So many roasted malts

You may never have heard of Plunkett Brothers, but they did play a key role in a classic beer.

They were a Dublin-based malt roaster. And, most importantly, pretty much house roaster to Guinness.

As this testimonial attests.

James's Gate Brewery, Dublin, 25th February, 1873
"Dear Mrs. Plunkett,
We have the pleasure of stating that we are purchasing considerable quantities of your Patent Brown Malt, and find it of very good quality. We would alio say that our connection with your Firm and that of your husband, the late Mr. Randal Plunkett, and his father, extends over fifty years, during which we have had large and satisfactory transactions.
ARTHUR GUINNESS, SONS & CO.
Mrs. Eliza Plunkett, Belle Vue.

The above text comes rom a Plunkett Brothers advertisement in "The Theory and Practice of Modern Brewing" by Frank Faulkner, 1888. By which time Guinness hhad probably swapped out the Patent Brown Malt for roast barley. I know for certain that they were using roast barley in 1894, because I've seen it in a bbrewing record.

Plunkett Brothers produced an impressive range of roast grains:

Chocolate Finest Patent Malt Roasted for Flavor.
Finest Patent Malt Roasted for flavor and color.
No. 1 Patent Roasted Black Malt for color.
No. 2 Patent Roasted Black Malt for color.
Patent Roasted Barley.
Patent Roasted Maize (Patent granted June, '80)
Special “Candied” Malt (Registered March 31, '85)
Golden Finish Malt.
No. 1 Amber Brown Malt.
No. 2 Amber Brown Matt.
High-dried Pale Malt.

I wonder what roasted maize was like? And what the hell it was used for.

Young's grists in 1932

Let’s take a look inside those beers. Remembering that pretty much everything was parti-gyled, other than PA. Which was only sometimes parti-gyled with PAB.

Note that the majority of the base malt for everything but the Pale Ales. In the case of the Strong Ales, this was because they were parti-gyled with Mild. Most beers also had some normal pale malt, made from Californian-grown barley.

Crystal malt crops up in everything except the Pale Ales. Which is about what I would expect. Milds and Porters are, after all, the types of beer for which this type of malt was originally developed. 

The Pale Ales contained a majority off PA (pale ale) malt. The best and palest type of pale malt. The Pale Ales also contain a small amount of enzymic malt. Presumably, for pH adjustment. Not sure I really understand why it’s only included for the Pale Ales.

The Porter and Stout contain five malts: pale, mild, black, amber and crystal. Notably, there’s no brown malt. Which, wasn’t usual by this point in Stouts brewed in most of the UK. Though was still pretty standard in London.

Overall, at 85% to 90%, the total malt content is quite high. Probably because no adjuncts were used, just malt and sugar. 

Young's grists in 1932
Beer	Style	pale malt	PA malt	Mild malt	enzymic malt	black malt	amber malt	crystal malt	total malt
A	Mild	16.82%		64.86%				7.21%	88.89%
X	Mild	22.49%		58.48%				9.00%	89.97%
XXX	Strong Ale			78.80%				7.39%	86.19%
XXXX	Strong Ale			78.80%				7.39%	86.19%
PAB	Pale Ale	27.86%	54.64%		3.21%				85.71%
PA	Pale Ale	27.86%	54.64%		3.21%				85.71%
P	Porter			58.44%		7.79%	9.74%	5.84%	81.82%
S	Stout			58.44%		7.79%	9.74%	5.84%	81.82%
Source:
Young's brewing record held at Battersea Library, document number YO/RE/1/1.

Thomas Usher malts in 1894

Some more ridiculous detail on Thomas Usher's beers. Well, it's all to do with me travelling again. In two ways.

First, it's spun off from some material I'd been preparing for a new talk. And it's to cover a period when I'll be travelling.

For most of the beers, there’s not much in the way of different malts. With the exception of the Stouts, all the beers only contain pale malt. Though there was more than one type of pale malt. Made from barley grown in various parts of the world. For example, Chile, Syria, Turkey and Scotland. With the locally-grown barley being one of the least common.

The malt percentage of these beers varies between 75% and 95%.

More interesting are the Stouts, which contain three types of malt: pale, brown and black. The continued use of brown malt is unusual, as, by this time, most brewers outside London had stripped down their Stout grists to just pale and black. And, at over 17%, the percentage is pretty high.

Also high is the proportion of black malt, weighing in at 13%. Anything over 10% is very high. 

