Wednesday 22 December 2010

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1933 Barclay Perkins KKKK

It's the last Let's Brew of the year and, amazingly, this is Wedenesday. At least I've ended the year well.

Which series are we doing? Barclay Perkins between the wars, wasn't it. Or something like that. Today it's a very special beer. KKKK. Something Barclay Perkins brewed for the winter. A strong Old Ale, that was served on draught. Their adverts imply that it was sold from a pin standing on the bar. A common practice, at one time, and a tradition that still survives in some pubs.

Do I need to explain what the K's mean? Again. Alright, the K is derived from "Keeping", or beer that was matured before sale. In the middle of the 19th century, Barclay Perkins brewed two sets of Ales:X Ales that were sold mild and K Ales that were sold matured. X, XX, XXX and XXXX. Then KK, KKK, KKKK. The equivalent beers (XX and KK, XXX and KKK) were exactly the same gravity, but the K Ales had about 50% more hops.

Want some proof of that. Oh, all right then. Here's a nice, neat table:


Barclay Perkins K and X Ales 1869 - 1870
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Attenu-ation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
Pitch temp
pale malt
13th Dec
1869
X
Mild
1060.1
1011.1
6.48
81.53%
6.73
1.94
1.5
2.5
3
61º
100%
13th Dec
1869
XX
Mild
1079.2
1013.9
8.64
82.45%
10.46
4.00
1.5
2.5
3
60º
100%
15th Dec
1869
XXX
Mild
1092.8
1015.6
10.21
83.19%
12.38
4.98
1.5
1.75
3
60º
100%
5th Feb
1870
KK
Stock Ale
1079.2
1012.5
8.83
84.22%
18.27
7.24
2
2
2.5
56º
100%
1st Feb
1870
KKK
Stock Ale
1093.1
1016.5
10.13
82.27%
18.45
7.99
1.5
1.75
2
56º
100%
5th Feb
1870
KKKK
Stock Ale
1106.1
1017.0
11.79
83.98%
18.89
9.11
2
2
2.5
56º
100%
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives


Over the years the ranges were whittled down and the K Ales became known as Strong rather than Stock Ales. For many years Barclay Perkins only brewed one X Ale, er X. And two K Ales, KK and KKK. KK was their Burton, one of the standard draught beers in a London pub for the first half of the 20th century. In the 1930's KKKK, the beer we'll be looking at in more detail later, was revived as a seasonal strong draught beer.

Obviously the gravity of all the X's and K's declined between 1870 and 1933. You'll note that 1930's KKKK was just slightly weaker than the KK of 1870. You'll also note that both X and K Ales had changed colour, from pale in 1870 to dark in 1933.




That's me done. Time for Kristen to do his thing . . . .




Barclay Perkins - 1933 - KKKK
General info: A  happy 'little' Christmas or New Years brew for everyone. Something big with a ton of hops to last a good aging and maybe even unveiling for next year. 4 "K's". When people argue IPA's I point them to these babies. Big and huge. Finishing pretty high in gravity with a butt load of hops to really dry out the end. Something to be put in Nip bottles...not bloody 22oz bombers. Mouth-clearingly awesome!
Beer Specifics

Recipe by percentages
Gravity (OG)
1.076

53.2% English Pale malt
0.7% Caramel
Gravity (FG)
1.023

29.9% American 6-row
0%
ABV
7.07%

5.6% Crystal 75L
0%
Apparent attenuation
69.75%

10.6% Invert No2
0%
Real attenuation
57.14%







IBU
75.2

Mash
90min@154°F
0.81qt/lb

SRM
36


90min@67.6°C
1.69L/kg

EBC
70.4










Boil
2.5 hours













Homebrew @ 70%
Craft @ 80%
Grist
5gal
19L
10bbl
10hl
English Pale malt
7.84
lb
3.568
kg
425.14
lb
164.26
kg
American 6-row
4.41
lb
2.007
kg
239.14
lb
92.40
kg
Crystal 75L
0.82
lb
0.374
kg
44.54
lb
17.21
kg
Invert No2
1.57
lb
0.714
kg
85.03
lb
32.85
kg
Caramel
0.10
lb
0.046
kg
5.44
lb
2.10
kg





799.29



Hops








Goldings 4.5% 150min
2.39
oz
67.9
g
148.46
oz
3.587
kg
Goldings 4.5% 120min
1.20
oz
33.9
g
74.23
oz
1.793
kg
Goldings 4.5% 60min
1.20
oz
33.9
g
74.23
oz
1.793
kg
Goldings 4.5% dry hop
0.41
oz
11.7
g
25.64
oz
0.620
kg









Fermentation
65°F /18.3°C















Yeast
Nottingham ale yeast

1028 London Ale Yeast  - WLP013 London Ale Yeast 









Tasting Notes:
Orangina, spice and sweet sugar plums. Dark cherries with a burnt caramel. Biscuits covered in tar resin and marmalade. Bitter cherry stones and green jasmine tea. A finish that is clean but massively long. Hop burps. Sweeeeet…

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice. Burtonized water? A proper aging for the time would have been 3 months, no?

Anonymous said...

Also, Kristen, what is your source for the Sugar No2? Actually at my brewery I make my own, its fantastic in a Mild ale. I you can read french, I wrtote an article about it.

http://brasseriealbion.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/un-secret/

Bill said...

In 1933 were these beers aged in oak or were metal vessels in use by then?

Martyn Cornell said...

Approximately what sort of colour did this end up?

Kristen England said...

ealusceop,

Most baker supply shots carry the different inverts.

Martyn,

Pretty dark. Even without the caramel colorant it is bordering on brown if not darker amber.