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I seem to hgave got into a hopping groove. Don't worry, like all my fascinations, it's likely to be fleeting.

Let's start with the theory. This table is taken from a contemporary brewing manual:


Hopping Rates in the 1880's
type of beer
lbs hops per quarter
Finest class of Burton export pale ales
17
Ordinary first-class Burton pale ales
15
Burton strong ales
10-12
Burton mild ales
7-10
London and country bitter ales
7-10
London four ale
4-6
Export stout
14-15
Double and single stout
8-10
Porter
4-5
Source:
"A systematic handbook of practical brewing", by E.R. Southby, 1885, pages 312-313.

Now let's see what was really going on in breweries:


Barclay Perkins hopping rates in the 1880's
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Attenuation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
31st May
1887
Hhd
Porter
1053.0
1013.0
5.29
75.44%
11.67
2.95
10th May
1887
BS
Stout
1071.0
1019.4
6.83
72.69%
7.75
2.50
24th Feb
1880
X
Mild
1060.1
1009.6
6.68
84.03%
6.90
1.90
21st May
1886
XX
Mild
1076.0
1022.7
7.05
70.11%
12.00
3.86
29th Jun
1886
XLK
Pale Ale
1054.0
1014.1
5.27
73.84%
12.00
2.68
15th Jul
1886
PA
Pale Ale
1059.0
1016.1
5.68
72.77%
16.00
3.88
21st Jan
1880
KKK
Stock Ale
1090.6
1012.5
10.33
86.20%
18.80
8.10
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing records

Mmm. All the Barclay Perkins beers are more heavily hopped than what Southby suggests, except for the BS, which is ever so slightly less than the bottom of the range of values for Double Stout.


Whitbread hopping rates in the 1880's
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Attenuation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
5th Jun
1881
P
Porter
1054.6
1010.8
5.79
80.20%
8.77
2.08
8th Dec
1880
Exp S
Stout
1078.7
1018.8
7.92
76.06%
13.35
5.41
1st Dec
1880
SS
Stout
1079.2
1024.9
7.18
68.53%
10.63
4.73
1st Dec
1880
SSS
Stout
1091.4
1029.9
8.14
67.27%
10.63
5.45
12th Jul
1880
X
Mild
1060.9
1015.5
6.01
74.55%
7.53
2.09
15th Jul
1880
XL
Mild
1068.4
1019.7
6.45
71.26%
7.45
2.36
26th Dec
1880
XX xpt
Mild
1078.4
1024.9
7.07
68.19%
9.36
3.42
12th Jul
1880
FA
Pale Ale
1052.6
1008.6
5.83
83.68%
13.52
3.58
9th Aug
1880
PA
Pale Ale
1065.4
1014.4
6.74
77.97%
17.12
4.30
15th Sep
1880
KK
Stock Ale
1076.2
1025.5
6.71
66.55%
12.44
4.36
11th Oct
1880
KKK
Stock Ale
1084.2
1028.0
7.44
66.78%
13.13
4.97
Source:
Whitbread brewing records

The pattern is the same with Whitbread. All but one Stout, Exp S, is more heavily hopped than Southby's recommendation.


Truman (Burton) hopping rates in the 1880's
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Attenuation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
16th Jan
1883
6
Mild
1067.0
1018.6
6.41
72.31%
5.56
1.51
16th Feb
1883
7
Mild
1062.3
1013.9
6.41
77.78%
5.77
1.50
16th Feb
1883
8
Mild
1054.0
1015.0
5.17
72.31%
5.77
1.30
17th Jan
1883
A
Ale
1056.2
1015.5
5.39
72.41%
2.50
0.49
22nd Jan
1883
C5 R
Ale
1075.6
1024.4
6.78
67.77%
5.74
1.78
23rd Jan
1883
C5 S
Ale
1076.7
1027.7
6.49
63.90%
9.15
2.87
16th Jan
1883
L 5 S
Ale
1075.3
1023.8
6.82
68.38%
8.57
2.75
23rd Jan
1883
L4
Ale
1080.9
1023.8
7.55
70.55%
5.00
1.93
19th Jan
1883
L4 S
Ale
1078.9
1028.3
6.71
64.21%
9.83
3.47
8th Feb
1883
P1
Pale Ale
1066.5
1018.3
6.38
72.50%
16.95
4.62
19th Jan
1883
P1 B
Pale Ale
1067.9
1022.2
6.05
67.35%
16.56
4.75
9th Apr
1883
P1 export
Pale Ale
1068.7
1022.2
6.16
67.74%
17.44
5.17
15th Jan
1883
P1 S
Pale Ale
1067.3
1018.3
6.49
72.84%
16.95
4.62
22nd Jan
1883
P2
Pale Ale
1061.5
1017.7
5.79
71.17%
11.89
3.02
18th Jan
1883
P2 B
Pale Ale
1063.2
1020.8
5.61
67.11%
16.11
4.37
6th Mar
1883
P2 S
Pale Ale
1062.6
1017.7
5.94
71.68%
18.00
4.65
22nd Jan
1883
PA
Pale Ale
1057.6
1016.6
5.42
71.15%
11.89
2.83
6th Mar
1883
S4
Ale
1075.9
1026.6
6.52
64.96%
9.60
3.15
14th Feb
1883
S4 x
Ale
1077.6
1027.7
6.60
64.29%
10.04
3.45
Source:
Truman brewing records

For Truman's beers, the reverse is the case. Except for the Pale Ales, all are hopped below Southby's suggestions. Interesting that. I wonder what the situation was at Bass?

I keep finding more and more stuff on hopping. This theme may continue a while.


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