Let's Brew - 1901 Boddington Stout

Porter may have died out in most of provincial England in the latter part of the 19th century, but some Stouts look rather Porter-like.

Boddington’s being a good example. 1051º being way too weak for a London Stout. For example, in the same year at Whitbread, Porter was 1055.1º and Single Stout 1072.5º.

As was usual outside London, the grist is just pale and black malt. Though there is a twist: the black malt was added to the copper, not the mash tun. I’ve come across brewers who added some to the copper – Barclay Perkins is an example – but not the full charge. Not sure exactly why Boddington did this. Possibly to keep the black malt out of the spent grains, as their presence reduced the price farmer would pay.

The sugars are simply described as “Garton” and “Clarke”. The former was a big producer of invert sugar, especially No. 3, so that’s what I’ve guessed. I’ve gone for No. 4 for the latter, as otherwise the colour comes out too pale.

As was usual at Boddington there are loads of different hops. In this case, four English and one Californian. All, sadly, without mention of a harvest date. 

1901 Boddington Stout
pale malt	9.25 lb	85.33%
black malt	0.25 lb	2.31%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.67 lb	6.18%
No. 4 invert sugar	0.67 lb	6.18%
Cluster 135 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1051
FG	1015
ABV	4.76
Apparent attenuation	70.59%
IBU	27
SRM	25
Mash at	154º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	135 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)