Saturday 4 November 2017

Let's Brew - 1977 Adnams Tally Ho

I never imagined that I’d publish recipes from my own drinking days. I used to think that only pre-WW I stuff was interesting. Then got fascinated by the interwar period. And finally realised I’m interested in everything.

I definitely drank Adnams in 1977, though probably not Tally Ho. It

wasn’t usually sold on cask. This is what the 1989 Good Beer Guide says:
“Tally Ho is a bottled beer produced in draught form for a few outlets at Christmas. It has an original gravity of 1075.”

Because I only got to drink Adnams beer in the free trade or at festivals, I don’t think I tried anything other than the Mild and Bitter.

Turning to the beer itself, the recipe hasn’t changed a huge amount since 1967. It’s still just mild malt, crystal malt and sugar. The latter remaining a  combination of No. 3 invert and two proprietary sugars, Laevuline and Sucramel. For which I’ve again substituted No. 2 invert.

The only real difference in the recipe is that the proportion of sugar and crystal malt has fallen and that of mild malt increased. The hopping has remained at the same level, though the varieties used are still a mystery. Something English is all I know.


1977 Adnams Tally Ho
mild malt 12.75 lb 83.61%
crystal malt 80 L 0.75 lb 4.92%
No. 3 Invert sugar 1.00 lb 6.56%
No. 2 Invert sugar 0.75 lb 4.92%
Fuggles 105 mins 1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins 1.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins 1.00 oz
Goldings dry hops 0.25 oz
OG 1073
FG 1026
ABV 6.22
Apparent attenuation 64.38%
IBU 31
SRM 15
Mash at 150º F
Sparge at 170º F
Boil time 160 minutes
pitching temp 60º F
Yeast WLP025 Southwold

3 comments:

petalia paul said...

I remember drinking this on draught about 1978/9.The Station Buffet at Manningtree Essex had a 2 year old cask of it.
I got the train there and dont remember much of the journey home afterwards.It was very good but I still preferred Adnams Old though

Anonymous said...

Have you done any posts on proprietary sugars you can link to? If not, and you run into any information on them (such as who made them, why so many different kinds, what flavors they had, why they chose them, etc.) it would be interesting to see. I have a hard time understanding why they wouldn't just be standardized by the refiner.

Ron Pattinson said...

Anonymous,

I've posted a little about proprietary sugars somewhere.

They were often designed with specific types of beer in mind, for example Oatmeal Stout. They were trying to provide a specific flavour and colour profile. They didn't standardise because these were commercial products. The only standardised sugars were the numbered inverts.