Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Drybrough 60/- grists 1938 - 1947 (part two)
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Not quite finished with Drybrough's wartime 60/- recipes. Though they're really Drybrough's recipes for all their beers. Like many Scottish brewers, they made their whole beer range from a single recipe.
There wasn’t a huge change in the sugars used in Drybrough 60/- throughout the war. It consisted almost always of four elements: malt extract (DCL), Fison, Avona and invert sugar. Sadly, the records aren’t specific about which kind of invert, only specifying the producer – either Manbré or Martineau.
The proportion of sugar didn’t vary much, either, remaining between 9% and 10% all through the war. Unlike in WW I, the type of sugars available to brewers weren’t limited. Meaning brewers could continue to employ much the same types, in particular proprietary sugars like Fison and Avona.
Once the war kicked off, foreign hops disappeared from Drybrough’s recipes and they went over to 100% English hops. If you look back to the first table, you’ll see that the quantity of hops used fell as the war progressed, dropping from 5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt to about 3.5 lbs. This wasn’t exactly voluntary, as, the government restricted the quantity of hops available. For example, in June 1941 the quantity of hops available for brewers was reduced by 20%.
The hops Drybrough used were mostly quite new. Again, this wasn’t an accident. The reserve supplies of older hops were mostly used up in the war years.
| Drybrough 60/- grists 1938 - 1947 sugar and hops |
| Date |
Year |
OG |
malt extract |
Fison |
Avona |
invert |
hops |
| 14th Oct |
1938 |
1038 |
0.88% |
1.76% |
3.51% |
3.51% |
Oregon (1936), English (1936, 1937) |
| 19th Oct |
1939 |
1038 |
0.88% |
1.76% |
3.53% |
3.53% |
English (1938) |
| 3rd Jan |
1940 |
1036 |
0.94% |
1.88% |
3.75% |
3.75% |
English (1938) |
| 3rd Feb |
1941 |
1037 |
0.97% |
2.59% |
3.89% |
3.89% |
English (1939, 1940) |
| 11th Jul |
1941 |
1034 |
1.00% |
2.40% |
2.40% |
2.40% |
English (1939) |
| 2nd Feb |
1942 |
1032 |
1.04% |
2.77% |
2.77% |
2.77% |
English (1940) |
| 3rd Feb |
1943 |
1032 |
0.96% |
2.56% |
2.56% |
2.56% |
English (1941) |
| 14th Oct |
1943 |
1032 |
1.28% |
2.56% |
2.56% |
2.56% |
English (1942) |
| 17th Jan |
1944 |
1032 |
1.46% |
|
3.34% |
4.17% |
English (1942) |
| 13th Jul |
1944 |
1032 |
0.99% |
2.65% |
2.65% |
2.65% |
English (1942) |
| 8th Feb |
1945 |
1032 |
1.59% |
2.12% |
2.12% |
2.12% |
English (1943) |
| 8th Oct |
1946 |
1029 |
1.44% |
0.82% |
3.29% |
2.47% |
English (1945) |
| 23rd Oct |
1947 |
1029 |
0.70% |
1.41% |
2.81% |
4.22% |
English (1945, 1946) |
| Sources: |
| Drybrough brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document numbers D/6/1/1/4 and D/6/1/1/5. |
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