Devanha Brewery Recipes?

[charliemartin]

Back in the eighties I used to drink some beers produced by a local brewery which were delicious. It was the Devanha Brewery, based in Alford, Aberdeenshire (now defunct) and they made two beers as I recall. Devanha XXX and Devanha XB. They would be akin to typical Scottish 80 and 70 shilling beers, but were much better than the typical McEwans 80 shilling. Perhaps because they were local the beers were fresher, however the purpose of this post was to see if anyone out there had any idea of the recipes for these beers as I'd love to try and clone them. Appreciate that the finer details like yeast type might be hard to replicate, but a grain and hop bill would be a good start.
Some other beers I used to enjoy then were MacLays 70 & 80 shilling and Younger's No.3.
Any suggestions at all would be welcome.

Cheers,
Charliemartin

[seymour]

I've never come across any Devanha recipes, but until recently, the Isle of Skye brewery produced "Isle of Skye Devanha Scottish XXX Ale", using an old Devanha recipe. I don't know what the connection is, maybe one of their brewers came from there, maybe they bought the rights, maybe they have the whole brewer's book? You should try emailing info@skyebrewery.co.uk

Here are the others you mentioned:

Maclay 70/- Special (Scotch Ale)
Maclay & Co (historical, 1830-1999) - Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland
OG: 1034-1036
ABV: 3.5%
IBU: 30
Colour: 15°SRM/30°EBC, copper
Grainbill: 90% Pale, 5% Crystal Malt, 5% Wheat Malt
Bittering hops: Fuggles
Aroma hops: Brewers Gold

Maclay 80/- Export (Scotch Ale, 1965)
Maclay & Co (historical, 1830-1999) - Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland
OG: 1040
ABV: 3.57%
Colour: 13°SRM/25°EBC, deep amber
Grainbill: 74.9% Pale, 11.5% Flaked Maize, 7.7% #1 Invert Syrup, 3.8% DCS Sugar
Bittering hops: Goldings & Styrian Goldings
Aroma hops: Brewers Gold

Wm. Younger No. 3 (Strong Ale, 1868)
William Younger (historical, 1749-1986) - Edinburgh, Scotland
OG:1077
ABV: 7.3%
IBU: 105 (gasp!)
Colour: 4°SRM/8°EBC, golden
Grainbill: 100% Pale
Bittering hops: Goldings (90 min), Saaz (30 min)
Aroma hops: Saaz
Yeast: underpitch a fruity English ale strain like Windsor or Wyeast 1318, the historic Boddington strain

[charliemartin]

Wow that's a pretty comprehensive reply! Fantastic information. Thank you very much for that Seymour. I think the Younger's No.3 they sold in the 1980s as opposed to the 1880s was a fair bit weaker and nowhere near so heavily hopped.
I will definitely try that brewery for info on the Devanha beers.

Cheers again,
Charliemartin

[seymour]

Wow that's a pretty comprehensive reply! Fantastic information. Thank you very much for that Seymour...

You're welcome. I love me some strong Scotch ale! In fact, I shared the very last bottle of this craziness last night:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=17666&p=588148&hil ... id#p588148

a caramelly, deep reddish amber ale, 9% ABV, continuously hop-bursted mainly with Saaz hops to 107 IBU, fermented with the McEwans yeast strain, and aged for 1 1/2 years. Very sad to see it go.

...I think the Younger's No.3 they sold in the 1980s as opposed to the 1880s was a fair bit weaker and nowhere near so heavily hopped....

Without a doubt. What a difference a hundred years makes, right?

...I will definitely try that brewery for info on the Devanha beers.

Sounds good. Please update this post if you get a helpful reply. And keep us posted on whatever you decide to brew. Best of luck!

Cheers,
-Seymour

[paraffin]

Not exactly an answer to the question, but I've also had a recent hankering to recreate the 1980's Younger's No.3. It was about 4.3%, but much darker than the usual 80/ suggestions to clone. So I have something in the FV now, will post up the recipe if it turns out anything close.

[seymour]

Not exactly an answer to the question, but I've also had a recent hankering to recreate the 1980's Younger's No.3. It was about 4.3%, but much darker than the usual 80/ suggestions to clone. So I have something in the FV now, will post up the recipe if it turns out anything close.

Please do, that sounds very interesting.

[charliemartin]

Paraffin,
I agree No.3 was a dark beer, very different from most 80/- beers, quite unique. Interesting to hear you have a recipe. Did you get some hints on the ingredients from someone or is it a bit of guesswork on your part?

Seymour,
I have sent an e-mail to the Skye Brewery and am awaiting a reply.

[paraffin]

No.3 - no, just a guess at the moment, will see how far away I am in a couple of weeks!

[jimp2003]

I've never come across any Devanha recipes, but until recently, the Isle of Sky brewery produced "Isle of Skye Devanha Scottish XXX Ale", using an old Devanha recipe. I don't know what the connection is, maybe one of their brewers came from there, maybe they bought the rights, maybe they have the whole brewer's book? You should try emailing info@skyebrewery.co.uk

Which Devanha Brewery does the Isle of Skye Brewery recipe come from though?....This info: CLICKY mentions two Devanha Breweries. One ceased brewing in 1930 and the second operated in the 1980s...

It would be nice to think that the records from a brewery that closed its doors only about thirty years ago are still somewhere to be found.

Good luck in your search charliemartin!

[seymour]

...It would be nice to think that the records from a brewery that closed its doors only about thirty years ago are still somewhere to be found...

Good news: they are, in two locations actually. See page 127 of The Brewing Industry: A Guide to Historical Records. It's unclear if the actual brewing records are among the collection. Not sure what is meant by "journals" but someone could make a trip to the Scottish Brewing Archive at Heriot-Watt University to check it out!

[Hanglow]

They are in Glasgow Uni now, that book was produced in 1990 and a lot of the records moved to Glasgow in 1991

doesn't look like they have production records

Shareholding records, 1910–1960
Financial records, 1910–1959
Patents and trademarks, 1851
Public relations, 1897–1906
Promotional material, undated



edit: argh that was the one that was bought by Usher then stopped brewing in 1930, so it's not going to be the one anyway . I guess they didn't dissolve the company though untill 1960 or so

[charliemartin]

[quote=]...Sounds good. Please update this post if you get a helpful reply. And keep us posted on whatever you decide to brew. Best of luck!

Cheers,
-Seymour[/quote]

Please see reply from Skye Brewery. Sounds promising:

Hi, Martin,

Angus is presently away in Canada and will be returning back to work next Tuesday 2nd July.

In the mean time he has asked if I would let you know that he will contact you on his return regarding your interest in the Devanha recipes.

Kindest regards

Pam MacRuary

[seymour]

Wow, cool! Fingers crossed. See, it never hurts to ask. Like the rest of us, pro brewers love to "talk shop".

[charliemartin]

I have had some communication from the Skye Brewery on this topic. Most recent one says they are going to put something together for me in terms of a recipe. They also said the original XXX was based on Younger's No.3! I'm off on holiday for a couple of weeks so may not be able to update this thread for a little while.

Cheers,
Charliemartin

[louiscowdroy]

Wow, cool! Fingers crossed. See, it never hurts to ask. Like the rest of us, pro brewers love to "talk shop".

Hey Seymour, Loved your picture of your old Scottish ale. Come on, tell me your secret for great head retention

Kind regards, Louis )