Let's Brew - 1888 Hancock Porter

Here’s a real oddity – a provincial Porter from the late 19th century. By the late 1880s, in England Porter brewing was mostly limited to London and the surrounding area. Though Stout continued to be universally brewed.

It looks remarkably similar to a London Porter of the period in terms of strength and grist. The latter is the classic London trinity of malts: pale, brown and black. Along with a massive quantity of No. 3 invert sugar, which makes up 40% of the total. That wasn’t something you’d see in London, where the sugar content would be no more than half that.

There were just two types of hops: Bohemian from the 1887 harvest and Kent from 1886. In large enough quantities to leave the beer over 40 (calculated) IBU.

1888 Hancock Porter
pale malt	4.00 lb	42.11%
brown malt	1.25 lb	13.16%
black malt	0.50 lb	5.26%
No. 3 invert sugar	3.75 lb	39.47%
Fuggles 120 mins	2.00 oz
Saaz 30 mins	2.00 oz
OG	1053
FG	1015
ABV	5.03
Apparent attenuation	71.70%
IBU	43
SRM	32
Mash at	156º F
Sparge at	190º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	58.5º F
Yeast	White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity