That London Porter

[clibit]

This is a variation on Fullers London porter that I made last December and was bloody good. The changes were mainly about using stuff I had but it really worked:

Batch Size (L): 10.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.054
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.48 %
Colour (SRM): 30.9 (EBC): 60.9
Bitterness (IBU): 43.5 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 66

1.500 kg Pale malt (57.58%)
0.330 kg Brown Malt (12.67%)
0.170 kg Chocolate (6.53%)
0.140 kg Brewing Sugar (5.37%)
0.125 kg Crystal Rye (4.8%)
0.125 kg Munich (4.8%)
0.115 kg Wheat Malt, I used Dark (4.41%)
0.100 kg Caramalt (3.84%)

20.0 g Northdown Leaf (8.1% Alpha) @ 45 Minutes
20.0 g Progress Leaf (7.5% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes

Single step mash at 67°C for 45 Minutes.
Fermented at 21-22°C with Gervin Ale Yeast

 

[stevej]

Might have to make this one Clibit:-D

 

[clibit]

Do Steve, it was ace. Top. Mega. Brill.

 

[Roger Wilko]

Reviving a 6 year old post but brewed it this morning and now in the fv. I haven’t done much brewing for a year or so but thought this sounded very nice.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Necro thread!

If you want the Fuller's porter recipe pretty much from the horse's mouth (along with the Imperial Porter and others), see :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...ipa-from-the-horses-mouth.642756/post-8674860
Real recipes are always simpler than homebrewers make them....

 

[matt76]

Necro thread!

If you want the Fuller's porter recipe pretty much from the horse's mouth (along with the Imperial Porter and others), see :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...ipa-from-the-horses-mouth.642756/post-8674860
Real recipes are always simpler than homebrewers make them....

Hey @Northern_Brewer I had a look through that thread on Homebrewtalk and saw you gave an estimated (?) recipe here for Fuller's London Porter. Likewise, I'm also more interested in that one.

Interesting incidentally to note that @patto1ro told me recently that the Fuller's recipe is actually based on a pre WW1 London Porter.

Out of curiosity I compared your suggestion to this one on Jim's Beerkit (see 3rd post, not the 1st one) which purports to be pretty much spot on - yours is very similar.

Greg Hughes Brown Porter (very good) is not too far away from the above either. Josh Weikert's recipe (also very good) goes heavier on the chocolate (rye) malt. My own recipe has evolved really from those two, but I make mine a bit lower strength - currently experimenting with a brett aged version, and prior to that I did a split batch between MJ M36 and WY1318 and was really surprised what a difference yeast selection made. Next batch I'm hoping to culture up some Fuller's yeast from a bottle of 1845

 

[Northern_Brewer]

currently experimenting with a brett aged version

My (fairly limited) experience is that Brett on its own can dry things out a bit too much, but something around a 2:1 blend of fresh and Bretted is perfection, you need the freshness to play off the complexity of the Brett. Which strangely enough is roughly what they did historically (or even today in some Belgian beers).

I did a split batch between MJ M36 and WY1318 and was really surprised what a difference yeast selection made.

People who say beer flavour is all about hops have no idea what they're talking about...

 

[clib]

Necro thread!

If you want the Fuller's porter recipe pretty much from the horse's mouth (along with the Imperial Porter and others), see :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...ipa-from-the-horses-mouth.642756/post-8674860
Real recipes are always simpler than homebrewers make them....

Yeah but this version is bloody good! I used stuff I had in, and I wanted to change it up anyway. I've done the real one a few times!

Though, 'real' recipes? I didn't imagine mine. A recipe doesn't have to come from a brewery (operating on vast scales in a very different and more restricted way).

 

[cushyno]

I did a split batch between MJ M36 and WY1318 and was really surprised what a difference yeast selection made.

Please enlighten us!


Your recipe is not a million miles from mine Cushyno Brewdays etc..
We both used brown, two types of crystal and special B.
It was a great brew that could be enhanced with a better yeast

 

[matt76]

Please enlighten us!


Your recipe is not a million miles from mine Cushyno Brewdays etc..
We both used brown, two types of crystal and special B.
It was a great brew that could be enhanced with a better yeast

Well it's a funny story...

Pilgrimhudd compared them on two separate occasions (here and here) and both times he preferred the MJ M36 one, saying he got a tobacco thing from it, whereas the WY1318 one was nice but a bit more ordinary.

I was completely the opposite - both are very nice but the M36 one is more ordinary for me whereas with WY1318 I get a kind of leather thing from it.

(And no, he didn't muddle them up, hence tasting on two separate occasions!)

I read that you did yours with the St Austell yeast so I'm surprised it didn't quite do it for you. I'm looking forward to trying the Fuller's strain if I can culture it up - foxbat said it worked very well in a bitter he did.

As @Northern_Brewer says, yeast really does make a difference. I was really surprised even that two English Ale strains could be so different.

And for sure if the aged or "stale" Brett one works out (still months away!) I'll try it on its own but yeah, already have plans to blend it with some unaged or "mild" porter I'll brew nearer the time.

 

[cushyno]

you did yours with the St Austell yeast so I'm surprised it didn't quite do it for you.

It's not that it wasn't good, the yeast didn't lend much. I used that yeast in three beers, two of them dark. It seemed a healthy but somewhat clean strain even when fermenting over 20degC. Maybe a bit like Thames Valley?

I'm looking forward to trying the Fuller's strain if I can culture it up

I almost bought a bottle of Fuller's yesterday to culture up. I think that's worth trying.