Wednesday 12 September 2007

Obligatory Barclay Perkins post

I try to post at least once a week about Barclay Perkins. I wouldn't want the blog's title to become an irrelevance. Here's this week's.

Last night I got hold of a bottle of 1862 Barclay Perkin's TT (Porter) and one of 1856 Imperial Brown Stout. No, I don't have my own private time machine (you know what to get me for christmas now). They were brewed from recipes I've trawled up from the archives by Lachlan, a very nice Australian chap.

I've already tried the Imperial Brown Stout. It was the winning entry in my Homebrew Challenge. In fact, it's one of the best 10 beers I've drunk this year. And it's mine, all mine. But the TT . . . It's a beer that holds a very special place in my heart. I dream of one day being able to order it in a London pub, preferably the Anchor Tavern, but any old Barclay's house would do. Can't wait to try the bottle.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ron,

Call me a hopeless beer geek, but all of this historical beer archive stuff is insanely (and rather troublingly) fascinating to me. Do you have any information/idea about the historical distribution of the hops throughout the boil? (Fraction at the beginning vs at the end?) Like say for the 1856/1862 Barclay Perkins beers?

cheers,

Kevin (hey_kevin)

Ron Pattinson said...

Kevin, I'll have a look. The later logs, especially, are full of details.

What I do know is that in the 1937 Imperial Brown Stout they put a bushel (forty pounds) of roast barley into the copper for the boil. I haven't checked yet to see how far back this practice went.

Anonymous said...

Can you please write a book of historical brewing recipes? Ta.

Ron Pattinson said...

Well, if someone wants to give me a 10,000 quid advance, I'm sure I can knock off a book of historical recipes. Anyone out there with a spare ten grand?

Stonch said...

Ron, have you been to the Anchor recently? Presumably you have. I must say it's still a charming little pub - Sam Smith's have looked after it, and their beer just about passes muster as usual. It's a good stop on a walk along the South Bank.

Ron Pattinson said...

Stonch, I'm ashamed to say that I've never been to the Anchor. Maybe I'll get chance to rectify that situation next week.

Anonymous said...

Ron and Stonch are your talk about the same pub?

Ron links to the Anchor. Stonch is discussing the Anchor Tap.

Ron Pattinson said...

Matt - well spotted.

The one I mean is the Anchor Tavern, on Park Street, former brewery tap of the Anchor Brewery (Barclay Perkins).

The Anchor Tap is the former brewery tap of the other Anchor Brewery in Southwark, Courage. It's easy to cinfuse the two. Especially as the breweries merged in the 1950's.