A full bodied succulent stout
O.G. 1.066 – 1.068
For 1 gallon (4.5lt):
1.5 lbs (680g) Pale Malt
1.0 lbs (454g) Carapils Malt
2.5 oz (70g) Crystal Malt
2.0 oz (56g) Black Malt
1⅓ oz (38g) Fuggle or Goldings hops
Mash grain for 3 hours* at 150º F (66±1º C). Raise temperature to 170º F (77º C) for 30 minutes.
Sparge with hot water at 180 – 185º F (82 – 85º C) to O.G. or required volume.
Boil with hops for 90 minutes.
Cool and ferment with a good quality ale yeast.
Mature 6 months.
*(with modern malts can be reduced to 60 minutes.)
1753 William Younger an excise officer aged 20 married Grizel Sim. They had three sons, Archibald Campbell Younger, Robert, and William Younger II.
1767 William Younger dies aged 37 and two years later Grizel Younger married Alexander Anderson, who had been brewing in Leith since at least 1758.
1778 Archibald Younger established his own brewery at Holyrood Abbey, and also others in Edinburgh and London.
1781 Alexander Anderson dies and Grizel ran the brewery herself.
1794 Grizel retired, but until then she continued to develop William Younger and Co.
1796 William Younger Jnr opened his own brewhouse at Holyrood Abbey.
1803 William Jnr acquired a second brewhouse at Holyrood.
1806 William Jnr and brother Archibald Younger started brewing porter, also taking on brother-in-law Robert Hunter in the business, the company then becoming know as Younger and Hunter.
1818 Robert Hunter died, and William Jnr took Alexander Smith into partnership with the business, the company then being known as William Younger and Co.
1889 The company became a limited company, still being run by the Younger and Smith families.
1891 400,000 barrels of beer were produced each year and by 1907 the brewery covered 27 acres and brewed a quarter of all the ale produced in Scotland.
Punch, a William Younger dray horse, circa 1871 [courtesy Scottish Brewing Archive]