Monday, 31 January 2011

Whitbread Porter 1841 - 1849

It's been a while since the last one. Must be time for the next decade of Whitbread Porter. 1840's, that's the next one, right?

There are some periods were there was bugger all change in Whitbread's Porter for many years. This is one of them. For the first half of the 1840's, Whitbread's Porter was brewed to just about exactly the same recipe every time. You can see it so clearly in the table, which gives percentages rather than absolute amounts.

That recipe was 152 quarters of pale malt, 40 quarters of brown malt, 6.5 quarters of black malt, 2300 lbs of hops. Though the hops did vary up and down a bit. And the black malt content was increased to 7 quarters in 1844. Why mend something that isn't broken?

There's little more change over the wjhole of the decade. The brown malt content rose from 15% to 195, and that of black malt from 2.5% to 3%. Not exactly earth-shattering changes. They must have been able to brew this stuff in their sleep.

You'll see that there was a slight erosion of Whitbread Porter's gravity. It slipped from around 1062 to 1059. Not sure why that was. Perhaps the price of malt increased a little. Must look that up.

The 1840's is about when Porter's popularity began to wane. Not, as some would have believe, because of the rise in Pale Ale. No, that was for the nobs. The working man's affection was turning to X Ale. Or Mild as we know it. Though X Ale of the 1840's didn't bear much resemblance to modern Mild . In 1841, Whitbread's X Ale had a gravity of 1076 and was pale in colour.

Hopping rate. Best not forget that. Looks pretty stable to me, hovering around the 3 pounds per barrel, or effing loads, mark.

Whitbread Porter 1841 - 1849
Date
Year
Beer
OG
FG
ABV
App. Attenuation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
Pitch temp
pale malt
brown malt
black malt
sugar
total
11th Dec
1841
P
1063.4
1018.8
5.90
70.31%
12.24
3.53
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
20th May
1842
P
1061.2
1019.4
5.53
68.33%
10.52
2.66
1.5
1.5
3
4
63.25º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
23rd May
1842
P
1062.3
1018.6
5.79
70.22%
11.29
2.85
1.5
1.5
3
4
63.5º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
24th Jan
1842
P
1062.6
1018.3
5.86
70.80%
10.62
2.72
1.5
1.5
3
4
63.75º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
5th Jul
1842
P
1061.2
1017.5
5.79
71.49%
10.76
2.72
1.5
1.5
3
4
63.75º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
5th Sep
1842
P
1062.0
1019.4
5.64
68.75%
12.07
3.08
1.5
1.5
3
4
63.5º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
12th Sep
1842
P
1062.3
1019.7
5.64
68.44%
12.16
3.13
1.5
1.5
3
4
63.75º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
20th Oct
1842
P
1063.2
1019.9
5.72
68.42%
11.54
2.94
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
29th Aug
1842
P
1062.3
1018.0
5.86
71.11%
12.33
3.18
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
26th Sep
1842
P
1060.9
1016.6
5.86
72.73%
12.14
3.06
1.5
1.5
3
4
63.75º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
22nd Jul
1843
P
1062.9
1018.3
5.90
70.93%
10.73
2.64
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
28th Aug
1843
P
1062.6
1019.1
5.75
69.47%
12.15
3.00
1.5
1.5
3
4
63.75º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
21st Sep
1843
P
1062.6
1019.9
5.64
68.14%
12.70
3.04
1.5
1.5
3
4
62º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
19th Oct
1843
P
1063.7
1019.9
5.79
68.70%
12.10
3.04
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
4th Oct
1843
P
1061.8
1019.9
5.53
67.71%
12.76
3.11
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.82%
15.64%
2.54%

100.00%
11th Jul
1844
P
1063.7
1019.4
5.86
69.57%
11.30
2.88
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
19th Aug
1844
P
1063.2
1019.9
5.72
68.42%
11.56
1.67
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
21st Oct
1844
P
1061.2
1018.3
5.68
70.14%
11.46
3.03
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
26thOct
1844
P
1062.0
1019.1
5.68
69.20%
11.49
2.88
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
17th Aug
1844
P
1063.2
1019.1
5.83
69.74%
11.57
2.93
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
26th Aug
1844
P
1062.9
1018.3
5.90
70.93%
11.62
2.92
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
20th Jul
1844
P
1063.4
1019.4
5.83
69.43%
11.39
2.85
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
8th Oct
1844
P
1064.0
1019.9
5.83
68.83%
11.50
3.02
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
3rd May
1845
P
1064.0
1020.8
5.72
67.53%
10.44
2.58
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
30th Jul
1845
P
1063.2
1022.7
5.35
64.04%
11.85
3.04
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
19th Jul
1845
P
1062.6
1021.6
5.42
65.49%
11.71
2.80
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
18th Aug
1845
P
1062.0
1020.5
5.50
66.96%
12.40
3.07
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
20th Oct
1845
P
1061.8
1019.9
5.53
67.71%
11.89
3.19
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
1st Nov
1845
P
1062.3
1019.9
5.61
68.00%
11.51
2.91
1.5
1.5
3
4
64º
81.66%
15.61%
2.73%

