That's the way I work: way in advance, mostly. My life is so busy currently that I need to keep on top of my blog posts. I wouldn't want to miss a day.
I won't bother discussing the Porter and Stout separately because they were always parti-gyled together.
The recipes in the early years aren't a million miles away from the classic 19th-century Porter grists: a combination of pale, brown and black malts. With a small amount - less than 10% of the total - sugar thrown in. One difference with the 1800's is the proportion of black and brown malt. They would have been the other way around: 15-20% brown and 5% black.
Here are Courage's grists from the 1860's for comparison purposes:
| Courage Porter and Stout grists in 1867 | ||||||
| Beer | OG | lbs hops/ qtr | hops lb/brl | pale malt | brown malt | black malt |
| Stout | 1067.31 | 11.43 | 4.42 | 76.78% | 19.35% | 3.87% |
| Porter | 1057.06 | 9.38 | 2.37 | 76.26% | 18.65% | 5.09% |
| Source: | ||||||
| Courage brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/08/275. | ||||||
I'm not totally sure what they mean by black invert. It could be No. 4 invert under a different name.
The grists from later in the decade contain a couple of significant differences. Crystal malt and oats have been added. The latter presumably because some was marketed as Oatmeal Stout, which was very popular between the wars. The quantity is considerably more than at London rivals Barclay Perkins and Whitbread. Oats made up less than 0.5% of Whitbread's grist and less than 0.25% of Barclay Perkins'. Way too little to have any noticeable effect. The 5% Courage used may well have been discernible.
It's all change with the sugars. Out go the caramel and black invert, and in comes cane sugar (West Indies and Mauritius) and proprietary sugars (CDM and Durax). Overall the sugar content rose from under 10% to getting on for 15%. This was at the expense of the roasted malts, whose combined share declined from around 20% to just 10%. Presumably the proprietary sugars were emulating the roasted malt character.
There are two consistent factors in the hopping: West Coast and English hops. Which is pretty typical for between the wars. The Alsace and Poperinge hops which pop up occasionally were cheap alternatives.
Here's the full grist table:
| Courage Porter and Stout grists 1920 - 1928 | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Beer | OG | pale malt | brown malt | black malt | crystal malt | oats | no. 3 sugar | caramel | black invert | Duttson CDM | West Indian/Mauritius | Durax | hops |
| 1920 | Double Stout | 1043.8 | 68.21% | 9.27% | 13.91% | 1.55% | 7.06% | Californian, Alsace and English. | ||||||
| 1920 | Stout | 1047.4 | 72.26% | 7.30% | 10.22% | 3.41% | 6.81% | Californian, Poperinge and English | ||||||
| 1921 | Stout | 1043.8 | 68.59% | 9.01% | 13.16% | 1.85% | 7.39% | Californian, Alsace and English. | ||||||
| 1923 | Stout | 1043.8 | 66.21% | 6.90% | 10.34% | 6.21% | 4.60% | 5.75% | Pacific and English | |||||
| 1926 | Stout | 1045.4 | 65.58% | 5.58% | 5.58% | 5.58% | 4.65% | 5.89% | 7.13% | Oregon and English | ||||
| 1927 | Stout | 1045.4 | 64.71% | 5.23% | 5.23% | 5.23% | 6.54% | 5.88% | 7.19% | Oregon and English | ||||
| 1928 | Stout | 1046.5 | 59.06% | 6.61% | 6.61% | 6.61% | 6.61% | 4.09% | 6.61% | 3.78% | Oregon, British Columbian and English | |||
| 1920 | Porter | 1029.6 | 68.59% | 9.01% | 13.16% | 1.85% | 7.39% | Californian, Alsace and English. | ||||||
| 1921 | Porter | 1029.6 | 68.59% | 9.01% | 13.16% | 1.85% | 7.39% | Californian, Alsace and English. | ||||||
| 1922 | Porter | 1032.7 | 66.12% | 6.91% | 9.87% | 4.61% | 7.89% | 4.61% | Californian and English | |||||
| 1922 | Porter | 1032.7 | 66.02% | 6.80% | 9.71% | 4.85% | 8.09% | 4.53% | Californian and English | |||||
| 1923 | Porter | 1032.7 | 66.21% | 6.90% | 10.34% | 6.21% | 4.60% | 5.75% | Pacific and English | |||||
| 1926 | Porter | 1032.7 | 62.34% | 6.39% | 6.39% | 6.39% | 5.33% | 5.86% | 7.28% | Oregon and English | ||||
| 1926 | Porter | 1032.7 | 65.58% | 5.58% | 5.58% | 5.58% | 4.65% | 5.89% | 7.13% | Oregon and English | ||||
| 1927 | Porter | 1032.7 | 64.71% | 5.23% | 5.23% | 5.23% | 6.54% | 5.88% | 7.19% | Oregon and English | ||||
| 1928 | Porter | 1032.7 | 59.06% | 6.61% | 6.61% | 6.61% | 6.61% | 4.09% | 6.61% | 3.78% | Oregon, British Columbian and English | |||
| Source: | ||||||||||||||
| Courage brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/08/251, ACC/2305/08/253, ACC/2305/08/255 and ACC/2305/08/256. | ||||||||||||||
As Courage brewed a limited range of beers, we've just one set to go, Strong Ales. I'm sure I'll get around to that sometime soon.
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