A Very English Ale Revolution
The classic English styles of today, such as mild, bitter, stout, and barleywine, have been around forever.” What a stupid statement!
Well, I had to start somewhere, didn’t I? These styles have constantly changed and evolved as tastes changed, as breweries grew in size, and as outside events such as the development of the railways and government regulations changed. I want to look at this from a view of what happened in the last half of the 19th century, as the impact of events was significant.
At first sight this might seem to have been a quiet period in Britain’s history. Queen Victoria’s long reign continued throughout it, the British Empire was well-established, the Industrial Revolution was well under way and the nation was wealthy and prosperous (although not all of its peoples were so!). Apart from the Crimean War in the 1850s and the Boer War at the end of the century, hostilities were much more limited than they were in the previous century and would be in the next century.
But brewing in general underwent quite a few changes in this period. Perhaps the most obvious outside change was the spread of the railway network in England, which started around 1830. Not all of that network was set up before the end of the 19th century, of course. But, to give you an idea of how extensive it became, according to my count there are currently 12 major terminals in London, and many of them were built in the 1800s. Compare that to just two in New York City. The point is that this opened up new opportunities for growth for brewers, since they could now sell their beer to distant cities and towns.
Another change came with the development of brewing science, with perhaps the biggest discoveries coming in France, when Pasteur in 1876 definitively showed the true nature of yeast and in Denmark when Hansen isolated a pure single strain of the lovely fungus. Pasteur visited England in 1871 and showed the brewers at Whitbread what their yeast looked like under a microscope and that it contained significant amounts of bacteria. It is reported that Whitbread made haste to buy their own microscope! Hansen’s pioneer work had less effects during the period I am considering, for his work was only translated into English in 1896.
Use of the saccharometer and the thermometer in the brewing process had become widespread by this time. But many English brewers were conservative and self-satisfied and were reluctant to embrace the scientific approach. A good example of this was that they used Richardson’s 18th century system of brewer’s pounds for determining original gravity, rather than the more straightforward systems of specific gravity or degrees Plato. However, this negative approach certainly did not apply to many of the larger brewing companies, especially those from Burton-on-Trent, who had employed chemists since as far back as 1845. Many of these were men of high scientific standing and actual head brewers, not just men in back-room laboratories isolated from day-to-day brewing procedures.
In our period several clubs for brewing scientists were formed, such as the Bacterium Club, the Country Brewers Society, and the Laboratory Club, which later evolved to become the Institute of Brewing. A good deal of fundamental work was carried out in Burton, as well as the adoption of routine quality testing on brewing ingredients and ale samples. But perhaps the most important scientific advance (though not developed in England) was the introduction of refrigeration in English breweries in this period. Before this, brewing in the summer months was problematical since beer spoilage was common. Refrigeration made year-round brewing possible, permitting an increase in output for the bigger breweries, as well as improving the quality of the beer.
The malting industry on the other hand was very conservative and there were few advancements in this area during this period. Floor-malting remained the procedure of choice, and the advent of pneumatic malting in European practice was largely ignored in England. One important development was the invention of crystal malt somewhere around 1880. This does not seem to have been readily taken up by brewers until later in the 20th century when it became, as it is today, a ubiquitous ingredient in English bitter and pale ales. For the period I am discussing the malts available to the brewer remained only pale, amber, brown, and black until 1880. However, I recently came across a book (courtesy of Todd Sakowski of the Niantic Public House and Brewery) written in 1853 for homebrewers. The author quotes the use of roasted barley in brewing porter — suggesting making this by roasting barley in a frying pan or in a coffee-roaster. It was not used by commercial brewers, because it would have been illegal to do so before 1880.
So what happened in 1880? Well, the English Government in the form of Gladstone passed a bill in Parliament known as the Free Mash Tun Act. Prior to that time, beer itself was not taxed but malt was, and up to 1861 hops were also taxed. That could be construed as England actually having a Pure Beer Law, for the Excise would not generally allow the use of malt substitutes. Sugar was an exception and had been allowed in brewing from only 1847 to 1854, otherwise the brewer could use only barley malt. What the act did was allow the use of any source of fermentable material, with the duty to be paid on the wort according to its specific gravity. Brewers were therefore liable for the duty before fermentation and long before they got the beer paid for by the customer. But, they were able to use adjuncts such as sugar, rice, maize, raw and roasted barley, and anything else they thought would reduce their costs. It is worth noting that at just about the same time American brewers were going over to adjuncts such as rice, maize, and sugar as well. But in the States, this move was driven not because of taxation, but because brewers realized that American 6-row malt contained sufficient enzymes to convert the starch of quite large amounts of these adjuncts.