Thomas Usher malts in 1894
Beer	Style	pale malt	brown malt	black malt	total malt
XX 60/-	Mild	94.03%			94.03%
50/- Br	Ale	85.71%			85.71%
60/-	Ale	75.00%			75.00%
60/- Br	Ale	85.71%			85.71%
80/-	Ale	75.00%			75.00%
100/-	Ale	75.00%			75.00%
3 XX	Stock Ale	95.24%			95.24%
IP	IPA	85.71%			85.71%
PA	Pale Ale	75.00%			75.00%
PA 60/-	Pale Ale	85.71%			85.71%
Stout	Stout	47.52%	17.82%	8.91%	74.26%
Stout Export	Stout	69.57%	17.39%	13.04%	100.00%
Source:
Thomas Usher brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archives, document number TU/6/1/2.

Lager grists in the 1970s

Only six elements to the grist this time. Meaning there’s room to lump them into a single table.

All are very simple beers, in terms of recipe, with no more than three ingredients. In the case of Drybrough Continental, it’s just two.
You probably could have guessed, given the pale colour required for the style, that there’s just a single malt: lager. And it makes up a fair percentage in all three, peaking at 91% in Drybrough Continental.

All three examples contain a single adjunct. Three different flaked grains: maize, rice and barley. In each case making up 9% to 10% of the total fermentables. They would help keep the colour pale, but I doubt that was the only reason for their use. Given that the brewers’ other beers also contained adjuncts, including the dark ones.

There’s unexpectedly little sugar. None at all in Continental. Just a small amount of malt extract in Elgood Lager and some cane sugar in London Lager. Quite a bit less than in most other styles, as the average for all UK-brewed beer was around 15%. Though that would have included primings as well as copper additions of sugar, which is what we’re seeing in the table. 

Lager malt, adjuncts and sugars 1969 - 1975
Year	Brewer	Beer	lager malt	flaked maize	flaked rice	flaked barley	malt extract	cane sugar
1970	Drybrough	Continental	90.91%	9.09%
1975	Elgood	Lager	88.24%		8.82%		2.94%
1969	Truman	London Lager	82.76%			10.34%		6.90%
Sources:
As in the table above.

Special Bitter malts in the 1970s

More about Bitter in the 1970s. I hope you're not getting bored by this stuff. But I am trying to write a book. It does take quite a lot of time and effort. In the vague chance that you might be interested, "Keg!" is currently just shy of 100,000 words and 313 pages.

Each of the four beers contains more than just the base pale malt. Though in the case of County Ale, it’s just enzymic malt. Which I can’t imagine had any impact on the flavour.

Two out of four contain crystal malt. See? Crystal malt wasn’t universally employed in any class of Bitter. I wonder if use of crystal malt was tied to home brewing? If you’re brewing with malt extract, as many home brewers did in the 1970s, steeping crystal malt is a way of adding an extra dimension to your Bitter.

Amber malt, as in Abbey Ale, seems like an odd choice. Especially as it wasn’t a malt which was much used at the time. No wonder the beer turned out so dark.

Who would have expected half the examples to contain wheat? Perhaps someone with knowledge of brewing practices at the time. I always assume its presence is for heading purposes.

What can I say about enzymic malt? Other than that it’s weird how many brewers persisted in using it. Was it really to help conversion?

An average malt content of 82% is fairly high. But that is a little less that the 85% of Best Bitter. 

Special Bitter malts 1969 - 1981
Year	Brewer	Beer	pale malt	crystal malt	amber malt	wheat malt	enzymic malt	total malt
1971	Shepherd Neame	Abbey Ale	61.15%	5.73%	5.73%	3.82%		76.43%
1981	Eldridge Pope	Royal Oak	76.57%	8.67%		5.98%		91.23%
1969	Truman	Ben Truman	86.67%					86.67%
1969	Fremlin	County Ale	70.36%				4.19%	74.54%
	Average							82.22%
Sources:
As in the table above.

Mild Ale malts 1969 - 1985

Things start to get quite complicated, even with just the malts.

The total malt content is quite high, averaging around 80%. Mostly in the form of base malt. Of which there are two: pale malt and mild malt. No real surprise that the latter should be used in Mild Ales. Especially at more price-conscious breweries.

I suppose enzymic malt also counts as a base malt. I’m not sure if it was really needed to help mash conversion. But some brewers found it a hard habit to kick.

The most commonly-used other malt is crystal. Again, no real surprise there. It’s more of a shock that there are examples without it. And one of those is from Scotland, where crystal malt was never much used. There’s quite a bit of variation in the percentage, from around 5% to over 13%.

Only three beers contain any roasted malt: one black malt and two chocolate malt. Why so few? Because most of the beers were getting the majority of their colour from sugar, not malt. Which was really typical of Dark Mild.

I’m not 100% sure that Boddington used wheat in malted form. It isn’t clear from the brewing records which form it was in. It could also have been flour or flakes. I assume its presence was for improved head retention. 

