Old British Beers

I managed to get a copy of a book called "Old British Beers and how to make them" shipped from the UK.

It was written about 30 years ago before the US had its homebrewing movement, so some of the knowledge in this book is a bit dated.

The book says that all the recipies should be made with a 3 hour mash(!) at 150. Then raise the temp to 170 for mashout.

Doesn't 3 hours seem a bit like overkill ?

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm worng, but the the malts available nowadays are more well modified than the older malts, meaning they convert more readily.
But yeah 3 hours seems like a very long mash.

Using a modern mash time of 60 minutes or so will be just fine.

I have David Line's book "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy" - also written 30 years ago. His mash process was 90 minutes, more in line with todays methods. As mentioned modern malts convert quickly so go with your usual method. You can extract an extra point or two and also create a slightly more convertable wort by extending your mash out to 90 minutes but I would reserve it for mashes at cooler temperatures like 146-150.

GT