In England the enzyme content of their 2-row malts permitted the use of relatively small amounts of starchy adjuncts, so sugar was a favorite candidate. They opted not for straight cane or corn sugar, but invert sugar, produced by acid hydrolysis of raw sugar. This meant that manufacturers soon produced invert sugars to suit the brewer’s specification; some versions would contain unfermentable material and could also be colored. In other words, they could have an effect of the beer’s flavor as well as its color. But do not forget that the basic reasons for using such sugars were economic ones. In the context of invert sugar, around the end of the 19th century there was an epidemic of arsenic poisoning in northwest England that resulted in some 70 deaths. Its cause was traced to beer from two breweries that used invert sugar and this was the source of the contamination, as the sulfuric acid used in the “inversion” procedure had been manufactured not from pyrites as was normal but from arsenopyrite.
The 1880 Act was instrumental in forming the modern brewing approach to most English beers, especially pale and bitter ales, which today are commonly produced with both sugar and adjuncts like flaked maize (usually at less than 20% of the grist). But, that in turn encouraged brewers to use crystal malt as well, and today you would be hard put to find a bitter that has not used one form or other of this malt. The Act played an important role (though it was not the only cause) in the reduction in strengths of beers in England. In 1880 an original gravity (OG) of 1.055 (13.6 °P) was regarded as being the average strength of beer in England, whereas today the figure is more like 1.038 (9.5 °P). The Act decreed that the tax should be based on the OG of beer, which meant as tax rates increased through the 20th century there was a heavier penalty on strong beers than on weaker ones. The result was that brewers produced fewer strong beers, and why, in particular barleywines, are quite rare over there now. Actually, the provisions of the Act have fairly recently been changed, so that duty is now charged according to the ABV content of the beer, but the end result of penalizing stronger beers is essentially the same.
There were some other developments in the brewing industry during this period such as the growth in bottling and the application of filtration procedures so that the bottles could be sediment-free. These did not so much change individual styles but rather marked the beginning of the decline in cask-conditioned beers. And, of course, there was the temperance movement in England too, and it was moderately effective for a while. Fortunately, it was never effective enough to bring about Prohibition. Finally, partly because many of the larger brewers followed Guinness’ 1886 lead in becoming public companies, there was a rush by brewers to buy up as many pubs as possible. This was to result in the majority of public houses being “tied’ to a particular brewer, who would sell only its own beer in its own pub, leading to a local monopoly by the brewer.
Beer styles 1850-1900
Porter
Porter had been the most important beer of the 18th century, but in our period it was in decline. It had been a beer with a long-stored component and the flavor this conferred on porter had become less favored, with drinkers preferring “running beers,” that is those sent out from the brewery a month or less after brewing. Porter was also being pushed out by the rise in popularity of pale beers. As a result, porter had fallen in gravity to around 1.050 (12.4 °P) as opposed to 1.070 (17.1 °P) in the previous century. It was to continually decline in both strength and popularity and to vanish entirely from England by the mid-20th century.
Stout
Stout, which was originally a strong form of porter, did not die away so readily. In our timeframe Guinness became the world’s biggest brewer, topping 1 million barrels by 1890, a good deal of which was exported to England, although English brewers still produced their own versions. Russian imperial stout also came on the scene early in the period being considered. It was not actually a new beer, for Barclay’s had brewed it for many years previously at an OG of as much as 1.100 (23.8 °P). But A. Le Coq, a distributor of the beer, had supplied it to Russian troops during the Crimean War and a grateful Tsar had given him an Imperial warrant allowing Barclay’s to add “imperial” to the beer’s title. This beer continued to be brewed well into the 20th century, although it is no longer available as its successor, Barclay, Perkins, and Courage, is extinct.