Mild Ale malts 1969 - 1985
Year	Brewer	Beer	pale malt	mild malt	black malt	choc. Malt	crystal malt	wheat malt	enzymic malt	total malt
1977	Adnams	XXX		79.72%			8.30%			88.03%
1971	Boddington	BM	65.24%				13.73%	3.43%	2.58%	84.98%
1971	Boddington	XX	64.59%				13.60%	3.40%	2.55%	84.14%
1970	Drybrough	B 60/-	76.50%		1.82%					78.32%
1975	Elgood	MM		67.40%			11.23%			78.64%
1969	Fremlin	XX	66.90%			1.05%	9.41%		2.61%	79.97%
1968	Fullers	H	75.00%				5.00%			80.00%
1972	Higson	H		70.05%			6.43%			76.49%
1971	Shepherd Neame	MB	67.49%				4.82%			72.31%
1969	Truman	LM	65.49%				9.63%			75.12%
1972	Whitbread	B. Mild	69.77%			3.49%	9.07%			82.33%
1985	Tetley	Mild	77.50%							77.50%
1985	Tetley	Falstaff	77.50%							77.50%
1971	Watney	Special Mild		70.00%			5.50%			75.50%
	Average									79.34%
Sources:
Adnams brewing record held at the brewery.
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/134.
Drybrough brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number D/6/1/1/9.
Elgood brewing record held at the brewery
Fremlin brewing record held at the Kent Archives, document number U3555/2/F/Bx2/1/93.
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery.
Higson brewing record.
Shepherd Neame brewing book held at the brewery, document number 1971 H-5O5.
Truman brewing record held by Derek Prentice.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/09/141.

Shepherd Neame grists in 1971

Time to look at what went into these beers. Starting off with the malts and adjuncts.

Pale malt was the only base employed. Nothing very unusual about that. More uncommon is the presence of crystal malt in every single beer. Which was a bit of a turnaround. Because up until at least 1966, they didn’t use crystal malt at all.

Even more odd is the presence of amber malt in one of the Pale Ale parti-gyles. It’s not a malt you’d usually find in a Pale Ale. In fact, you rarely see it in anything other than Porter and Stout. And then mostly before WW I.

I’m not 100% that the wheat was in malted form. It’s not clear from the brewing record. Though, as it just says “wheat” and not “flaked wheat” but it does say “flaked maize”. I assume wheat is there for its head-promoting properties.

Speaking of which, it’s a little strange that flaked maize only appears in the one Pale Ale parti-gyle. And not in the Mild and Brown Ale. Looking back through the logs, it’s another ingredient which was only introduced sometime after 1966. 

Shepherd Neame grists in 1971
Beer	Style	pale malt	amber malt	crystal malt	wheat malt	total malt	flaked maize
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	67.28%		4.81%		72.08%
Mild	Mild	67.28%		4.81%		72.08%
Light Ale	Pale Ale	60.55%	5.50%	5.50%	5.50%	77.06%	5.50%
Bitter	Pale Ale	84.65%		7.43%		92.08%
Best Bitter	Pale Ale	84.07%		8.24%		92.31%
Abbey Ale	Pale Ale	61.15%	5.73%	5.73%	3.82%	76.43%	3.82%
Old English Stock Ale	Pale Ale	60.55%	5.50%	5.50%	5.50%	77.06%	5.50%
Bishop's Finger	Strong Ale	59.57%	6.38%	6.38%	4.26%	76.60%	4.26%
Stout	Stout	85.71%		6.12%		91.84%
Source:
Shepherd Neame brewing book held at the brewery, document number H-5O5.

Adnams grists in 1970

What exactly went into Adnams beers in 1970? Let’s see.

For most of the beers, the malt content was pretty high at 85% plus. The exceptions being the two Pale Ales. We’ll see why that was when we get to the sugars.

Wondering why Tally Ho has a base of Mild malt when none of the other beers do? It’s because that comes from a slightly earlier period when all the dark beers had a base of mild malt. They must have swapped to all pale malt sometime in the late 1960s. Enzymic malt is another ingredient that was dropped in the late 1960s.

You might be surprised to see that crystal malt is present in all the beers except the two Pale Ales. As I repeatedly say, the use of crystal malt in Bitters is of very recent origin. It’s only after WW II that it started to be employed with any frequency in Pale Ales. And there were breweries, such as Adnams, where it was never adopted.

Adnams was another brewery which used chocolate rather than black malt as the roast element in its Stout. They must have been one of the first to do so, starting just before WW I. 

