX Ale.
You can't believe how excited I was when I first spotted it in the Chiswell Street brewing records. They must have been brewing a lot of it in the early 1970's because I don't believe that was the only Whitbread brewery that made it. They brewed it reasonably frequently at Chiswell Street and it decent-sized batches of around 350 barrels.
Let's have a look at the beer itself. By the early 1970's Whitbread had gone all proprietary in the their sugars. In Gold Label it was SLS, a sugar not used in any of their other beers. What was it? No idea, really. It could stand for "Special Liquid Syrup". Not that that really helps much in working out what it was like. Kristen has gone for a combination of No. 1 and No. 2 invert, which looks like a pretty good guess to me.
The hopping is interesting. All the examples I have contain Styrian hops and all but one Hallertau. Styrian hops turn in many of their beers, but only one other beer used Hallertau: Brewmaster. The thing that looks quite like a Lager. Taking into account the hop extract, I make the total weight a little more than Kristen, about 5.5 ozs in all.
I think it's actually pilsner malt that Whitbread used. A bit tricky to tell for sure as they mostly used funny abbreviations, in this case FPM. It's a malt that was only in two of their beers, Gold Label and Brewmaster. I've guessed that FPM is pilsner because on one of the logs for Brewmaster it's specified as pilsner.
That's me done, over to Kristen . . . . .
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-6V8ny7wYA/Urlbmz47LGI/AAAAAAAASqw/Y4uIDuPDvWU/s1600/Whitbread_1972_Gold_Label.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-6V8ny7wYA/Urlbmz47LGI/AAAAAAAASqw/Y4uIDuPDvWU/s1600/Whitbread_1972_Gold_Label.jpg)
Kristen’s Version:
Notes: This beer really did change my life. Heading to my cousins wedding in ??? I took the boat from Calais to Dover. Sat in Dover harbor getting turned into a milkshake for 3 hours because it was to rough to dock. Feeling queasy I made it to the train and was out of sorts, which is unusual traveling for me. Then the old drunken git gave me a gob of something magical. I don’t mean magical in the sense that it was amazingly ‘good’. I mean that it was something I had never had before…something so different it made me question everything I ‘knew’ about beer. Plus, what looks cooler than luggin around a jar of Gold Label. “Hey ladies, yeah, Gold Label, that’s right, you know I’m classy.” It wasn’t until later I was told it was plonk for the drunkards…I still like it.
Malt: A single pale malt of your choice. I’d choose Optic or something meaty for this baby for sure. A decent amount of maize is used that would be missed if you left it out. The sugar is another blend of some sort so I used a combination of #1 and #2 invert to get the SRM listed in the log by using the percent sugar and their colors.
Hops: Lots of German and Austrian hops. Pretty sweet. Goldings work really well for bittering in that you’ve got to use a good amount of them and will get the greenery that’s required from low alpha hops IMO.
Yeast: Whitbread yeast. Two choices. Wyeast 1098 (more tart and dry) or Wyeast 1099/Safale S04 (more fruity and malty). Which ever you’ve done before, do the other.
Sundries: This beer is a Christmas beer if I’ve ever seen one. One you can get proper pissed with…Familial obligations be damned…you’re not running for Jesus anyway…
Cask: Standard procedure:
1) let the beer ferment until finished and then give it another day or so. For me right around 5-7 days.
2) Rack the beer to your vessel of choice (firkin, polypin, cornie, whatever).
3) Add primings at ~3.5g/L
4) Add prepared isinglass at 1ml/L
5) ONLY add dry hops at 0.25g/l – 1g/L.
6) Bung it up and roll it around to mix. Condition at 55F or so for 4-5 days and its ready to go. Spile/vent. Tap. Settle. Serve at 55F.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/12/lets-brew-wednesday-1972-whitbread-gold.html)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HmGn13FrDoM/UrlegUjuOpI/AAAAAAAASrE/Hktons3SjX0/s400/Tennants_Gold_Label_1944.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HmGn13FrDoM/UrlegUjuOpI/AAAAAAAASrE/Hktons3SjX0/s1600/Tennants_Gold_Label_1944.jpg)
Today is a very special day. Not because it's Christmas, but because I'm finally publishing a recipe for a beer that's fascinated and intoxicated me for years: Whitbread Gold Label.
Though that isn't the name it started out with. It was originally brewed by Tennant in Sheffield, who were later taken over by Whitbread. When introduced in the 1950's, it was something of a sensation. Why? Because of its colour. At a time when Barley Wines were a dark shade of brown, Gold LAbel was, er, golden. Or at least a pale amber. About the colour of Bitter.
The Mermaid, the pub on the caravan site in Mablethorpe where I spent most summer weekends as a child was a Tennant's pub. Come to think of it, probably the first pub I went in. They used to allow children in the lounge, something not exactly legal at the time. I can remember they had horizontal cylinder diaphragm electric pumps. Something that was pretty common in the Midlands in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Was it cask or bright beer they dispensed? No idea, I'm afraid.
