Historical "Porter" - some recipes

Bob · 10-07-2010, 08:35 PM

In another thread, an HBT member asked for some ideas for historical Porter recipes. Here follow some recipes from my historical sources. Some have been reduced to homebrew brew lengths, some are still in the original for you to have fun redacting.

NB: Often, historical Porter doesn't even come close to resembling what we consider Porter (Robust or Brown) in 2010. When I list it here, it's because the original document called it Porter. So don't come crying to me!

1. Coppinger's Porter Process No. II

from the 1815 book The American Practical Brewer & Tanner, by Joseph Coppinger.

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 17.50
Anticipated OG: 1.096 Plato: 22.96
Anticipated SRM: 39.3
Anticipated IBU: 60.6
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
57.1 10.00 lbs. Pale Malt (Maris Otter) UK 1.038 4
42.9 7.50 lbs. Brown Malt UK 1.035 74

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.00 oz. Willamette Whole 5.00 54.5 60 min.
2.00 oz. Willamette Whole 5.00 6.1 5 min.

Yeast
-----

DCL Yeast S-04 SafAle English Ale

The above numbers suggest modern batch-sparging. Should you wish to follow the historical method, do the following (and be prepared for a LONG day):

Quote:

Heat of the first mashing liquor one hundred and seventy-two, mash one hour, stand one hour, run down smartly; second mashing liquor one hundred and eighty, mash one hour, stand two hours, run down as before; third mash one hundred and sixty-four, mash half an hour, stand half an hour, run down smartly; boil the extract of the first, with half the extract of the second mash; boil as hard as you can for one hour and a quarter, then strike off, retaining your hops in the copper for your second boil, which includes half your second wort, and the whole of your third; these should be boiled for four hours as hard as you can make them.

2. Coppinger's Porter Process No. III

from the same source.

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 15.00 Wort Size (Gal): 15.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 37.25
Anticipated OG: 1.067 Plato: 16.39
Anticipated SRM: 24.8
Anticipated IBU: 45.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
26.8 10.00 lbs. Brown Malt Great Britain 1.032 70
69.8 26.00 lbs. Maris Otter Great Britain 1.037 4
3.4 1.25 lbs. Molasses Generic 1.036 80

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.00 oz. Willamette Pellet 5.00 45.4 60 min.

Yeast
-----

DCL Yeast S-04 SafAle English Ale

Again, the numbers are for modern batch-sparging. The historical process:

Quote:

First mashing liquor one hundred and sixty, mash one hour, stand one hour; second mashing liquor one hundred and seventy, mash one hour, stand one hour and three quarters; third mashing liquor one hundred and seventy-five, mash half an hour, stand one hour; divide these three runs into two equal parts, boil the first one hour, the second two hours and a half, as hard as you can in both instances

NB: Temperatures mentioned in both No II and No III Processes are not mash temperatures; that's the temperature of the mash liquor at dough-in.

3. Griffin Brewery 1839 Porter

from notes in the City of Westminster archive.

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 10.88
Anticipated OG: 1.060 Plato: 14.84
Anticipated SRM: 30.8
Anticipated IBU: 55.3
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
80.5 8.75 lbs. Pale Malt (Maris Otter) UK 1.038 4
14.9 1.63 lbs. Brown Malt UK 1.035 74
4.6 0.50 lbs. Black Patent Malt UK 1.027 525

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.00 oz. Willamette Whole 4.00 51.1 60 min.
1.50 oz. Willamette Whole 4.00 4.3 5 min.

Yeast
-----

DCL Yeast S-04 SafAle English Ale

4. Barclay Perkins Anchor Brewery TT Porter, ca. 1805

from the London Metropolitan Archive.

Barclay Perkins 1805 TT Porter

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 9.50
Anticipated OG: 1.052 Plato: 12.92
Anticipated SRM: 26.6
Anticipated IBU: 48.7
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
55.3 5.25 lbs. Pale Malt (Maris Otter) UK 1.038 4
44.7 4.25 lbs. Brown Malt UK 1.035 74

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.50 oz. Willamette Whole 4.00 44.3 60 min.
1.50 oz. Willamette Whole 4.00 4.4 5 min.

Yeast
-----

DCL Yeast S-04 SafAle English Ale

5. Barclay Perkins TT Porter 1936

from notes in the London Metropolitan Archive.

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 6.00
Anticipated OG: 1.033 Plato: 8.28
Anticipated SRM: 27.6
Anticipated IBU: 28.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
75.0 4.50 lbs. Pale Malt (Maris Otter) UK 1.038 4
16.7 1.00 lbs. Brown Malt UK 1.035 74
8.3 0.50 lbs. Black Patent Malt UK 1.027 525

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.50 oz. Fuggle Whole 4.00 26.9 60 min.
0.50 oz. Fuggle Whole 4.00 1.5 5 min.

