Shut up about Barclay Perkins - JW Lees beers 1948 - 1951
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Ridiculous levels of detail. That's what I'm good at. There's going to be plenty of it as we browse through 80 years of Lees brewing records over the coming weeks. What fun we'll have.
Because I'm such a generous and thoughtful bloke, this time I'm throwing in a bonus table of Whitbread beers from the same time. So you can compare Northern and Sourhern beers at your leisure.
I got all excited when I spotted "C" Ale in the logs. It's a Manchester-specific type of bottled beer that appears to have left no ripples in the pond of history, save for a few labels. No-one seemed to have any idea what it was, other than quite strong. Well we do now. Have an idea of what it was. How would I describe it? Like a bottled Burton. Or a weakish Old Ale. Something like that. Dark and reasonably well-hopped.
Before you look at the tables, I've one last remark. One of the main effects of WW II seems to have been a standardisation of beer gravities. Something similar - but more extreme happened at the end of WW I. When prices were fixed by government depending on the gravity of the beer.
First the Lees beers:
JW Lees beers 1948 - 1951
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
barrels
lbs hops
qtrs malt
boil time (hours)
dry hops (oz / barrel)
colour
dry hops lbs
pale malt
black malt
crystal malt
glucose
other sugar
flaked barley
enzymic malt
18th Aug
1948
Bot. B
Mild
19th Aug
1948
B
Pale Ale
31st Aug
1948
K
Mild
2nd Sep
1948
B
Pale Ale
19th Nov
1948
“C” Ale
Strong Ale
3rd Dec
1948
K
Mild
13th Dec
1948
“C” Ale
Strong Ale
15th Dec
1948
BM
Mild
20th Dec
1948
Bot. B
Mild
4th Jan
1949
Bot. B
Mild
7th Jan
1949
K
Mild
10th Jan
1949
“C” Ale
Strong Ale
10th Feb
1949
B
Pale Ale
13th Apr
1950
K
Mild
21st Apr
1950
Bitter
Pale Ale
31st May
1950
K
Mild
20th Jun
1950
Best Mild
Mild
29th Jun
1950
K
Mild
9th Aug
1950
Best Mild
Mild
2nd Apr
1951
“C” Ale
Strong Ale
6th Apr
1951
K
Mild
13th Apr
1951
Bitter
Pale Ale
Source:
JW Lees brewing records
Now Whitbread's:
Whitbread beers 1948 - 1951
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Attenuation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
barrels
lbs hops
qtrs malt
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
Pitch temp
colour
pale malt
choc. Malt
crystal malt
MA malt
PA malt
no. 1 sugar
no. 3 sugar
other sugar
2nd Mar
1948
Ex IPA
IPA
10th Feb
1948
PA
Pale Ale
24th Mar
1948
IPA
IPA
24th Mar
1948
XX
Mild
12 + 40
22nd Mar
1948
PA
Pale Ale
1st June
1950
PA
Pale Ale
2nd June
1950
Best Ale
Mild
17 + 40
2nd June
1950
IPA
IPA
2nd June
1950
Ex PA
Pale Ale
5th June
1950
Best Ale
Mild
15 + 40
5th June
1950
IPA
IPA
6th June
1950
PA
Pale Ale
7th Jul
1950
DB
Brown Ale
19 + 40
23rd Jan
1951
DB
Brown Ale
15 + 40
22nd Dec
1950
Best Ale
Mild
16 + 40
17th Apr
1951
PA
Pale Ale
Source:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives
Now let's taking a closer look. A ridiculously-detailed look. As warned.
First the 1948 ordinary Bitters:
1948 Lees Bitter 1038, 0.95 lbs hops barrel, 86% pale malt, trace of black malt, 12% sugar, 2% enzymic malt
1948 Whitbread PA 1034.4, 0.81 lbs hops barrel, 79% PA malt, 10% crystal malt, 11% sugar
Surprisingly, Lees Bitter was stronger and more heavily-hopped. Though, taking into account the differing gravities, the hopping level is about the same. More significant is the lack of any crystal malt in Lees Bitter.
Now the 1948 ordinary Milds:
1948 Lees K Mild 1028, 0.65 lbs hops barrel, 80% pale malt, 1% black malt, 4% crystal malt, 13% sugar, 2% enzymic malt
1948 Whitbread XX Mild 1027.7, 0.80 lbs hops barrel, 55% PA malt, 26% mild malt, 8% crystal malt, 11% sugar
These are much closer in profile. The gravities are near identical. The Lees is hopped a little less. And it also had only half of the crystal malt of Whitbread XX. But one of the biggest differences doesn't show up here: the colour. I know from later logs that K was only about 30-35 EBC. Whitbread XX was 80 to 90 EBC.
1950 ordinary Bitters:
1950 Lees Bitter 1041, 0.90 lbs hops barrel, 87% pale malt, trace of black malt, 11% sugar, 1.5% enzymic malt
1950 Whitbread PA 1041, 1.08 lbs hops barrel, 81% PA malt, 9% crystal malt, 10% sugar
The two beers now have exactly the same gravity.The biggest difference remains the lack of crystal in the Lees. Which is also hopped a little more lightly.
1950 ordinary Milds:
1950 Lees K Mild 1031, 0.74 lbs hops barrel, 84% pale malt, 1% black malt, 4% crystal malt, 10% sugar, 2% enzymic malt
1950 Whitbread Best Ale 1031.7, 0.90 lbs hops barrel, 84% mild malt, 7% crystal malt, 9% sugar
Another two very similar beers. Just a few more hops and more crystal in the Whitbread. And, of course, the base malt for Whitbread was mild ale malt.
There are a few generic differences. Like Lees use of a small quantity of enzymic malt. The sugar options differed, too. Lees going for a mix of glucose, invert and proprietary sugars. Whitbread used mostly No.1 and No. 3 invert.
Was that detailed enough? Hang on. I haven't got into the mashing schedules yet. I've already more than enough today. Perhaps tomorrow.https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...s.blogspot.com
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