Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Let's Brew Wednesday - 1915 Barclay Perkins Dark Lage
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Barclay Perkins had the luxury of owning a small Brewhouse in addition to their main plant. In it they brewed small-batch beers but also experimental brews. This beer falls into the latter category.
Lager was popular enough in London to turn up publicans’ price-fixing agreements. But the war presented Lager drinkers with a problem: most of it was imported from Germany or Austria. Some replacement supplies were found in Holland and Denmark, but importing anything became more and more problematic as the war progressed.
Barclay Perkins brewed both a decoction and infusion mash a couple of days apart in March. This is the infusion mash version. I’ve chosen that for a couple of reasons. One: it’s easier for home brewers to do and infusion mash. Also, I don’t understand fully what’s written in that record. Lastly, it doesn’t seem to have gone very well as they didn’t get the extract they expected.
The recipe is very simple: two malts and two hops. The latter being Worcester (1914 CS) and Burgundy (1914 CS).
The fermentation was conducted at a proper, cool Lager temperature, never getting above 50º F. After primary fermentation it was racked to an aluminium tank in the cold store, presumably for lagering.
Unusually for Barclay Perkins, the brewing water wasn’t treated.
After the war Barclay Perkins built a shiny new Lager brewery and became one of the leading UK brewers of the style.
| 1915 Barclay Perkins Dark Lager |
| pale malt |
11.25 lb |
91.84% |
| amber malt |
1.00 lb |
8.16% |
| Fuggles 120 mins |
1.25 oz |
|
| Strisselspalt 39 mins |
1.25 oz |
|
| OG |
1053 |
|
| FG |
1023 |
|
| ABV |
3.97 |
|
| Apparent attenuation |
56.60% |
|
| IBU |
27 |
|
| SRM |
6 |
|
| Mash at |
157º F |
|
| Sparge at |
160º F |
|
| Boil time |
120 minutes |
|
| pitching temp |
45.5º F |
|
| Yeast |
Wyeast 2042 Danish lager |
|
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