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A fun recipe today: the successor to Red Barrel, Watneys Red.

I can remember the advertising campaign when it launched. All this faux-communist stuff. It was launched in 1971. Not the best timing, as it was just before the cask revival. Wikipedia says it was just a rebranding of Red Barrel. I don’t buy that. The recipe and the OG are pretty different. It looks like a new beer to me.

I’ll be honest with you. I’m a bit light on details for this beer. The Watney Mann Quality Control manual lists the ingredients and the OG and FG I got from an analysis in the Whitbread Gravity Book.

The sugar Is listed as something called Fermax. No idea what that is, so I’ve substituted No.2 invert. I’ve no idea how close that is. But, the colour of the finished beer came out right so it can’t be that far wide of the mark.

As with Red Barrel, you’ll need to process the buggery out of it if you want to go for full authenticity. And preferably drink it in a room with a shitty brick bar and a garish red and purple carpet, packed with tattooed blokes who are all chain smoking while watching racing on a black and while telly.

1972 Watneys Red
pale malt 5.75 lb 76.67%
lightly roasted barley 400 L 0.25 lb 3.33%
No. 2 invert sugar 1.50 lb 20.00%
Fuggles 105 min 0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 min 0.75 oz
Goldings 15 min 0.75 oz
OG 1037.1
FG 1009.5
ABV 3.65
Apparent attenuation 74.39%
IBU 30
SRM 9
Mash at 158º F
Sparge at 175º F
Boil time 105 minutes
pitching temp 60º F
Yeast WLP023 Burton Ale

The above is taken from my recipe Let's Brew! Please buy a copy.




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