100.00%
12th Aug
1846
P
1059.0
1019.4
5.24
67.14%
11.33
2.99
1.5
2
2

64º
78.22%
18.94%
2.84%

100.00%
10th Oct
1846
P
1060.1
1019.1
5.42
68.20%
10.75
2.73
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.43%
19.80%
2.77%

100.00%
14th Sep
1846
P
1059.8
1017.5
5.61
70.83%
10.87
2.77
1.5
2
2

64º
78.22%
18.94%
2.84%

100.00%
10th Dec
1846
P
1058.4
1018.6
5.28
68.25%
10.51
2.47
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.43%
19.80%
2.77%

100.00%
5th Oct
1846
P
1059.3
1018.3
5.42
69.16%
10.86
2.85
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.43%
19.80%
2.77%

100.00%
4th Nov
1846
P
1059.3
1020.2
5.17
65.89%
10.36
2.62
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.43%
19.80%
2.77%

100.00%
27th May
1847
P
1054.6



10.16
2.39
1.5
2
2
2
63.5º
78.14%
18.92%
2.94%

100.00%
26th Jul
1847
P
1057.6
1015.0
5.64
74.04%
11.93
3.07
1.5
2
2

64º
78.22%
18.94%
2.84%

100.00%
18th Aug
1847
P
1056.0
1015.8
5.31
71.78%
11.67
2.97
1.5
2
2

64º
77.79%
19.41%
2.80%

100.00%
18th Oct
1847
P
1057.3
1018.8
5.09
67.15%
11.89
2.98
1.5
2
2

64º
78.22%
18.94%
2.84%

100.00%
26th Aug
1847
P
1053.2
1015.8
4.95
70.31%
12.77
2.89
1.5
2
2

65º
56.45%
18.92%
3.15%
21.47%
100.00%
23rd Oct
1847
P
1056.5
1018.0
5.09
68.14%
10.64
2.67
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.43%
19.80%
2.77%

100.00%
16th Mar
1848
P
1061.5
1019.4
5.57
68.47%
10.53
2.72
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.28%
19.76%
2.96%

100.00%
19th Aug
1848
P
1060.9
1018.3
5.64
70.00%
11.71
3.03
1.5
2
2

64º
78.04%
18.89%
3.07%

100.00%
4th Sep
1848
P
1061.5
1019.9
5.50
67.57%
11.28
2.90
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.28%
19.76%
2.96%

100.00%
18th Sep
1848
P
1060.1
1019.1
5.42
68.20%
11.34
2.91
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.28%
19.76%
2.96%

100.00%
19th Sep
1848
P
1059.0
1018.3
5.39
69.01%
11.69
3.00
1.5
2
2

64º
78.04%
18.89%
3.07%

100.00%
24th Jul
1848
P
1059.8
1016.6
5.72
72.22%
11.28
2.89
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.28%
19.76%
2.96%

100.00%
16th Oct
1848
P
1060.4
1018.3
5.57
69.72%
11.63
3.06
1.5
2
2

64º
78.04%
18.89%
3.07%

100.00%
1st Oct
1849
P
1060.9
1019.9
5.42
67.27%
11.55
3.12
1.5
2
2

64º
77.86%
18.85%
3.30%

100.00%
1st Aug
1849
P
1060.4
1018.6
5.53
69.27%
11.78
3.05
1.5
2
2
2
64º
77.28%
19.76%
2.96%

100.00%
11th Aug
1849
P
1058.4
1019.1
5.20
67.30%
11.78
2.96
1.5
2
2
2
65º
77.28%
19.76%
2.96%

