Let's Brew - 1939 Fullers P

I got all excited when I spotted a beer called P in Fullers brewing records from the 1950s. Wow, they’d been brewing a Porter that late. Making them probably the last London brewer to produce one. However, all was not what it appeared.

P had indeed been Fullers draught Porter. But at some point between the wars it was transformed into a bottled beer called Nourishing Stout, retaining the brew house name P.

P turns up in the earliest Fullers records I’ve photographed, from 1887, when its OG was 1053.5º. By 1914, that was down to 1048.6º.  Obviously, WW I knocked that down further.

The grist is only a little more complicated than Fullers other beers. In addition to pale malt and flaked maize, there’s also black malt and a tiny amount of oats. The latter is presumably so they could sell some as Oatmeal Stout.

No. 4 invert is my substitution for something called Special Dark. I’ve not much clue about what that might be like, other than dark in colour. No. 4 was made for Stouts so seems like a good substitution guess.

Fullers didn’t bother listing hop varieties or growing region, so all I know is that they were English and from the 1938 harvest. I’ve guessed Fuggles. It’s pretty heavily hopped, giving a surprisingly high 39 (calculated) IBUs.

1939 Fullers P
pale malt	6.00 lb	68.73%
black malt	0.67 lb	7.67%
flaked maize	0.67 lb	7.67%
flaked oats	0.06 lb	0.69%
No. 4 invert sugar	1.00 lb	11.45%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.33 lb	3.78%
Fuggles 120 mins	1.50 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.50 oz
OG	1038.5
FG	1014
ABV	3.24
Apparent attenuation	63.64%
IBU	39
SRM	44
Mash at	147º F
After underlet	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale