Monday 4 February 2013

Eldridge Pope grists 1911 - 1912

I must be losing my marbles. I completely forgot about the second part of my look at Eldridge Pope beers just before WW I. Worrying.

A few general observations to begin. These grists look very 20th century. Around 15% sugar in most of the beers and crystal malt in a few. The number of different sugars used - there are at least two in every beer - is also very typical. Particularly the use of proprietary sugars like DL and Dmax in addition to numbered invert sugars.

It's indicative of the complex way sugars were used after 1900 to affect flavour, body and colour. British brewers were masters of sugar use. Though, of course, there are still idiots who think it's the work of the devil* and that beer should be all malt.

Let's begin with the Pale Ales: the AK variations and PA. These were around 80% pale malt, 15% sugar and 4% flaked maize. Pretty typical, really. For newcomers, I'll repeat that crystal malt didn't become common in Pale Ale grist until several decades later. The "sacc." in the ones from the 10th February is almost certainly No. 2 invert noted down a different way.

Now for the Milds and Strong Ale. I've been talking about colour a lot recently and when these types of beer began their long march to darkness. Eldridge Pope's had clearly started that journey, judging by the No.3 invert and caramel they contained. But I suspect they were still dark amber rather than the dark brown associated with Mild today.

Odd that the Strong Ale contains crystal malt. 19th-century advertisements for crystal malt usually advised its use for adding body and sweetness to Mild Ales. I wouldn't have expected a beer with as high a gravity as XXXX to have needed any help in that department.

And finally, the Stouts. The main point of interest here is the presence of oats in the grist. Quite a large amount, at 7-12% of the total. I assume this is because they were marketing one as Oatmeal Stout, which was all the rage at the time. Plus it was also a (relatively) cheap adjunct, which might explain why they didn't bother with any maize in the Stouts.

Significantly, there's no longer any brown malt in the Stout grists. Not such a surprise, but it's still sad to see it go. I've a lot of irrational affection for brown malt. I'm not sure what Dmax is, other than a proprietary sugar but, judging by its use in just the Stouts, it's probably dark.

That's me done. All that's left is the table itself.


Eldridge Pope grists 1911 - 1912
Date Year Beer Style OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation pale malt black malt crystal malt no. 2 sugar no. 3 sugar caramel sacc DL Dmax oats flaked maize
10th Feb 1911 Sp AK Pale Ale 1040.2 1011.1 3.85 72.41% 79.25% 11.32% 5.66% 3.77%
10th Feb 1911 BAK Pale Ale 1044.3 1012.7 4.18 71.25% 79.25% 11.32% 5.66% 3.77%
10th Feb 1911 AK Pale Ale 1042.7 1011.1 4.18 74.03% 79.25% 11.32% 5.66% 3.77%
15th Feb 1911 XXXX Strong Ale 1076.2 1024.4 6.85 68.00% 85.37% 4.88% 9.76%
16th Feb 1911 S Stout 1059.3 1018.0 5.46 69.63% 60.00% 6.15% 9.23% 2.05% 10.26% 12.31%
16th Feb 1911 Light Tonic Stout Stout 1047.4 1014.7 4.32 69.01% 60.00% 6.15% 9.23% 2.05% 10.26% 12.31%
21st Feb 1911 PA Pale Ale 1051.2 1015.5 4.73 69.73% 80.87% 5.22% 2.61% 0.87% 5.22% 5.22%
21st Feb 1911 XXX Mild 1058.2 1017.2 5.42 70.48% 80.87% 5.22% 2.61% 0.87% 5.22% 5.22%
21st Feb 1911 X Mild 1036.0 1009.1 3.55 74.62% 80.87% 5.22% 2.61% 0.87% 5.22% 5.22%
6th Jun 1912 S Stout 1059.3 1019.1 5.31 67.76% 65.45% 6.82% 8.18% 1.82% 10.91%  6.82%
6th Jun 1912 Light Tonic Stout Stout 1047.4 1014.7 4.32 69.01% 65.45% 6.82% 8.18% 1.82% 10.91%  6.82%
23rd Aug 1912 BAK Pale Ale 1044.3 1013.3 4.10 70.00% 72.83% 15.03% 6.94% 5.20%
23rd Aug 1912 AK Pale Ale 1042.7 1012.7 3.96 70.13% 77.61% 11.94% 5.97% 4.48%
27th Aug 1912 PA Pale Ale 1051.0 1015.2 4.73 70.11% 77.19% 11.70% 5.85% 5.26%
Source:
Eldridge Pope brewing records


* Ironically, I consider sugar to be the work of the devil everywhere but in brewing. I stopped eating refined sugar in 1972.

8 comments:

Rob said...

I think you are being a bit harsh on the Bavarians.

Rob said...

Any idea on the radical change in amount of oats used in the stouts from 1911 to 1912? Price of oats go up maybe?

Also, interesting that they hit the exact same OGs, despite that change. Pretty good use of sugar there.

Ron Pattinson said...

Rob, more likely they realised that they could get away with putting in fewer oats.

By the 1930's, the quantities of oats in Oatmeal Stouts was sometimes laughable: less than 0.1% of the grist.

Ron Pattinson said...

Rob,

It wasn't the Bavarians I had in mind.

Rob said...

Ron,

I know who you meant. But I think the American homebrew/craft attitude towards that comes from the Bavarians, which is interesting since they primarily make British derived beers. Its probably a backlash against the German immigrant brewers who went away from the purity law in making their lagers (for good reason, considering 6-row barley).

When I make a german-style beer, I make sure I find some way to violate the reinheitsgebot. However, my english-style ales are generally all malt.

Anonymous said...

Rob, the Reinheitsgebot (so-called "purity law)wasn't a German thing until the early 1900s , until then it was entirely a Bavarian thing.
German brewers used a lot of adjuncts, particularly rice, before the imposition of RHG and the German immigrant brewers would have carried this practce with them.

Gary Gillman said...

As so much in America, the attitude of early craft brewers was an amalgam: it combined ideas from Germany (Pure Beer Law) with British models such as IPA and barley wine, as mediated in particular through Michael Jackson's writings, since he lauded both strains.

A lot of what you see is the result of specific circumstances and influences...

Gary

Rob said...

Anon,

Im well aware, hence my reference to Bavaria in the 1st post.

Im sure some of the German immigrants were from Bavaria, but no clue how many.

But, this is about attitude, not historical accuracy. The distinction between Bavaria and Germany was lost on many when developing the attitude.