Younger's 1868 XP Ale

[Brewtaster]

Hi all I brewed the above ale after finding the recipe on Ron Pattinson's archive brewing blog " Shut up aboout Barclay Perkins. Anyway he reproduced the recipe and a regular contributor toblog had brewed it. I brewed it on 14/10/11 and gave it two weeks in FV before bottling. I tried it fter a week and while it tasted ok the aroma was a little sharp - like a wee shot of whisky in there.

Another week and it was just stunning. certainly one of the best pale ales i've tasted. Now this was a recipe from 1868 - can't believe they were drinking great beer then in pubs and we just get served cr@p now!

Here is the baby - Note the Saaz hops (yes in 1868!) This for a 19 litre brew.

3.59kg English Pale malt
1.2 kg Continental pale malt

Recipe states 120 minute mash i did 90 mins

Fuggles 24g recipe says 120 mins i did 90mins total boil
Saaz 32g 60 mins
Saaz 32g 30 mins
Saaz 18g dry hop

used WLP 023 Burton ale yeast

Fermented a little warm @ 22deg C OG 1055 FG 1014 ABV 5.5%

Drunk about half now and really need to make more soon or I'll be having a bad Xmas!

[jimp2003]

Thanks for sharing that Brewtaster. Yet another recipe printed off and scheduled in for next year...

Looks like one that might tempt some of my carlsberg drinking friends.

Cheers!

Jim

[RichardG]

So many questions (well, two actually)! What is 'continental pale malt'? Any particular reason for the Burton yeast? I agree; the use of Saaz on 1868 certainly seens to come right out of left field.

[coatesg]

Read Ron's blog: It was very common for British brewers in the 1800s to import malt and hops from all over - the continent, America, etc. The brew log will detail exactly what malt and hops, but for the purposes of reproducing the beer these days, you have to use something close so that's (probably) why saaz are used here.

[Brewtaster]

Hi coatesg,

Thanks for the comments on the brew which was actually marketed as an IPA. However I beleieve they genuinely did ]use Czech Saaz hops. Actual recipe details see Ron's blog of 15th September 2011. To Quote " For all those out there thinking doing an IPA with Czech hops is nw, you're 134 yrs late there mate! "

Also as you can see only 2 types of hop and 2 grains - beautifully simple!

[Brewtaster]

RichardG, here are the notes from Kristen who brewed it for the blog.

"Ingredients


Grist – Very simple recipe. Two pale malts. One of the recipes called for Non-UK malt for the big portion but all called for the small portion to be Chilean. Being fresh out of Chilean malts I chose to use the omnipresent Maris Otter for the big part and then a nice Canadian 2-row pale or the lighter however any continental pale would do nicely also.

Hops – Two hops. Fuggles and Saaz. Fuggles do a nice job for the bittering but the Saaz steal the show. Be sure to get some nice Czech Saaz and not the US grown ones. Although nice, they have some meaty elbows that will really take away the elegance. If you like that sort of thing, don’t listen though.

Yeast – The Thames valley really does a brilliant job here giving a little boost to the malt to support the vast amount of greenery in the beer. If you use a yeast that’s too dry, the only thing you’ll taste is hops. This really is one of the ones you can pretty much just choose your favorite yeast and be happy with it. "


Note - brewing log advised choice of Nottingham or 1275 Thames Valley or WLp 023 Burton yeast. I chose to use Burton as I had some handy - maybe Thames Valley next brew. Also I just used lager malt for the continental.

[Fuggledog]

Thanks for the details (and inspiration!) Brewtaster - this sounds like a great beer to brew. I really enjoy Ron's blog and all the interesting recipes on there but somehow missed this one.

think a 1868 XP might be the next brew!

cheers,

ben

[patto1ro]

The brewing record specifically says Saaz. They were surprisingly popular in Britain in the 19th century. In the 20th century too. I've a Barclay Perkins Burton recipe from the 1930's that's dry hopped with Saaz.