Younger's Tartan Special Ale

[ballxx4]

I'm trying to find a recipe for a beer back in the day, younger's tartan special ale. I've done some research and people have said it matches closest to a Scottish 70. Does anyone else remember this beer and if so would know of a recipe close to it?

It was pretty darn good beer

 

[kevin58]

For all things related to English and Scottish beers you should read Ron Pattinson. His blog is called Shut Up About Barclay Perkins and he has two books about Scottish Beers.... book number II is loaded with over 200 recipes.

Ron posted in a UK forum on this very subject some years ago stating that he believes Tartan Special Ale to be a version Wm Younger's export pale ale. Here is how the recipe appears on his blog.

https://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/search?q=XXPS

 

[shetc]

Drank many pints of delicious McEwan's 70/- at the Athletic Arms in Edinburgh. Some of the best beer in the world. Check this out http://www.glasswithatwist.com/articles/Beer-and-Brewing/ales-of-scotland.

 

[shetc]

Look at that pint

 

[Angus MacDonald]

Man that's a good looking pint. Now I need to find a pub that sells a decent 70/- up here until I can brew one. Maybe the Phoenix...

 

[shetc]

Man that's a good looking pint. Now I need to find a pub that sells a decent 70/- up here until I can brew one. Maybe the Phoenix...

Yeah, that pub is literally a stones throw from the brewery. Beer is super fresh.

 

[bierhaus15]

From the old Wheeler/Protz recipe list, take these with a grain of salt.

Maclays 70/: Pale malt, roasted barley, flaked wheat, wheat malt, sugar (probably maltose syrup). Hallertauer and Styrian oil. 1.036, 20 BU.

McEwans 70/: 90% Pale malt, 5% crystal, 5% wheat malt. Fuggles, brewers gold. 1.036, 30? BU.

 

[Hanglow]

They still sell it in cans, I presume it's made by wells/Marston's now. It's not very good, but pints of it back in the day might well have been a lot better, certainly if they were cask conditioned . I don't recall that beer being cask conditioned but I might well be wtong. I did drink a lot of the cans in the mid 90s as a teen as it was cheap and I preferred it to the likes of McEwan's lager, which was the single worst lager I can ever remember drinking. The likes of Tennant's was a lot better iirc, which is saying something. Tennant's have an equivalentof tartan spesh just called special ale I think.

Those recipes that bierhaus 15 posted will get you close I think to what you want even if it's not going to be exact. Another thing you could try is search Ron's blog for Maclays and I'm sure he has the recipe for the pre1990s versions of their beers which include more sugar, caramel and maize iirc.

 

[Roxhambrewshed]

I'm trying to find a recipe for a beer back in the day, younger's tartan special ale. I've done some research and people have said it matches closest to a Scottish 70. Does anyone else remember this beer and if so would know of a recipe close to it?

It was pretty darn good beer

Did you have any luck finding a recipe? I used to drink it all the time in a local pub near Montreal...but that was about twenty years ago

 

[dave-ross-beer]

Same same Does anyone found something close ? I know about Ron's blog, but not sure how to find out which is the closest one :/ without trying them one by one lol

 

[Gusso]

I drank quite a few pints of that at the British Officers Club in Berlin in the mid 80's. As an Air Traffic Controller, I worked with British and French controllers, had access to all the Ally joints. Currently sitting on my Kegerator...

 

[Nubiwan]

Drank many pints of delicious McEwan's 70/- at the Athletic Arms in Edinburgh. Some of the best beer in the world. Check this out The Ales of Scotland | Glass With A Twist.

Struck me how low the ABV is on many of these older UK/Irish styles. Many under 4%. They do have the very heavies (7-8%), but most are 3-5%. This is also my recollecion of many draft beers in the UK. 3-5% at very most. Many under 4.

It occurs to me that many home brewers and craft breweries think a decent homebrew has to have a substantial ABV. In fact, it's almost a brewers right of passage to proclaim brewing ultra heavy "anything". I think it one of the bigger fallacies of brewing. That big ABV means must taste better.

I recently worried one of my beers would come off at just 4.5%. I felt somehow "smaller" than the rest. Back in the day, my 4.5 % would be a respectable strong ale. My regular beers come off around 5-6%, and I have trouble keeping intact after 6-7 pints of that. Can't imagine drinking stuff that starts getting close to 10% or more, and enjoying the night (next day). I'd likely be on my arse by 10 PM.

 

[shetc]

Struck me how low the ABV is on many of these older UK/Irish styles. Many under 4%. They do have the very heavies (7-8%), but most are 3-5%. This is also my recollecion of many draft beers in the UK. 3-5% at very most. Many under 4.

It occurs to me that many home brewers and craft breweries think a decent homebrew has to have a substantial ABV. In fact, it's almost a brewers right of passage to proclaim brewing ultra heavy "anything". I think it one of the bigger fallacies of brewing. That big ABV means must taste better.

I recently worried one of my beers would come off at just 4.5%. I felt somehow "smaller" than the rest. Back in the day, my 4.5 % would be a respectable strong ale. My regular beers come off around 5-6%, and I have trouble keeping intact after 6-7 pints of that. Can't imagine drinking stuff that starts getting close to 10% or more, and enjoying the night (next day). I'd likely be on my arse by 10 PM.

Well, the evolution of beer in the UK is a very interesting thing. They only became lower strength due to taxes required to run 2 world wars. The trick is making tasty beer at those lower alcohol levels. So if you are making 4.5 beers that you enjoy then you are on a winner, IMHO.