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Classic London Porter

This will be my second attempt at trying to duplicate a historical beer. I'm using an 1850 Whitbread recipe for this attempt. I'm curious to see how this one turns out.

Brewer: Bill Cain, Jr. Email: wcain@ccrtc.com
Beer: Classic London Porter Style: Brown Porter
Type: All grain Size: 2.75 gallons
Color:
78 HCU (~29 SRM)
Bitterness: 62 IBU
OG: 1.062 FG: 1.014
Alcohol: 6.2% v/v (4.8% w/w)
Water: 2.5 tsp. yeast nutrient
Grain: 4.5 lb. British pale
14.0 oz. British brown
4.50 oz. American black patent
Mash: 82% efficiency
I used a single infusion mash. I added the grains to 5 quarts of 164F strike water. This brought the temperature down to 150F. I held the mash between 150-155F for about 3 hours. Mashed out at 175 for 15 minutes. Sparged with 1.5 gallons of 170-180F water. I collected about 2.5 gallons of wort in brew kettle and added enough water to bring this up to 3.25 gallons.
Boil: 90 minutes SG 1.052 3.25 gallons
Irish moss added with 25 minutes left in the boil.
Hops: 1.25 oz. Fuggles (4.9% AA, 90 min.)
Yeast: Wyeast #1098 British yeast.
Log: Brewed on 01/10/01.
Planning on 1 week in glass primary and 10 days in glass secondary with .25 oz. of E. Kent Goldings pellets for dry hopping. Fermentation temperatures will be 60-65F. Will bottle (hopefully) on 01/27/01 and leave at room temperature for 10 days to build up the carbination, then age in a refigerator for 3-4 months at c. 42F.
Carbonation: 2.1 volumes Corn Sugar: 1.49 oz. for 2.50 gallons @ 60°F
Tasting: I plan on sampling a bottle a month to see how the taste develops. I also hope I've gotten the bitternes level right. I had to "guesstimate" what the AAUs of the hops in 1850 might have been (4-4.5%?). I then calculated the IBU's resulting from these hops for a 90 minute boil. My figures came out lower than other estimates for the original bitterness level that I seen for this type of beer, but still well above the modern levels for porter. I hope I'm close to what the original might have tasted like. I'll update this as soon as I can.

Recipe posted 01/10/01.