Yeast
-----

DCL Yeast S-04 SafAle English Ale

Have fun!

Bob

Edited to add: I find it interesting to contrast the gravities and hopping rates between the early C19 and 1936 recipes. My, how taxes can impact beer!

**Airborneguy** · 10-07-2010, 08:56 PM

Thanks for the recipes!

I just brewed one which was extremely close to #3, but with Fuggles hops and Wyeast Thames Valley yeast. It's still fermenting, but it had a very roasty aroma going into the fermentor. I actually plan on splitting this batch and putting half over some chili peppers in a secondary.

I'm very interested to see how this comes out, both halves. I wanted to get as close to an original porter as possible, so I took the recipe out of the Classic Beer Styles Porter book by Terry Foster.

I'll be sure to update once this one is drinkable. In the future, I would like to age a porter in my barrel for over a year, then blend it with a new one. Apparently, this was common practice for porter brewers in the 1800's.

Bob · 10-07-2010, 09:07 PM

Sure was. It was also common for the aged ("stock") porter to develop a certain bite from Brettanomyces "infection" during the long storage in the wood. That's something I might try one day, when I can afford to buy a cask I'm willing to deliberately infect with something I will never, ever be able to remove.

Foster's book is a really good introduction, if a bit dated. That's the book that got me hooked on the style, and made me keep searching back in time!

Cheers,

Bob

jfr1111 · 10-07-2010, 11:03 PM

The first one is way too over the top for me to consider, even a 2.5 gallon batch would have huge grain bill, but the others seem to be more manageable. I'll probably try my hand at #5 first since it'll probably dirt cheap to make. Plus, I feel it's the closest of them all to our "modern sensibilities".

Would you recommend getting the English variety of Brown malt or is domestic good enough ? The English variety is a lot pricier at my LHBS (like twice as expensive) but since it calls for such a small amount, I'm probably better off getting 2 kilos of the real stuff for a potential repeat.

What temp would you recommend mashing for the 1936 recipe.

Bob · 10-08-2010, 02:30 PM

I've always used UK brown malt. I prefer it. Yeah, it's more expensive, but...

Mash in relatively high, say 154-6F. You're going to want some dextrins in that beer for body to balance that relatively high hop rate.

Cheers,

Bob

patto1ro · 10-11-2010, 01:40 PM

You've missed out half the ingredients from the 1936 Barclay Perkins TT.

This is the real grist (for 5 UK gallons):

malt
type

pounds

%

pale malt
MA Dereham

2.5

42.59%

pale malt
MA Gilstrap

0.5

8.52%

brown malt

0.25

4.26%

amber malt

0.67

11.41%

maize

0.33

5.62%

roasted barley

0.5

8.52%

oats

0.02

0.34%

crystal malt

0.33

5.62%

sugar

0.67

11.41%

sugar
caramel

0.1

1.70%

total

5.87

100.00%

The base malt in the original was mild ale malt.

Without the sugar, you'll have a completely different beer.

There are too many hops as well. I make it 1.66 oz for 5 UK gallons. Two thirds Fuggles, one third Goldings. And there wasn't a late addition. The latest addition Barclay perkins ever made was 15 minutes before the end of the boil, but their Porter usually had all the hops added at the start of the boil.

Bob · 10-11-2010, 02:14 PM

Awesome! I didn't know that, and

for the data! Obviously I was working from a less-than-accurate source.

If you don't mind, would you share your source with me?

Cheers,

Bob

patto1ro · 10-11-2010, 09:04 PM

My source is the brewing records of Barclay Perkins at the London Metropolitan Archives.

What was your source?

Bob · 10-11-2010, 10:32 PM

Mine was from the Courage records, via http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/beerale.htm - for gravity, color and hopping rate data. As that source lacked the exact grist, I went with a grist which provided an approximation of the color by using ingredients in proportion to other known grists.

Do you have a citation by which I might access the records? If so, please share it.

Cheers,

Bob

Bob · 10-11-2010, 11:46 PM

By way of apology for screwing up so badly, here's another historical porter recipe from 1903:

Pale malt 48%
Crystal malt 11%
Maize 14%
Black malt 5.2%
Glucose 2.4%
Invert sugar 19.4%

OG: 1.055
FG: 1.019

IBU: 56

I suspect the IBU is artificially high, based on quantity alone, not taking into consideration whole flowers stored loosely and open to atmosphere at room temperature.

Cheers,

Bob