The Mermaid must have sold Gold Label. Funnily enough I can remember drinking another Barley Wine in Mablethorpe: Bass No. 1. In a Bass pub whose name escapes me. It's now closed, so it doesn't really matter.
"Strong as a double scotch less than half the price." was a slogan I can remember seeing on posters as a teenager. They wouldn't get away with that now. It certainly got my attention as a 14 year old. Sounded like the perfect drink.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ReNQb2dLK8w/Urle__JItfI/AAAAAAAASrM/MiARE6RPUyU/s320/Whitbread_Gold_Label_beermat.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ReNQb2dLK8w/Urle__JItfI/AAAAAAAASrM/MiARE6RPUyU/s1600/Whitbread_Gold_Label_beermat.jpg)Sadly, the ABV has been dropped and Gold Label is only available in cans. Do you know what it reminds me of? A strong, early 19th-century Mild. Something like an XXX Ale or XXXX Ale.
You can't believe how excited I was when I first spotted it in the Chiswell Street brewing records. They must have been brewing a lot of it in the early 1970's because I don't believe that was the only Whitbread brewery that made it. They brewed it reasonably frequently at Chiswell Street and it decent-sized batches of around 350 barrels.
Let's have a look at the beer itself. By the early 1970's Whitbread had gone all proprietary in the their sugars. In Gold Label it was SLS, a sugar not used in any of their other beers. What was it? No idea, really. It could stand for "Special Liquid Syrup". Not that that really helps much in working out what it was like. Kristen has gone for a combination of No. 1 and No. 2 invert, which looks like a pretty good guess to me.
The hopping is interesting. All the examples I have contain Styrian hops and all but one Hallertau. Styrian hops turn in many of their beers, but only one other beer used Hallertau: Brewmaster. The thing that looks quite like a Lager. Taking into account the hop extract, I make the total weight a little more than Kristen, about 5.5 ozs in all.
I think it's actually pilsner malt that Whitbread used. A bit tricky to tell for sure as they mostly used funny abbreviations, in this case FPM. It's a malt that was only in two of their beers, Gold Label and Brewmaster. I've guessed that FPM is pilsner because on one of the logs for Brewmaster it's specified as pilsner.
That's me done, over to Kristen . . . . .
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-6V8ny7wYA/Urlbmz47LGI/AAAAAAAASqw/Y4uIDuPDvWU/s1600/Whitbread_1972_Gold_Label.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-6V8ny7wYA/Urlbmz47LGI/AAAAAAAASqw/Y4uIDuPDvWU/s1600/Whitbread_1972_Gold_Label.jpg)
Kristen’s Version:
Notes: This beer really did change my life. Heading to my cousins wedding in ??? I took the boat from Calais to Dover. Sat in Dover harbor getting turned into a milkshake for 3 hours because it was to rough to dock. Feeling queasy I made it to the train and was out of sorts, which is unusual traveling for me. Then the old drunken git gave me a gob of something magical. I don’t mean magical in the sense that it was amazingly ‘good’. I mean that it was something I had never had before…something so different it made me question everything I ‘knew’ about beer. Plus, what looks cooler than luggin around a jar of Gold Label. “Hey ladies, yeah, Gold Label, that’s right, you know I’m classy.” It wasn’t until later I was told it was plonk for the drunkards…I still like it.
Malt: A single pale malt of your choice. I’d choose Optic or something meaty for this baby for sure. A decent amount of maize is used that would be missed if you left it out. The sugar is another blend of some sort so I used a combination of #1 and #2 invert to get the SRM listed in the log by using the percent sugar and their colors.
Hops: Lots of German and Austrian hops. Pretty sweet. Goldings work really well for bittering in that you’ve got to use a good amount of them and will get the greenery that’s required from low alpha hops IMO.
Yeast: Whitbread yeast. Two choices. Wyeast 1098 (more tart and dry) or Wyeast 1099/Safale S04 (more fruity and malty). Which ever you’ve done before, do the other.
Sundries: This beer is a Christmas beer if I’ve ever seen one. One you can get proper pissed with…Familial obligations be damned…you’re not running for Jesus anyway…
Cask: Standard procedure:
1) let the beer ferment until finished and then give it another day or so. For me right around 5-7 days.
2) Rack the beer to your vessel of choice (firkin, polypin, cornie, whatever).
3) Add primings at ~3.5g/L
4) Add prepared isinglass at 1ml/L
5) ONLY add dry hops at 0.25g/l – 1g/L.
6) Bung it up and roll it around to mix. Condition at 55F or so for 4-5 days and its ready to go. Spile/vent. Tap. Settle. Serve at 55F.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/12/lets-brew-wednesday-1972-whitbread-gold.html)