Let's Brew - 1897 Fullers Porter

I've finished all the recipes for "Keg!". But I do like to continue writing recipes. In this case for the other book I'm working om, "Free!". This is recipe number 182. Still a long way to go. I'm probably not even half way. It makes sense to knock off a few recipes for it whenever I can. I don't want to end in the same situation as with "Blitzkrieg!" where I spent weeks putting together recipes when the rest of the book was complete.

Though its popularity had seriously waned elsewhere, Porter was still very much a mainstream beer in London. And Fullers produced large quantities of it. This batch, for example, was 190 barrels.

There’s been a bit of shuffling around in the grist. There’s a little more base malt and a little less brown malt. But the big change is in the black malt, down from 6.5% to 2%. Unsurprisingly, the changes leave the beer a good bit paler: 23 SRM rather than 33 SRM.

The sugar is still just described as the very unspecific “saccharum”. For which I’ve substituted No. 2 invert.

The hopping rate has also been reduced. But, as the majority are now Californian rather than English, the calculated bitterness level has actually increased a little.

By this point, ageing Porter was well over and this would have been served fresh, with no more than aa week or two of conditioning in the cask, at most.

1897 Fullers Porter
pale malt	6.00 lb	53.33%
brown malt	2.00 lb	17.78%
black malt	0.25 lb	2.22%
No. 2 invert	3.00 lb	26.67%
Cluster 90 mins	1.00 oz
Cluster 60 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1057
FG	1016
ABV	5.42
Apparent attenuation	71.93%
IBU	46
SRM	23
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	56º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

The rebirth of Porter

Porter didn’t desert the British Isles for long. It only disappeared for four orfive years, reborn through the rekindled interest in beer ignited by CAMRA. During Real Ale revival of the 1970s, two brewers introduced beers called Porter: Penrhos Court and Timothy Taylor.

The authenticity of Timothy Taylor Porter could be doubted. The recipe was based on a Sweet Stout and it tasted like it. Far too sweet. I can remember being greatly disappointed when I first tried it.

Penrhos Court was closer, but still not quite right. At least it was somewhere near the classic pre-WW I Porter strength of 1050º.

A few other brewers released Porters in the 1980’s, with varying degrees of authenticity.

There were still only a handful of breweries producing Porter. Mostly in tiny quantities. The only established breweries in that list are Timothy Taylor and the Three Tuns. Neither of those was exactly a giant. The others are new micros and brewpubs.

For me, London Porter was reborn when Fullers released theirs. Brewed from the classic combination of pale, brown and black malt, the recipe closely resembles that of their pre-WW I Porter.

Revived Porters 1979 - 1983
Year	Brewer	Beer	OG
1979	Penrhos	Penrhos Porter	1050
1979	Timothy Taylor	Porter	1043
1981	Bragdy'r Defaid Du (Black Sheep Brewery)	Defaid Du	1045
1981	Bruce's (Portobello)	Portobello Porter	1040
1981	Pier Hotel	Pirate's Porter	1035
1981	Ringwood	Blackjack Porter	1036
1981	Three Tuns	Castle Steamer	1045
1983	Burton Bridge	Porter	1045
1983	Dempsey	Porter	1034
1983	Oak	Porter	1050
1983	Royal Tunbridge Wells	Entire	1055
1983	Woodforde	Norfolk Porter	1042
Sources:
Good Beer Guide 1980, 1982 and 1984.

You'll find more information that you'll ever need to know about Porter in my excellent book on the subject:

Let's Brew 1910 Fuller's Porter!

I'm posting this in response to a specific request. Fuller's 1910 Porter.

Before we begin, this is not the same recipe as the current Fuller's London Porter.

You'll note the many and varied types of sugar in this brew. I'm not 100% sure what all of them are. Maybe you should consult my earlier posts about brewing sugars. It'll save me having to do it. Here's part one and here's part two.

As a special extra treat, here's the fermentation schedule.


The original was brewed using the dropping system of fermentation. Here there's a description of Fuller's dropping system. I'm so good to you.

More recipes when I'm asked nicely/can be arsed.