Wednesday 25 January 2012

England vs Scotland, part 2f: the 1840's

The day has come! We're finally finished with the 1840's. We've laughed, we've cried, we've sat down when the excitement got too much.

If you've been playing close attention you might have noticed something missing: Porter and Stout. There's a good reason for that. I managed to not find a single one in the William Younger's log, despite having well over 100 beers. I know from other years that they weren't brewing huge amounts of either. Maybe I just selected the wrong months. Whatever, it's irritating because I can't do a full comparison. Don't despair. In the next set, the 1850's, I've plenty.

True to tradition, I'll show you the numbers first:


Date Year Brewer Beer Style OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl boil time (hours) boil time (hours) boil time (hours) Pitch temp max. fer-ment-ation temp length of fer-ment-ation (days)
25th Feb 1841 Truman XXK Ale Stock Ale 1094.2 1034.6 7.88 63.24% 11 4.92


58 77 12
15th Jan 1846 Truman KXX Ale Stock Ale 1098.6 1021.9 10.15 77.81% 14.0 5.93


58.5 77 12
7th Apr 1841 Whitbread KXXX Stock Ale 1100.6 1029.9 9.34 70.25% 9.36 4.06 2 2 3 60 79 12
14th Apr 1841 Whitbread KXXX Stock Ale 1100.8 1029.9 9.38 70.33% 9.42 4.13 2 2 3 60 79 7
19th Mar 1841 Whitbread KXXX Stock Ale 1101.9 1028.5 9.71 72.01% 9.09 3.78 2 2 3 60 79 7
10th Apr 1841 Truman XXXK Ale Stock Ale 1102.5 1024.1 10.37 76.49% 14 7.74


60 78.5 10
22nd Apr 1841 Whitbread KXXX Stock Ale 1102.5 1029.9 9.60 70.81% 5.96 2.55 2 2 3 60 79 8
15th Jul 1840 Truman XXXK Ale Stock Ale 1103.9 1032.4 9.45 68.80% 12 6.22


58.5 77 9
17th Feb 1846 Truman KXXX Ale Stock Ale 1104.7 1023.0 10.81 78.04% 15.0 7.81


58 80.5 11
13th Jan 1846 Truman XXXK Ale Stock Ale 1106.9 1025.2 10.81 76.42% 14.7 7.18


58 80 12
1st Mar 1841 Truman XXXK Ale Stock Ale 1106.9


12 6.44


58.5 78.5 13
17th Mar 1841 Truman XXXMK Ale Stock Ale 1108.3 1034.1 9.82 68.54% 8.0 4.21


58.5 81 11
1st Apr 1846 Truman KXXXX Ale Stock Ale 1114.1 1032.7 10.77 71.36% 16.0 9.70


58 81 15
5th Mar 1841 Truman XXXXK Ale Stock Ale 1117.7 1038.8 10.44 67.06% 14 7.65


58
12
28th Jan 1846 Truman XXXXK Ale Stock Ale 1118.0 1034.9 10.99 70.42% 16.0 11.19


58 78.5 15
Average



1105.4 1030.0 9.97 71.54% 12.04 6.23 2.00 2.00 3.00 58.8 78.9 11.1
27th Mar 1849 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1124 1053 9.39 57.26% 11.50 8.53 1 1
52 71 10
9th Mar 1848 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1126 1052 9.79 58.73% 10.00 7.50 1

53 71 12
7th Oct 1848 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1126 1055 9.39 56.35% 6.18 3.94 1.08

57 72 10
16th Nov 1849 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1126 1055 9.39 56.35% 6.13 5.94 1.08

54 72 9
29th Dec 1848 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1127 1055 9.53 56.69% 8.90 5.45 1

56 56 9
9th Jan 1849 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1127 1053 9.79 58.27% 9.14 5.29 1

54 72 10
2nd Apr 1849 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1127 1057 9.26 55.12% 12.00 8.49 1.08 0.92
54 71 10
19th Feb 1848 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1128 1053 9.92 58.59% 7.91 4.84 0.92

54 71 9
15th Mar 1848 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1128 1059 9.13 53.91% 7.65 4.41 0.92

53 69 11
7th Apr 1849 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1128 1058 9.26 54.69% 12.00 8.70 1

