Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site

A surprisingly strong Stout for this phase of the war. Very little beer of this strength was being brewed in 1918.

In May 1918, when this beer was brewed, the average OG of everything made in a brewery could only be 1030º. To brew something of this strength, you’d need to brew a lot of sub-1030º beer. Why did brewers bother, then? Because anything over 1034º didn’t fall under government price controls. Brewers could charge what they wanted, making such beers very profitable.

I used to think that WW I had been a disaster for British brewing. In fact, despite all the restrictions, the opposite was true. Many breweries had struggled in the years leading up to the war, increased licence duties in the 1909 budget had greatly reduced the value of pubs. Many breweries saw the value of their assets so reduced that they had to reduce the value of their share capital. Few brewers were making much money. The war changed all that. Despite brewing far less beer, brewery profits were up.


1918 Courage Double Stout
pale malt 10.00 lb 68.97%
brown malt 1.25 lb 8.62%
black malt 1.75 lb 12.07%
No. 4 invert sugar 1.25 lb 8.62%
caramel 0.25 lb 1.72%
Strisselspalt 120 mins 1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins 1.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins 0.75 oz
OG 1064
FG 1021
ABV 5.69
Apparent attenuation 67.19%
IBU 29
SRM 62
Mash at 151º F
Sparge at 170º F
Boil time 120 minutes
pitching temp 61º F
Yeast Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale



More...