Adnams grists in 1970
Beer	Style	pale malt	choc. Malt	crystal malt	MA malt	enzymic malt	total malt
XXX	Mild Ale	77.06%		8.26%			85.32%
LBA	Pale Ale	76.71%					76.71%
BB	Pale Ale	76.88%					76.88%
XXXX	Old Ale	77.06%		8.26%			85.32%
Double Stout	Stout	64.86%	8.11%	16.22%			89.19%
Tally Ho	Barley Wine			8.06%	75.20%	2.69%	85.95%
	Average						83.23%
Source:
Adnams brewing record held at the brewery.

UK Stout malts 1969 - 1973

"Keg!" is coming along quite nicely. I know you didn't ask. But I thought I'd tell you anyway. It's about 75% done. A few more interviews are needed, though. To fill out the memoir-like aspect of the book.

Time to have a look at the grists of the Stouts we looked at the other day.

The malt percentage is fairly high, averaging 85%. Every example contains at least too malts, most three. All have a pale malt base, other than Elgood’s, which has a combination of pale and mild.

There’s a fair amount of diversity in the malts employed. Though three – Fremlin, Whitbread and Boddington – have a backbone of pale, brown and chocolate malt. Which is much like a classic London Stout blend, except that the black malt has been replaced by chocolate malt.

I’m surprised that three brewers were including brown malt, and only one black. Chocolate malt was also pretty popular, turning up in the Stouts of four breweries. While crystal malt was favoured by three brewers.

The percentage of coloured malts varied considerably. Around 24% at Adnams, 15% at Fremlin, Whitbread and Boddington, but just 9.4% at Truman. Though we’ll see why that figure was so low when we get to the adjuncts. 

UK Stout malts 1969 - 1973
Year	Brewer	Beer	pale malt	brown malt	black malt	choc. Malt	crystal malt	mild malt	total malt
1969	Fremlin	Special Stout	68.66%	8.17%		8.17%			85.01%
1970	Adnams	Double Stout	64.86%			8.11%	16.22%		89.19%
1973	Whitbread	Mackeson	70.18%	4.70%		8.40%	3.71%		86.99%
1973	Whitbread	Extra Stout	70.18%	4.70%		8.40%	3.71%		86.99%
1971	Boddington	WSS	65.96%	7.61%		7.61%			81.18%
1969	Truman	Stout	64.15%				9.43%		73.58%
1969	Elgood	Stout	38.10%		4.76%			38.10%	80.95%
	Average								83.41%
Sources:
Fremlin brewing record held at the Kent Archives, document number U3555/2/F/Bx2/1/93.
Adnams brewing record held at the brewery.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/09/141.
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/134.
Truman Ale book held by Derek Prentice.
Elgood brewing record held at the brewery.

Malt production in the 1970s

As I've finished recounting my last holiday, I cab crack on with boring you about the 1970s. This time, it's the turn of malt.

"Keg!" is coming along nicely. I've over 40,000 words and I've hardly even started on the personal memories and recipes. Of which there will be more than I expected. I'll have recipes from 12 breweries, in total. Somewhere around 50 or 60 recipes in all.

Let's get on with the extract.

On average, around a fifth of the UK barley harvest was used for malting. Even that wasn’t all dedicated to beer, as considerable quantities were also used for distilling. As we can see in table below.

Much malting was still being performed by brewers and distillers. A lot more than I would have expected. A massive 44% in 1971 and, despite declining a little, it was still 37% in 1979. And in absolute terms had actually increased.

I’m quite surprised to see just how much malt was used in distilling. In some years, such as 1973 and 1974, it was only slightly less than that used in brewing.

My guess is that the malt imports were almost all in the form of lager malt or other continental malt types. I can’t see UK brewers using foreign-made pale malt in their beer.

I’d love to know what the destination of the malt exports were. Presumably to countries which were brewing British-style beers.

What else was malt used for other than brewing and distilling? Well, an obvious one is malt vinegar. A fair bit must have been for that. And there are some foods – such as biscuits – which can contain malt. 

Malt production and usage (thousand tonnes)
Year	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Malt Production:
Brewer-Maltsters	230	247	271	247	250	265	263	257	301
Distiller-Maltsters	270	284	291	300	225	245	256	321	291
Sale-Maltsters	640	745	810	915	912	885	877	984	1,019
Total	1,140	1,276	1,372	1,462	1,387	1,395	1,396	1,562	1,611
Malt Imports	31	27	49	78	35	30	46	42	61
Malt Exports	94	94	141	138	119	175	130	164	189
Malt Requirements:
For Brewing	610	623	661	689	712	720	727	735	752
For Distilling	521	561	631	692	566	520	559	536	651
Other purposes	53	52	57	59	61	80	79	70	69
Total	1,184	1,236	1,349	1,440	1,339	1,320	1,365	1,341	1,472
Source:
The Brewers' Society UK Statistical Handbook 1980, page 26.