Pale Beers
Pale beers came into their own in the last half of the 19th century with the huge growth in consumption of IPA and pale ale brewed in Burton. Bass became the world’s biggest brewer in 1876 (deposed as such by Guinness as mentioned earlier), but other Burton brewers were almost as big, and several London brewers established themselves in Burton in order to be able to compete. At first the only distinction between IPA and pale ale was that the former was brewed for export to India, but gradually pale ale came to be seen as the lesser of the two, and, in the 20th century pale ale was mostly applied only to bottled beers in my experience. Ironically, in view of its current popularity in this country, IPA became a less distinctive beer over the years, with the title being attached to brews as low as 3.6% ABV.
A development during this period was the arrival of lighter-strength pale beers with titles like “dinner ale,” “family ale,” and “bitter ale.” The latter could be quite strong, at around 1.060 OG (14.7 °P), but in the 20th century the title became more established as representing a style of its own. It has become the ubiquitous bitter, dumbed down in strength (largely as a result of increasing taxation), so that most modern versions are around 4% ABV, and brewed with 5–10% crystal malt.
Mild Ales
Mild ales came to the fore in the 19th century, but at that time “mild” meant new or fresh. In this timeframe mild ales could be stronger than pale ales, although London mild ales were more often around OG 1.050 (12.4°P). They were mainly dark from the use of roasted malts (black and brown) but could be pale. As with bitter ales, milds declined in strength during the 20th century to as low as 3.0–3.2% ABV. They were gradually pushed from popularity by pale beers and are now a rarity on the English scene, although Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has made much effort to revive them.
Barleywine
Barleywine was a term first used officially by Bass in 1903, which would seem to put it beyond my remit. However, this beer had been produced previously as Bass No. 1, and there were several other similar strength beers brewed in Burton and other places in the late 19th century.
Indeed, in earlier centuries it was common to carry out several mashes and to treat the runnings from the first mash separately to those from later mashes, which would have resulted in a beer strong enough to fit this category. The definition of barleywine is somewhat hazy but generally it means a beer brewed largely from pale malt and with an alcohol content of 8% ABV or more. In 19th/20th century England these were never high volume beers, in part because the method of taxing on OG meant they were expensive to brew and buy. In the 21st century the tax system changed somewhat so there are few such beers brewed anymore, because there is now a huge jump in duty when going from 7.5% ABV to 8% ABV.
Historic English Ale Recipes
I have chosen three examples of beers from the period and have tried to interpret them in the spirit of the times, rather than attempting to make a direct reproduction of any particular brewer’s beer.
Historic Bitter Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.052 FG = 1.013
IBU = 64 SRM = 7 ABV = 5.1%
Ingredients
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg.) Golden Promise pale ale malt
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) Briess Ashburne® Mild malt
18 AAU Golding hops (60 min.) (3 oz./85 g at 6% alpha acids)
SafAle S-04 or Wyeast 1099 (Whitbread Ale) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Mash the grains at 152–153 °F (67 °C) with 3.5 gallons (13 L) water. After 60 minutes, run off and sparge with water at 160–170 °F (71–77 °C) to collect 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the Golding hops at the start of the boil.
Cool to about 70 °F (21 °C) and pitch the yeast. Ferment 7 days at about 65 °F (18 °C), then rack to secondary for a further 5–7 days before racking to keg or bottling. I chose not to dry hop this beer but there’s no reason not to do so if you wish.
Historic Bitter Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.052 FG = 1.013
IBU = 64 SRM = 7 ABV = 5.1%
I know Munich malt would not have been used in the late 19th century but I decided to use it for the extract recipe because the pale malt of that time would have been darker than modern pale malts.
Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) Maris Otter pale liquid malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Munich liquid malt extract
18 AAU Golding hops (60 min.) (3 oz./85 g at 6% alpha acids)
SafAle S-04 or Wyeast 1099 (Whitbread Ale) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Dissolve the malt extracts in 6 gallons (23 L) of hot water while off heat. Once malt extract is fully dissolved, bring wort to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the Golding hops at the start of the boil.
Cool to about 70 °F (21 °C) and pitch the yeast. Ferment 7 days at about 65 °F (18 °C), then rack to secondary for a further 5–7 days before racking to keg or bottling. I chose not to dry hop this beer but there’s no reason not to do so if you wish.
