Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Why British beers need sugar
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Browsing through an old brewing manual, as one does, on the tram, I came across this passage. It explains why brewing sugars are essentail for British beers.
"When the tax on malt was abolished many years ago, and the so-called system of frre mash tun substituted, little could it have been imagined what an important part such a step would play in the history of brewing. We venture to say that it would be impossible to produce beers of the quality which a critical ale drinker now demands, without replacing a quantity of malt with substitutes in the shape of sugar and kindred carbohydrates. Nowadays sugar is used as a substitute for malt, not only for the sake of economy but because it has become necessary to do so. We are told, and have no reason to doubt, that the old-time beers produced from malt and hops only were very very palatable. But we do know it was necessary to store and mature them for a very long time before they became so. High taxation and other overhead charges have only been met by means of a quicker turnover of capital. In order to achieve it, brewing methods have had to be overhauled and speeded up. Consequently, beers must now be brewed such as will be in good condition and ready for consumption within a few days of being racked. This object can best be achieved by using materials such as sugars, the addition of which does not increase the total nitrogenous matter in the beer. This argument is in itself indisputably in favour of sugar. There are many others. With the gravities of beer too low to give fementation and yeast production such as we should desire, sugar is an undeniable asset. Invert sugar can be added to the fermentations and may be of the greatest benefit, and we know of cases where apparently hopeless situations with sluggish fermentations have been saved by the simple addition of a suitable sugar solution. Furthermore, it may well be argued that great economy of space is effected by using sugar instead of malt. There is certainly much to be said for this argument when one comes to study the convenient method now adopted of solidifying invert sugar into hard oblong slabs, instead of sending it in inconvenient casks and pails, and the even more recent development of fluid delivery in bulk."
"Brewing: Theory and Practice" by E.J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 160-161.
Why have I posted this? Because the important role of sugar in British brewing isn't properly recognised. And there are still those who think there's something wrong with its use.https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...s.blogspot.com
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