Tuesday 20 July 2010

JW Lees beers 1903 - 1910

Here it is. The first installment of JW Lees beers. From my recent visit to the brewery to look at their brewing records.

I'd wondered how their beers would differ from those of the London breweries I've mostly concentrated on so far. Let's take a look, shall we?


JW Lees beers 1903 - 1910
Date Year Beer Style OG FG ABV App. Attenuation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl barrels lbs hops qtrs malt boil time (hours) Pitch temp dry hops (oz / barrel) pale malt brown malt black malt crystal malt caramel glucose other sugar flaked maize
4th Jan 1903 U Mild 1032.0 1005.0 3.57 84.38% 3.13 0.41 122.75 50 16 2.5 60º
9




4.5 2.5
29th Jan 1904 K Mild 1043.0 1010.0 4.37 76.74% 3.54 0.65 131.5 85 24
60º 2 17




4.5 2.5
4th Jan 1904 U Mild 1030.5 1006.0 3.24 80.33% 2.95 0.37 152 56 19 2.5 60º
12




4.5 2.5
2nd Feb 1903 XXX Strong Ale 1059.0 1016.0 5.69 72.88% 7.71 1.88 48 90 11.67
61.5º
9




2 0.67
6th Apr 1909 B Pale Ale 1055.0 1009.0 6.09 83.64% 4.54 1.03 54.5 90 12.33
60º
10




2 0.33
13th Apr 1909 U Mild 1034.0 1006.0 3.70 82.35% 4.19 0.58 253 148 35.33
60º
26



4
5.33
14th Apr 1909 XXX Stout 1059.0 1018.0 5.42 69.49% 3.37 0.82 61 50 14.83
62.5º
7 2 1.5 2
2
0.33
29th Dec 1909 XXX Stout 1060.0 1018.0 5.56 70.00% 0.00 0.00 59
14.5
61.5º
7 2 1.5 2 1
1
19th Apr 1909 U Mild 1035.0 1006.0 3.84 82.86% 0.00 0.00 123
17.67
61.5º
13




2 2.67
19th Apr 1909 B Pale Ale 1055.0 1011.0 5.82 80.00% 0.00 0.00 55
12.33 2 62º
10




2 0.33
31st Apr 1909 XXX Stout 1059.0 1017.0 5.56 71.19% 3.37 0.82 61 50 14.83 2 62º
7 2 1.5 2


0.33
4th May 1910 K Mild 1043.0 1008.0 4.63 81.40% 4.50 0.80 132 105 23.33
61º
18



3
2.33
5th May 1909 U Mild 1032.0 1005.0 3.57 84.38% 4.58 0.60 246 148 32.33 1.5 61º
24




3 5.33
19th May 1909 XXX Stout 1057.0 1017.0 5.29 70.18% 3.49 0.82 61 50 14.33 2 60º
7 2 1.5 2

1.5 0.33
3rd Sep 1909 B Pale Ale 1054.0 1010.0 5.82 81.48% 6.49 1.44 83.5 120 18.5
61º
16




2.5
Source:
JW Lees brewing records

A couple of points spring right out.

Firstly, the much smaller range of beers being brewed. A Pale Ale, two Milds one Stout and a Strong Ale. And the Strong Ale seems to have been discontinued after 1904.

Secondly, the Milds are much weaker. I was Shocked to see a beer of around 1030 being brewed in this period. X Ale, standard London Mild was 1055 or so.

Thirdly, a much lower hopping rate. Lees B, which seems to stand for Bitter, had just 1.44 pounds of hops per barrel. Whitbread's 2PA, which had a similar gravity, had 2.14 pounds. Whitbread's Porter had 1.25 pounds, the slightly stronger Lees XXX Stout had just 0.82 pounds. I canj't make a comparison for the Milds as there were no London beers of similar gravity.

Fourthly, a higher degree of attenuation. Whitbread's Pale Ales were about 65% apparent attenuation and their Mild around 75%. Lees Bitter and Milds were all above 80%. Only the Stout had a similar level of attenuation as London beers.

So pretty significant differences from London. I can't say that I'm surprised as I hadn't really known what to expect. There will be more reports as I work my way through the records.

6 comments:

Tandleman said...

So, the tentative use of hops has a long pedigree it seems!

Ron Pattinson said...

Tandleman, my thoughts exactly.

Thanks again for setting up my visit. And for taking me around a couple of pubs. Very enjoyable.

Gary Gillman said...

My take on this is that many breweries outside London (for porter and pale ale) and Burton (pale ale) used less hops because it reflected the hegemony in times past of ale, originally not hopped and always less hopped than beer. The bonny aleish taste lived on in this form, in other words.

Of course, exceptions existed and some regional ales were more strongly hopped, reflecting factors perhaps of hops supply, climate, water characteristics, individual proclivity.

Holt's bitter seemed very firm on hops when I tasted it some years ago, and it is Mancunian too. However, all is relative, and I suspect even the low hops levels of JW Lees in the period mentioned would taste fairly bitter by today's standards, at least for pale ale and stout.

Gary

Ron Pattinson said...

Gary, some Manchester brewers - Holts and Boddingtons, for example - hopped heavily. Lees are quite different. So I suspect I would see a different situation if I looked at other Nortwest brewery records.

Tandleman said...

Ron - You were welcome. A dry hopped mild I see!

Gary Gillman said...

Ron, could be, but it is also possible that the current Holt's hop rate is the same as the one of JW Lees from 1903-1910. Holt's simply may never have changed it.

Gary