XX Mild Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.062 FG = 1.012
IBU = 52 SRM = 11 ABV = 6.6%
Ingredients
11 lbs. (5 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) amber malt
14 AAU Challenger hops (60 min.) (2 oz./57 g at 7% alpha acids)
SafAle S-04 or Wyeast 1099 (Whitbread Ale) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Mash the grains at 148–149 °F (64–65 °C) with 4 gallons (15 L) water. After 60 minutes run off and sparge with water at 160–170 °F (71–77 °C) with enough water to collect 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the Challenger hops at the start.
When the boil is complete, cool to about 70 °F (21 °C) and pitch the yeast. Ferment 7 days at about 65 °F (18 °C), then rack to secondary for a further 5–7 days before racking to keg or bottling.
XX Mild Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.062 FG = 1.012
IBU = 52 SRM = 11 ABV = 6.6%
The Amber DME is made with some crystal malt, which probably would not have been used in the 1880s, but I wanted to keep this recipe simple and to avoid doing a partial mash with amber grain malt. If you wish to, you can partial mash with 2 lbs. (0.91 kg) of the Maris Otter malt, eliminating the amber extract and using 6 lbs. (2.7 kg) of the liquid extract.
Ingredients
7 lbs. (3.2 kg) Maris Otter liquid malt extract
1.4 lbs. (0.64 kg) amber dried malt extract
14 AAU Challenger hops (60 min.) (2 oz./57 g at 7% alpha acids)
SafAle S-04 or Wyeast 1099 (Whitbread Ale) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Dissolve the malt extracts in 6 gallons (23 L) of hot water while off heat. Once malt extract is fully dissolved, bring wort to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the Challenger hops at the start. Cool to about 70 °F (21 °C) and pitch the yeast. Ferment 7 days at about 65 °F (18 °C), then rack to secondary for a further 5–7 days before racking to keg or bottling.
Big Ben Barleywine
(3.3 gallons/12.5 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.109 FG = 1.030
IBU = 80+ SRM = 10 ABV = 10.5%
Ingredients
15 lbs. (6.8 kg) Maris Otter pale malt
29 AAU Target hops (90 min.) (2.5 oz./71 g at 11.6% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale) or Wyeast 1098 (British Ale) or Lallemand Nottingham yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Make sure to have enough viable yeast to ferment this beer to completion. Two yeast packets made into a starter or two sachets rehydrated according to manufacturer’s instructions are advisable.
Mash grain at 148–150 °F (64–66 °C), using 18 qts. (17 L) water (ratio 1.2 qts./lb., 2.5 L/kg). After a 90-minute mash, run off and sparge with water at about 170 °F (77 °C) to collect 6 gallons (23 L) of wort (SG about 1.062). Bring to a boil, add the hops after about one hour (with 5 gallons/19 L of wort remaining), and boil down to 3.3 gallons (12.5 L).
Cool to about 70 °F (21 °C) and pitch the yeast starter with oxygenation. Ferment 10–14 days at 70 °F (21 °C), rack to secondary for 4 weeks, rack again and leave for 6–8 months. Keg or bottle as usual and age at least a further 6 months.
Big Ben Barleywine
(3.3 gallons/12.5 L, extract only)
OG = 1.109 FG = 1.030
IBU = 80+ SRM = 10 ABV = 10.5%
A long boil as found in the all-grain recipe would make this beer too thin, while the short boil will result in the limited formation of Maillard reaction products, so I opted to use a Munich malt extract to add extra flavor and body.
Ingredients
9 lbs. (4.1 kg) Munich liquid malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) extra light dried malt extract
29 AAU Target hops (90 min.) (2.5 oz./71 g at 11.6% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale) or Wyeast 1098 (British Ale) or Lallemand Nottingham yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Bring 4 gallons (15 L) of water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in both malt extracts. When completely dissolved add the hops and bring back to a boil. Boil down to 3.3 gallons (12.5 L), about 45 minutes.
Cool to about 70 °F (21 °C) and pitch the yeast starter with oxygenation. Ferment 10–14 days a 70 °F (21 °C), rack to secondary for 4 weeks, rack again and leave for 6–8 months. Keg or bottle as usual and age at least a further 6 months.