100.00%
1st Oct
1849
P
1060.9
1019.9
5.42
67.27%
11.55
3.12
1.5
2
2

64º
77.86%
18.85%
3.30%

100.00%
Source:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives 
Documents:
LMA/4453/D/09/035, LMA/4453/D/09/036, LMA/4453/D/09/037, LMA/4453/D/09/038, LMA/4453/D/09/039, LMA/4453/D/09/040, LMA/4453/D/09/041, LMA/4453/D/09/042, LMA/4453/D/09/043


Let's finish on a light note. Here's an amusing little piece from this very period that mentions Whitbread Porter:

Mr. Leeson was requested to see a girl seventeen years old, and having described the general symptoms, he says,—

"Upon inspecting the lumbar region there was an abscess of large circumference pointing, and situate close upon the sides and middle of the lumbar vertebra;, which in a day or two opened and gave off a thick yellow fluid streaked with blood, and of the most intolerably foetid character. . . Something of an appetite remained, which was the only ground for hope by which I might effect her recovery, and this I cultivated in the most cautious manner.

"The treatment commenced by her taking as much pure milk as she could, night and morning, combined with a portion of stale bread; her dinner consisted of fresh meat, floury potatoes, and Whitbread's porter, beginning with the smallest quantities of each, which she took more from duty than from desire; with this I combined the quinine treatment. Over the circumference of the abscess I kept some linen rags wet with a solution of chloride of lime, and over them a well-adjusted linseed poultice. Evory time these dressings were removed the foetor was horrible, and continued so for some weeks until the whole of the left psoas muscle came away with the forceps as clean as if it had been dissected out, leaving a considerable depression to mark its departure. When this occurred I then plugged the cavity with very soft lint, dipped in a weak solution of nitrate of silver in distilled water, and then sealed it with the linseed poultice."
"The lancet 1846, vol. 2", 1846, page 562.
See it must have been good stuff, the Whitbread Porter. They gave it to invalids. Just as well there was no legal drinking age back in those days.
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7 comments:

Craig said...

Any idea why there was the lone sugar addition in August of 1847? That and the previous May are the only time the gravity drops below 1055 and the ABV drops below 5%. The pitch temp gets adjusted, as well, for the first time in almost two-and-a-half years.

31 January 2011 at 12:39
Ron Pattinson said...

Craig, 1847 is when the use of sugar was allowed. Looks like Whitbread gave it a go, then went back to all malt.

31 January 2011 at 12:42
Craig said...

Ah yes, those important dates, I was supposed to remember from grammar school – 1066, 1492, 1776, 1847...

31 January 2011 at 12:57
Gary Gillman said...

Ron, in New York recently I bought a pint bottle of Carnegie porter, brewed in 2004 and thus 7 years into its claimed (per the label) 10 year lifespan. 1836 was the founding year of the eponymous brewery, founded by Scot who came to Sweden to brew porter.

The label states the recipe is the same as from the beginning. I am not sure about that, especially in regard to hopping, but I'll offer a taste note as something that might resemble the early 1840's Whitbread recipes you have related.

It pours a dark brown almost but not quite to black, with ruby hints. Hasn't lost a whit of carbonation over 7 years. Amazingly, there is not a hint of damp paper or sherried oxidation. The beer has a mocha-like flavour, from genuine porter ingredients, not any coffee or cocoa additive (used way too much in porter today). It has a complex and slightly smoky palate too, as if some brown malt is in the picture. I doubt raw grains are used, the beer doesn't have that raw astringent taste you often get with that grain.

A lovely dram and the only thing I'd change is to make it more hoppy, but 7 years in the bottle may have knocked some of the edges off the hops. Good on Carslberg for keeping Pripps's Carnegie Porter going - don't stop, guys.

Gary

P.S. It tastes like the attenuation is about 70% by the way, the level of the 1841 recipe you give for Whitbread's Porter.

Gary

31 January 2011 at 19:02
Tim said...

While we're on the topic of Whitbread Porter, I just posted tasting notes from my 1808 brew. Quick summary: brown malt!

http://strngbrew.blogspot.com/2011/01/tasting-august-29-1808-whitbread-porter.html

31 January 2011 at 19:27
Ron Pattinson said...

Gary, I would be amazed if CArnegie Porter were brewed to the original recipe. Very nice beer, though.

1 February 2011 at 04:48
Gary Gillman said...

But Ron, it says right there on the label, "Carnegie Porter was brewed for the first time in 1836 and tastes the same today as it did then". :)

Gary

1 February 2011 at 10:54

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