Wednesday 25 March 2009

Let's brew Wednesday - 1917 Whitbread X

A favourite of mine today. X. What better name could you have for a beer than just X? Who says European brewers lack imagination.



Kristens's notes

This is a very different mild from the last two. The war was still raging strong on the western front as you can tell by the use of well over 50% of the grist as old malt...not just old malt but Spanish malt to boot. The grist is entirely made from pale malts of differing qualities. Harling malt (Norfolk area) was thought to be of high quality. I would assume that the Spanish malt is a replacement for the Smyrna malt that most brewers used at the time. Here we see the American 6-row again.

The mash is a little different in that its quite a thick mash at dough-in and the rest temps are also quite low. With the amount of sugar (10%) and the low mash temp one would expect this beer to have quite a low finishing gravity (definately below 1.010). Differing from the prior Mild! recipes you can see that the hops are all quite fresh. You'll also notice a boost in the BU of this mild. At 32bu its quite high for a mild at the time.

The 2.5 hour boil time is quite unusual for this time period as most of the other brewers seem to be doing 90min to save on cost.


Simplified recipe

_*5gals @ 73% efficiency*_

Grist (lbs)
Maris Otter malt (Harling) 2.50
Mild malt (Harling-old) 2.35
Any non-UK pale malt (Spanish) 1.90
American 6-row (Californian) 1.0
Invert #3 syrup (Garton) 13oz

Mash:
40min @ 142F (0.76qt/lb strike)
1.5hour @ 148

Boil - 150min

Hops - Oz - Type@AA% (Log origin - year - age of hops at use)
0.67oz - Fuggle @ 4.3% (White - 1916 - 6mo) - 150min
0.25oz - EKG @ 4.0% (Heame - 1916 - 6mo) - 150min
0.25oz - Fuggle @ 4.3% (White - 1916 - 6mo) - 90min
0.5oz - Cluster @ 5% (Oregon - 1915 - 18mo) - 30min


Yeast: Whitbread

Boil treatment (g/gal liquor)
- Calcium Carbonate (Chalk) - 6.8g/ 5gal (1.38g/ gal)



_*10bbl @ 82% efficiency*_

Grist (lbs)
Maris Otter malt (Harling) 133lb
Mild malt (Harling-old) 124lb
Any non-UK pale malt (Spanish) 101lb
American 6-row (Californian) 52lb
Invert #3 syrup (Garton) 42.4lb

Mash:
40min @ 142F (0.76qt/lb strike)
1.5hour @ 148

Boil - 150min

Hops - Oz - Type@AA% (Log origin - year - age of hops at use)
40oz - Fuggle @ 4.3% (White - 1916 - 6mo) - 150min
16oz - EKG @ 4.0% (Heame - 1916 - 6mo) - 150min
16oz - Fuggle @ 4.3% (White - 1916 - 6mo) - 90min
28oz - Cluster @ 5% (Oregon - 1915 - 18mo) - 30min
- based on using whole hops

Yeast: Whitbread

Boil treatment (g/gal liquor)
- Calcium Carbonate (Chalk) - 414g/ 10bbl

9 comments:

Bill said...

The recipes are coming faster than I can brew them, not a complaint however. I had a taste of the 1915 Courage Mild and it is delicious. And Kristen's comments and translations to easily available ingredients make the brewing session a pleasure. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Another interesting recipe. It really does show the variation in Milds from different brewers in the period. Unfortunately with each new recipes it gets harder for me to decide what to brew. I may need to start drinking more to create more demand for brewing.

Kristen England said...

Its Mild!...you should be drinking a ton of it anyway. I drank 3.5 liters on St Paddys day and was frustrated that I wasn't drunk.

As for which you choose, I think the coolest thing is to compare one to two. I'd suggest doing any of these first 3 and next weeks as it will be VERY different.

Everyone get cracking! Email me or Ron with questions or substitutions.

Rob Sterowski said...

Will the recipes be in metric in the book?

Kristen England said...

Barm,

Dammit! I'm such an asshat. I apologize to you and the rest of the entire world, seriously.

The rest of my recipes will be in both standard and metric.

I've had a bunch of requests for craft sizes (10bbl+). You guys can email me and we'll work out you specifics.

Again, sorry boys.

Kristen England said...

Barm,

Here you go, in metric:

19L @ 73% efficiency

Grist (kg)
Maris Otter malt (Harling) 1.13kg
Mild malt (Harling-old) 1.07kg
Any non-UK pale malt (Spanish) 0.86kg
American 6-row (Californian) 0.45kg
Invert #3 syrup (Garton) 0.37kg

Mash:
40min @ 61.1C (1.59L/Kg strike)
1.5hour @ 64.4C

Boil - 150min

Hops - Grams - Type@AA% (Log origin - year - age of hops at use)
19g - Fuggle @ 4.3% (White - 1916 - 6mo) - 150min
7.0g - EKG @ 4.0% (Heame - 1916 - 6mo) - 150min
7.0g - Fuggle @ 4.3% (White - 1916 - 6mo) - 90min
14g - Cluster @ 5% (Oregon - 1915 - 18mo) - 30min

Calcium carbonate - 0.036g/L

Rob Sterowski said...

Hey, no big deal. I assume you're using brewing software that can output both systems. If not, don't go to any extra effort on my account. I'm not brewing these, it's just that trying to read recipes in old money does my head in.

Bill said...

The 1915 Courage is being consumed and is delicious. Nice malty beer with a very smooth finish. I am holding off for next wednesdays recipe per Kristen's recommendation. So for all who are trying to decide which to brew I can say the Courage Mild is an absolute delicious ale.

Ron Pattinson said...

It warms my heart to know these old Milds are being brewed. And being enjoyed, too.