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A real novelty this week: a Let's Brew Wednesday post that appears on Wednesday. Will wonders never cease?

You've got to love Barclay Perkins. (Really, you've got to. Otherwise you aren't allowed to read this blog.) The flexibility of their setup meant they could churn out way more different brews than other London brewers. Even after WW I they continued to brew a surprising number of high-gravity beers. Many were just for export. And the quantity brewed tiny, when compared to their bread-and-butter beers like X and XLK.

Today's beer is one of these stronger brews. A PA with a gravity the same as in 1914. Though it doesn't specifically say so on the log, I suspect it was intended for export. There's another phenomenon for you. One that started in the 1920's. Higher-strength version of beers for export. Usually at the pre-war strength. While special export versions were brewed before WW I, they weren't any stronger than domestic versions. Perhaps slightly better-quality ingredients were employed and the hopping rate may have been higher, but they weren't significantly stronger.

Why are we featuring this beer? Because the log contains details of the hop additions (which I've already posted about). A detail I'd managed to miss until now. The recipe itself is pretty simple. Californian 6-row pale malt, English pale ale malt, no. 1 invert sugar and that's it. Plus the hops, of course. The use Saaz is, perhaps, a little surprising. Especially as they aren't used for aroma.

That's my bollocks done. Now time for Kristen's bit . . . . .