Tuesday 7 February 2017

Mild or Stock

I've been busy with the sections in my new Scottish book on Mild and Stock Ales in the late 19th century.

It's reminded me what a pain Scottish brewing can be. They were way less consistent in their naming conventions. An X pretty much always means Mild Ale in England. Not so in Scotland. In fact, I often struggle to spot which beers might be Mild Ales.

Thomas Usher's beers are an example. I originally classified all their X Ales as Milds. But on closer inspection, it looked more likely that they were Stock Ales. Mostly based on hopping rate. And the recipe.

I'm not 100% sure that I've got it right. But what can I do? There are other Usher beers with the suffix M or MA which I am completely sure about. This is them:

Thomas Usher Mild Ales 1885 - 1914
Year Beer OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl
1885 54/- M 1062 1023 5.16 62.90% 5.00 1.42
1885 68/- M 1080 1025 7.28 68.75% 10.00 3.44
1914 44/- MA 1032 1012.5 2.58 60.94% 5.00 0.69
1914 50/- MA 1035 1013 2.91 62.86% 5.00 0.75
1914 60/- MA 1038 1015 3.04 60.53% 5.00 1.07
1914 80/- MA 1046 1016.5 3.90 64.13% 5.00 1.29
1914 100/- MA 1065 1027 5.03 58.46% 5.00 1.40
Sources:
Thomas Usher brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document numbers TU/6/1/1, TU/6/1/2 and TU/6/1/5.

I bet you want to see thge Stock ales now? If you're still awake, that is. Here you go:

Thomas Usher Stock Ales 1885 - 1914
Year Beer OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl
1885 X 1050 1013 4.89 74.00% 9.00 2.00
1888 XXX 1054 1011 5.69 79.63% 11.00 3.58
1888 X 1050 1012 5.03 76.00% 11.00 2.75
1888 XX 1054 1012 5.56 77.78% 12.00 3.24
1894 XX 60/- 1055 1015 5.29 72.73% 10.00 2.77
1912 X 60/- 1052 1016 4.76 69.23% 6.75 1.49
1912 X 1045 1014.5 4.03 67.78% 6.50 1.21
Sources:
Thomas Usher brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document numbers TU/6/1/1, TU/6/1/2 and TU/6/1/5.

See what I mean about the hopping? Though the gravities do seem low for Stock Ales.

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