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09-11-2023, 07:10
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Short, short, short. Often as little as 60 minutes. That describes most boils in the 1970s.
Boil times had been declining since the end of the 19th century. There were various reasons for this. The most obvious was simple economy: the shorter the boil, the less fuel used. Which brings us to the second reason: two world wars. Brewers were compelled to economise on their use of coal, leading to shorter boils.
You can see proof of the third reason in the table below. With the reduction in gravity, there was no real need for long boils to concentrate the worts. And which are the only beers with long boils? Final Selection and Gold Label. Two unusually strong beers.
Other than that, there’s nothing really longer than 90 minutes. And most of Whitbread’s boils were little more than 60 minutes.
Boil times 1968 - 1975
Year
Brewer
Beer
Style
boil 1 (hours)
boil 2 (hours)
boil 3 (hours)
boil 4 (hours)
1972
Boddington
Bitter
IPA
1.5
1971
Boddington
Special Stout
Stout
1.25
1972
Whitbread
Tankard
Pale Ale
1.08
1
1972
Whitbread
Best Mild
Mild
1
1
1973
Whitbread
Gold Label
Barley Wine
3
3
1973
Whitbread
Extra Stout
Stout
1
1
1972
Whitbread
Final Selection
Strong Ale
2
2
1975
Elgood
Elgood Bitter
Pale Ale
1.58
1968
Fullers
London Pride
Pale Ale
1.25
1.25
1968
Fullers
Hock
Mild
1.5
1.5
1969
Truman
London Mild
Mild
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1969
Truman
Stout
Stout
1.5
1969
Truman
London Lager
Lager
1.5
Sources:
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/134.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/09/141.
Truman Ale book held by Derek Prentice.
Elgood brewing record held at the brewery
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery
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Short, short, short. Often as little as 60 minutes. That describes most boils in the 1970s.
Boil times had been declining since the end of the 19th century. There were various reasons for this. The most obvious was simple economy: the shorter the boil, the less fuel used. Which brings us to the second reason: two world wars. Brewers were compelled to economise on their use of coal, leading to shorter boils.
You can see proof of the third reason in the table below. With the reduction in gravity, there was no real need for long boils to concentrate the worts. And which are the only beers with long boils? Final Selection and Gold Label. Two unusually strong beers.
Other than that, there’s nothing really longer than 90 minutes. And most of Whitbread’s boils were little more than 60 minutes.
Boil times 1968 - 1975
Year
Brewer
Beer
Style
boil 1 (hours)
boil 2 (hours)
boil 3 (hours)
boil 4 (hours)
1972
Boddington
Bitter
IPA
1.5
1971
Boddington
Special Stout
Stout
1.25
1972
Whitbread
Tankard
Pale Ale
1.08
1
1972
Whitbread
Best Mild
Mild
1
1
1973
Whitbread
Gold Label
Barley Wine
3
3
1973
Whitbread
Extra Stout
Stout
1
1
1972
Whitbread
Final Selection
Strong Ale
2
2
1975
Elgood
Elgood Bitter
Pale Ale
1.58
1968
Fullers
London Pride
Pale Ale
1.25
1.25
1968
Fullers
Hock
Mild
1.5
1.5
1969
Truman
London Mild
Mild
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1969
Truman
Stout
Stout
1.5
1969
Truman
London Lager
Lager
1.5
Sources:
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/134.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/09/141.
Truman Ale book held by Derek Prentice.
Elgood brewing record held at the brewery
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2023/11/boiling-in-1970s.html)