Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Classic Horst

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"They've let Horst Dornbusch write the articles on Scottish beer." How my heart sank when I read those words. Ace fantasist Horst being allowed to write about Scottish beer in the "Oxford Companion to Beer".

There have been volumes of rubbish written about Scottish beer. Fantasies have become established as fact. Aricles like this one aren't going to help:

"shilling system is not only a traditional, predecimal, British currency denomination but also an old-style, uniquely Scottish measure for a beers strength. In the 19th century, it referred to the pretax price of a British barrel (36 UK gal, about 43-2 US gal or 164 1) or a hogshead (54 UK gal, about 64.8 US gal) of ale. In those days, Scottish ales were brewed to a wide range of differing strengths, from a very weak gravity of perhaps 7.5 P (OG 1.030) to a whopping gravity of perhaps 32.5 P (OG 1.130). The stronger the brew, the more it cost, from roughly 60 to 160 shillings. The classic way of making Scottish ales is by the parti-gyle method, which involves boiling and fermenting the early, heavier runnings and the later, weaker runings of the same mash separately. See parti-gyle. Parti-gyle beers are often blended trom two consecutive batches and sometimes from ditferent-strength runnings. The strongest finished ales were often called Scotch ales or Wee Heavy ales; the mid-range brews were called Export ales and the weaker ones Scottish ales or Two-Penny ales. This nomenclature, however, was never applied consistently, and the technical dividing lines that separate the various shillings ratings have always been somewhat fluid. A typical 60-shilling Two-Penny may have a gravity of 7.5°Plato 8.75Tlato (1.030 1.035); a 70-shilling Export 8.75 P-10°P (1.035-1.040); an 80-shilling Export 10°P-13.75°P (1.040-1.055); a 90-shilling Wee Heavy 13-75°P-19-25ºP (1.055-1.075); and a 140-shilling outlier 23.75°P 32.5°P (1.095 1.130). Shilling ratings are sometimes denoted by the old currency symbol "/-," with "80-shilling" becoming"80/-."The modern drinker, when these antiquated terms are used, simply knows to expect a beer of "normal" strength (4.5% to 5-5% alcohol by volume) to be designated "80 shillings" and something lighter below this number and something heavier above it."

"a traditional, pre-decimal, British currency denomination" that's the only true statement I can find in that article. Utter, utter drivel.https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...s.blogspot.com


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