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I hope you’ve been paying attention to all these X Ale recipes. Because they’re telling a tale. About how a beer changes over time.

Despite only 15 years having elapsed since the last recipe, there have been considerable changes. Crystal malt has been dropped and amber malt added. I know for certain that this one contained No. 3 invert sugar. As well as something called “dark sacc.” Which I’ve replaced with more No. 3.

But the biggest change is the hopping rate which has almost halved. As have the calculated IBUs. There are no American hops, either, this time. Just Mid Kent and East Kent hops, which I’ve interpreted as Fuggles and Goldings respectively.

Almost forgot. There’s also some caramel in this recipe. Add that to the dark sugar and amber malt and the result is: a significantly darker beer. We’ve caught Mild turning dark. I’m not totally sure of the finished colour, as I don’t know how dark the caramel was. The 20 SRM in the recipe is a guess. Based on the other ingredients, BeerSmith calculated the colour at 14 SRM.

Note that, despite all the other changes, the boil time has remained constant at 2 hours. Though due to everything else, I’m sure the finished beer looked and tasted quite different.

What’s next? Some nice watery recipes from WW I.


1899 Barclay Perkins X Ale
pale malt 7.75 lb 70.45%
crystal malt 0.25 lb 2.27%
flaked maize 1.00 lb 9.09%
No. 3 invert sugar 2.00 lb 18.18%
Cluster 120 mins 1.00 oz
Fuggles 120 mins 0.25 oz
Fuggles 60 mins 1.25 oz
Goldings 30 mins 1.25 oz
OG 1054.7
FG 1009.4
ABV 5.99
Apparent attenuation 82.82%
IBU 52
SRM 14
Mash at 150º F
Sparge at 168º F
Boil time 120 minutes
pitching temp 61º F
Yeast Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale




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