Wednesday 15 May 2013

Ageing 18th-century London Porter

I'd always thought Porter was aged in the huge vats London brewers were so proud of.  The big innovation of Porter was the bulk ageing of beer in the brewery. I'd never really thought much about what happened to it after it was packaged for sale.

Yet here's evidence of Porter being aged in the bottle:

"At the Wine Vault in the West Wing within the Exchange, WINES and SPIRITS of different kinds, are to be sold, in wholesale, and at the following prices in retail, for ready money, viz.

Claret wine, upwards of eighteen months in Bottles, at 2s. 6d. and 3s. per chopin bottle, and in pint bottles at 5s. 6d. and 7s. 6d. per bottle.

Red port,        }
Zerry,             }
Malaga, and   } at 1s. 6d. per bottle.
Lisbon wines, }
Shrub, at 2s. per bottle;
Full proof Jamaica rum, at 2s. 6d. per bottle.
Full proof French brandy, at 2s. 4d. and 3s. per bottle, bottles included in the above prices.
Aquavitae, at 1s. per bottle, or 4s. 4d. per gallon.
Geneva, at 1s. 2d. per bottle, or 4s. 8 d. per gallon.
London porter, Upwards of nine months in bottles, at 3.5d. per bottle, or 3s. 6d. per dozen.
If clean bottles are not sent, when the aquavitae, geneva, or porter is ordered, 1s. 6d. will be added to the price.
Allowance given to such as take quantities.
What is sold of the above articles in bottles, is sealed with the impression A. L.
Commissions from persons exempted from paying impost, will be punctually executed from cellars in Leith, and the impost discounted."
Caledonian Mercury - Saturday 20 June 1772, page 3.

I'd always considered Porter, at least the standard-strength stuff, an almost exclusively draught product. Admittedly, this is an advert from a Scottish newspaper. Bottled beer was much more common, much sooner, North of the border.

Drinkers must have liked bottle-aged Porter or the seller wouldn't have bothered mentioning it. Nine months is a pretty long ageing period, especially if the beer had already been vatted in the brewery. In the 18th century, 6 to 12 months in vats is what you'd expect for Porter. Which means this bottled Porter could have been getting on for two years old. That's a similar length of maturation to a bottled Stock Pale Ale in its 19th-century heyday.

10 comments:

Jeremy Drew said...

Ron,

That's interesting. I think that you have pointed out previously that Scotland took to bottled ales rather earlier than the rest of the UK.Have you seen any other evidence of bottle-aged porter?

Is it possible, though, that there is a missing comma? This would then mean that it had been aged for 9 months in vats and then bottled.

Jeremy Drew said...

Ron,

That's interesting. I think that you have pointed out previously that Scotland took to bottled ales rather earlier than the rest of the UK.Have you seen any other evidence of bottle-aged porter?

Is it possible, though, that there is a missing comma? This would then mean that it had been aged for 9 months in vats and then bottled.

Ron Pattinson said...

Jeremy,

I've not seen references to bottle-ageing Porter before.

There's no missing comma and the entry is in the same format for the wines.

Gary Gillman said...

This would seem characteristic of some brands of porter, probably the stronger types, and indeed must have paralleled some stock pale ales as you noted. Courage's IRS received both vatting and bottle-aging at the brewery in its last years for example although right at the end that was abbreviated and Jackson noted the purchaser had to age the bottles himself. I always wondered what quality the long-bottling added. One would think brettanomyces or other bugs would impart to the beer in wood and that gave the final character wanted.

Probably the bottling was done to impart a higher condition but perhaps also a further maturity (dryness/winy character). Just last night I drank a few ounces of Cameron Obsidian Imperial Porter. This was aged in rum barrels for 7 months and bottled unfiltered. The carbonation was reported by a taster I know on a local beer board as very restrained. I didn't find this, but I like a draught-level carbonation and also, I opened it room temperature, which enhances even a mild carbonated effect. The beer is very fresh-tasting even after its spell in wood could stand a year in the bottle, the CO2 would rise and the beer might round a bit more although it is very good now.

Another example, Ron: Guinness FES before it was pasteurized.

Gary

Jeremy Drew said...


Ron,

Fair enough, I see your point about the wine, which would have been aged in the bottle, but it is still possible that the punctuation in the original went a little awry and it meant that it was 9 months old when bottled.

It seems odd that if bottle ageing of porter took place it hasn't left more of a record behind.

Porter was the volume beer of its day. It would seem like quite a faff to age it in bulk and then age it further in bottles. Does the price quoted in the advert mark it out as a premium product?

Having gone to this trouble with it, it would be rather galling for the brewer to then have "Anti-Junius" writing to the Caledonian Mercury in the terms that he did!

Another thought: It could be that the porter had been bottled locally and not sold, so that the advert is making a virtue out of necessity.

Ron Pattinson said...

Jeremy,

it wouldn't surprise me if this was specific to Scotland. Most likely the berr was shipped to Scotland in hogsheads and bottled there.

If the age in the bottle wasn't desirable, why mention it at all? It's not as if bottle had sellby dates on them.

Ron Pattinson said...

Gary,

I'd expect a strong Stout to be matured in the bottle as well as being vatted. But not a Porter.

Ed of Philadelphia said...

Can you explain the "clean bottle" reference immediately following? It seems to me, the sellers were bottling porter(and aquavitae {aquavit?) and genever) for the buyers.

Gary Gillman said...

Yes Ron in strict terms but as we know the term porter was sometimes used to mean the stronger article. As indeed on this day to the Cameron's brand I mentioned, which is 9% ABV.

Gary

Ron Pattinson said...

Ed,

if you brought clean bottles, you got your drink cheaper than when the bottler had to provide them.