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It's a return to an old favourite here. A beer that I not only drank in the past, but which I continue to drink. I still have at least 40 bottles of 1992 and 1993 Russian Stout.

One of the effects of WW I was the splitting of Barclay’s Imperial Russian Stout into two versions. One, called IBS Export, was brewed to pre-war strength. The other, simply called IBS, was little more than half as strong.

You have to wonder what makes something under 6% ABV an Imperial Stout. But I guess drinkers got used to it. As they got used to cuts in strength of most beers. Funnily enough, at a certain point in the 1950s the weaker version was dropped and only the full-strength version produced.

It’s a real kitchen sink of a recipe, with a total of seven grains. I know, there are only six in the recipe below. That’s because I’ve combined the SA malt with the mild malt. Even combined, they’re barely 50% of the total. The tiny amount of oats is presumably there so some could legally be sold as oatmeal Stout.

There are no fewer than four sugars: No. 2 and No. 3 invert, caramel and something called BS. I’ve substituted No. 4 invert for the latter. No idea how close that is, but I’m pretty sure it’s something dark. I’ve added and extra half pound of No. 3 invert to account for the primings added at racking time.

The hops were Mid-Kent Fuggles (1936), Mid-Kent Fuggles (1935) and Mid-Kent Goldings (1934), the latter two having been kept in cold store.


1936 Barclay Perkins IBS
mild malt 7.00 lb 51.23%
brown malt 0.75 lb 5.49%
amber malt 1.50 lb 10.98%
roast barley 1.50 lb 10.98%
flaked maize 0.75 lb 5.49%
malted oats 0.04 lb 0.29%
No. 2 invert sugar 0.25 lb 1.83%
No. 3 invert sugar 1.00 lb 7.32%
No. 4 invert sugar 0.75 lb 5.49%
caramel 1000 SRM 0.13 lb 0.91%
Fuggles 150 mins 1.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins 1.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins 1.50 oz
OG 1063.5
FG 1020
ABV 5.75
Apparent attenuation 68.50%
IBU 53
SRM 44
Mash at 143º F
After underlet 153º F
Sparge at 162º F
Boil time 150 minutes
pitching temp 60º F
Yeast Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale


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