Comments on: Everything you wanted to know about X

By: Beer blog sampler » Hop Talk

Beer blog sampler » Hop Talk — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:27:19 +0000

[...] Everything you wanted to know about X by The Zythophile The history, true and otherwise, of the use of “X” in regards to beer. Fascinating stuff. [...]

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:48:49 +0000

I come from Queensland Australia. Over here we have lager brewed by Castlemaine Perkins, known as XXXX Gold and XXXX Bitter. Although historically the name did refer to the strength, I doubt it continues to be. XXXX Gold is a mid-strength beer (3.5% a.b.v.) whereas the original XXXX Bitter is 4.8% a.b.v.

By: Ron Pattinson

Ron Pattinson — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:32:53 +0000

No sugar in most of the pre-1880’s ones. Even between the wars (when the logs have the colour of the beer listed) Barclay Perkins X and XX were a darkish amber, except for versions darkened with caramel.

By: zythophile

zythophile — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:15:23 +0000

Mmmmm - but what colour were the sugars?

By: Ron Pattinson

Ron Pattinson — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:43:23 +0000

Interesting stuff again. Though I’m not so sure about X always meaning a dark beer. All the logs for X Ales pre-1900 that I’ve seen are for 100% pale malt beers.

By: Zythophile

Zythophile — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 11:57:42 +0000

Ah, the Ks! I’m glad you asked me that … a blog entry on the AK question is planned very shortly, where much will be revealed …

By: E.S. Delia

E.S. Delia — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:53:30 +0000

Insightful post, indeed. And I also found the strength connection to Dubbels and Tripels with Xs fascinating. Also, I do seem to recall Whitbread brewing Mackeson Triple XXX Milk Stout as well, at 4.9% abv.

By the way, for the uninitiated such as myself, what were the designations of PA, BA, KK, and AK for as far as pales and bitters? I think the first two are obvious as Pale Ale and Bitter Ale, but what are the Ks all about?

By: Brew Like A Monk » Blog Archive » Dubbels, tripels and Xs

Brew Like A Monk » Blog Archive » Dubbels, tripels and Xs — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 13:42:36 +0000

[...] Thus I point you to a wonderful post from Martyn Cornell: Everything you wanted to know about X. [...]

By: The Beer Nut

The Beer Nut — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:55:37 +0000

And there’s the famous story that during the Treaty negotiations, Collins sent to Davy Byrne’s pub in Dublin for “a bottle of brandy and a soda syphon to settle the Irish question”, though I see this is attributed to some guy called Protz, so it’s probably apocryphal…

By: zythophile

zythophile — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:57:58 +0000

The last time I passed through West Cork I noticed that Deasy’s still made soft drinks, though I believe the brewery site has been redeveloped. I’ve never been too sure about the claim that Michael Collins was a fan of the “Wrassler” - at least one source I’ve seen claimed he was a claret man …