PDA

View Full Version : Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Courage Stout quality 1923 - 1924



Blog Tracker
03-09-2014, 08:26
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2014/09/courage-stout-quality-1923-1924.html)


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mv7lQ8AA0cs/VAB_sbylH1I/AAAAAAAAUvk/G93iz9mFSW8/s1600/Courage_Milk_Stout_1965.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mv7lQ8AA0cs/VAB_sbylH1I/AAAAAAAAUvk/G93iz9mFSW8/s1600/Courage_Milk_Stout_1965.jpg)
Not far to go now. One last push and I'll be able to collapse over the finishing line.

I realise that I've mostly forgotten to do something: tell you the details from brewing logs I have for the relevant beer. Well, I've remembered this time. I won't claim it's due to my great diligence. I've been putting together Draught! this week. That's the Mini Book which will contain all these pieces based on the Whitbread Gravity Book. I noticed while I was doing that. It's coming along quite nicely. About 150 pages so far and I've even selected the cover image. If all goes to plan it will be out sometime in September.

Annoyingly, there's no fermentation record after 1923 and no racking gravity. Sorry about that. You'll notice that the gravity Whitbread recorded was a couple of points higher than the one in the brewing record. That's no doubt due to the primings, which were added after primary fermentation.

As for brewing techniques, the boils are quite short, but nothing too out of the ordinary. A pitching temperature of a little over 60º F is pretty normal.

This is starting to sound quite dull, but the hopping rate is pretty much par for the course. I can say something about the source of the hops. All the beers had a mixture of West Coast and English hops. WW I had reduced the usage of North American hops in Britain, but they still crop up regularly. I guess because they were cheap.



Courage Stout 1922 - 1928


Date
Year
OG
FG
ABV
App. Attenuation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
Pitch temp


21st Nov
1922
1043.8
1011.1
4.32
74.68%
8.56
1.56
1.5
1.5
1
62º


21st Aug
1923
1043.8
1011.4
4.29
74.05%
7.54
1.58
1.5
1.5
1
60.5º


30th Nov
1926
1045.4



5.59
1.35
1.5
1.5
1
62º


7th Dec
1926
1045.4



7.50
1.40
1.5
1.5
1
61.5º


14th Dec
1926
1045.4



7.34
1.36
1.5
1.5
1
62º


22nd Mar
1927
1045.4



7.19
1.28
1.5
1.5
1
62º


20th Mar
1928
1046.5



7.71
1.37
1.5
1.5
1
61.25º


19th Apr
1928
1046.5



7.00
1.34
1.5
1.5

61º


6th Sep
1928
1046.5



8.10
1.59
1.5
1.5

61º


Sources:


Courage brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/08/253, ACC/2305/08/255 and ACC/2305/08/256.



Erm, just checked that. Turns out the English hops in the 21st November 1922 brew cost 375/- a cwt. and the Californian ones 341/-. So a very similar price. But there is a bigger difference later. The brew from 30th November 1926 contains English hops at 189/- and 211/- per cwt., and Oregon hops at 122/- per cwt. Then the difference got smaller again. 20th March 1928: Oregon hops 184/- a cwt, British Columbian hops 200/- and English hops 228/-. I'm totally confused now. Ah, unless they're taking into account the alpha acid content. That was higher in North American hops, which means you needed to use less for the same effect.

I've just checked alpha acid levels. In the early 1930's, British hops had 4% to 6% alpha acid and North American one 7% to 8%*. Not such a huge difference. I'm flummoxed again.



Courage Stout grists 1922 - 1928


Date
Year
OG
pale malt
brown malt
black malt
crystal malt
oats
hops


21st Nov
1922
1043.8
57.79%
5.95%
8.50%


Californian and English


21st Aug
1923
1043.8
59.14%
6.16%
9.24%


Pacific and English


30th Nov
1926
1045.4
52.94%
4.90%
4.90%
4.90%
3.92%
Oregon and English


7th Dec
1926
1045.4
57.73%
5.92%
5.92%
5.92%
4.93%
Oregon and English


14th Dec
1926
1045.4
60.17%
5.12%
5.12%
5.12%
4.27%
Oregon and English


22nd Mar
1927
1045.4
56.73%
5.11%
5.11%
5.11%
6.13%
Oregon and English


20th Mar
1928
1046.5
53.96%
6.04%
6.04%
6.04%
6.04%
Oregon, British Columbian and English


19th Apr
1928
1046.5
55.85%
5.59%
7.98%
5.59%
6.38%
Oregon, British Columbian and English


6th Sep
1928
1046.5
52.86%
5.49%
8.24%
5.49%
6.86%
British Columbian and English


Sources:


Courage brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/08/253, ACC/2305/08/255 and ACC/2305/08/256.



Now the grist. It starts off with the classic London pale, brown and black malt combination. Most London Stouts had used a mix of those three malts for more than 100 years. Some brewers started to play with crystal a little towards the end of the 19th century, so its appearance here isn't unusual.

They don't seem to have got the hang of the Oatmeal Stout thing. They're putting in a serious quantity of oats. Enough to actually notice them. Unlike the other big London brewers I have records for, Courage only brewed one Stout. But doubtless packaged some as Oatmeal Stout.



Courage Stout sugars 1922 - 1928


Date
Year
OG
no. 3 sugar
caramel
cane sugar
Durax
CDM
primings
black invert
total sugar


21st Nov
1922
1043.8

4.25%
7.08%
3.97%

12.46%

27.76%


21st Aug
1923
1043.8

5.54%
5.13%


9.45%
5.34%
25.46%


30th Nov
1926
1045.4


11.76%

9.80%
6.86%

28.43%


7th Dec
1926
1045.4


6.74%

5.43%
7.40%

19.57%


14th Dec
1926
1045.4


6.54%

5.41%
8.25%

20.20%


22nd Mar
1927
1045.4


6.47%

5.45%
9.88%

21.81%


20th Mar
1928
1046.5
3.74%

3.45%

6.04%
8.63%

21.87%


19th Apr
1928
1046.5
4.79%

3.19%

4.26%
6.38%

18.62%


6th Sep
1928
1046.5
4.12%

5.03%

2.29%
9.61%

21.05%


Sources:


Courage brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/08/253, ACC/2305/08/255 and ACC/2305/08/256.



Finally the fun bit. Courage used so many different sugars in their Stout that I've had to give them a table all of their own. If I split the primings into their constituent parts there would be even more. But I couldn't be arsed and I've lumped them all Together. I'm surprised No. 3 doesn't turn up until 1928. That was pretty standard in Stouts. I've no idea of the exact composition of the proprietary sugars, Durax and CDM. At mostly over 20% of the grist the sugar content is high. 15% would be more typical.

This beer is weaker than the other Stouts we've looked at so far and is in a different price class: 8d (7d after 1923) a pint. Let's see how well it performs:



Courage Stout quality 1923 - 1924


Year
Beer
FG
OG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
Flavour
score
Price


1923
Stout
1010
1046
4.68
78.26%
v poor
-2
8


1924
Stout
1013.5
1046.6
4.29
71.03%
poor
-1
7


1924
Stout
1011.3
1046.4
4.56
75.65%
v poor
-2
7


Average
1011.6
1046.3
4.51
74.98%

-1.67



Source:


Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001



Rubbish, is the answer. Though the sample size is minute. All get negative scores, and two are pretty bad with a -2. Leaving an overall average of -1.67.

My advice: steer well clear of Courage Stout. Especially as all their other beers ended with positive average scores.





* "Brewing Science & Practice" H. Lloyd Hind, 1943, pages 401 - 402

More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2014/09/courage-stout-quality-1923-1924.html)