53 70 11
17th Apr 1848 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1129 1056 9.66 56.59% 7.00 4.81 1 1
53 72 10
16th Jan 1849 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1129 1056 9.66 56.59% 8.14 6.33 1

54 71 9
27th Sep 1849 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1129 1059 9.26 54.26% 8.00 6.19 1

56 72 9
11th Mar 1848 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1130 1059 9.39 54.62% 7.61 4.71 0.92

53 69 11
27th Jan 1849 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1130 1057 9.66 56.15% 5.81 5.63 1

53 70 12
6th Jun 1849 Younger, Wm. 140/- Ale 1132 1057 9.92 56.82% 11.00 8.32 1.08

54 72 10
4th Apr 1849 Younger, Wm. 160/- Ale 1134 1063 9.39 52.99% 12.96 7.94 1

53 70 11
13th Nov 1849 Younger, Wm. S Stock Ale 1095 1028 8.86 70.53% 10.31 4.85 1

55 67 10
7th Apr 1849 Younger, Wm. S Stock Ale 1097 1031 8.73 68.04% 12.00 4.92 1

54 67 10
12th Nov 1849 Younger, Wm. XS Stock Ale 1108 1036 9.53 66.67% 11.50 6.73 1

55 69 10
Average



1127.9 1055.9 9.45 57.96% 9.29 6.18 1.00 0.97 0.00 54.0 69.7 10.2
difference



22.4 25.9 -0.52 -13.58% -2.75 -0.06 -1.00 -1.03 -3.00 -4.8 -9.2 -0.9
Sources:
Truman brewing record document numbers B/THB/C/122 and B/THB/C/127 held at the London Metropolitan Archives
William Younger brewing record document number WY/6/1/2/3 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Whitbread brewing record document number LMA/4453/D/01/004 held at the London Metropolitan Archives


A word of caution. The Scottish and London beers in this set aren't a perfect match. The strongest London beer has a gravity of 1118º. Virtually all the Scottish beers have a higher OG. The average OG of the Scottish beers is more than 22º more.

Bearing that in mind, let's look at the hopping rates. This time Younger's beers come second, but by a tiny amount. For once, the greater variation is amongst the London beers, with both the most and the least heavily hopped. Factor in the gravity difference, and the London beers are a clear winner. How do I do that? Look at the hopping rate per quarter. It's 23% higher in the London beers. So: in the 1840's Younger's Stock Ales were on average less heavily hopped than equivalent London beers.

It's unfortunate that I only have the boil times from Whitbread of the London brewers. Though I do know from later years that Whitbread's weren't untypical. 70 minutes was the Longest Younger boil. That's very short, especially for a strong beer. This one is easy: in the 1840's Younger's Stock Ales had much shorter boils than equivalent London beers.

I'm definitely seeing a pattern in fermentation temperatures across all the styles. I'm starting to get quite confident about this. It's the same story here. The pitching temperature of Younger's beers was on average almost 5º F cooler. The maximum fermentation temperature was almost 9º F cooler. Excuse me if you've heard this before: in the 1840's Younger's Stock Ales were fermented cooler than equivalent London beers, on average around 7 - 8º F.

Given the higher gravity and cooler fermentation temperature, it's a surprise to discover that on average Younger's beers took almost a day less to ferment on average. The rather surprising conclusion is: in the 1840's Younger's Stock Ales took less time to ferment than equivalent London beers.

This might explain the difference in fermentation time. Younger's beers had a much lower degree of attenuation. Under 60% on average. But again, it's caveat time. I'm not convinced the 140/- and 160/- are really Stock Ales.If you look at the last three Younger beers, they are definitely Stock Ales. And their degree of attenuation is much closer to the London beers. But still lower. Funnily enough, despite their huge gravities, none of Younger's beers is above 10% ABV, while half the London beers were. In the 1840's Younger's Stock Ales were less attenuated and lower in alcohol than equivalent London beers.

I would give you a summary of all the styles now, highlighting any difference s with England. But I feel shit. I left my breakfast at the side of the road on the way to the bus stop this morning. Not nice. You'll have to wait a day or two for my roundup.

1 comment:

StuartP said...

Sorry to hear you're unwell.
Not the beer, I hope.