Let's Brew Wednesday - 1912 Cairnes Single Stout

Many thanks to Alex Witt for providing the photos of the Cairnes records.

On the one hand, it looks like Porter was well on its way out around 1900. But was that really the case? Because there are lots of “Stouts” which, in terms of gravity, look very much like a Porter to me. So, were Porters just renamed Stout because it sounded classier?

In Ireland this seems to be particularly true. For example, Guinness Porter was often sold as Single Stout. I suspect something similar was going on at Cairnes. Because this looks very similar to a London Porter.

At least in terms of strength, as the grist isn’t the same. As was usual outside London, the only roasted grain is black malt. Though, unusually for Ireland, sugar was also involved. In the very simple form of glucose.

There were equal amounts of three types of hops: Poperinge from the 1911 crop, English from 1908 and Bohemian from 1905. Lots of pretty old hops. Not sure what that says, if anything. 

1912 Cairnes Single Stout
pale malt	9.75 lb	84.78%
black malt	0.75 lb	6.52%
glucose	1.00 lb	8.70%
Strisselspalt 120 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.00 oz
Saaz 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1052
FG	1012.5
ABV	5.23
Apparent attenuation	75.96%
IBU	33
SRM	24
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	58.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1084 Irish ale