Let's Brew - 1990 Youngs Porter

Now here’s a real oddity: a London Porter. I can remember when Youngs introduced this beer and being dead excited. Not sure how long they brewed it for. I don’t think it was for very long. I recall drinking it once, but it being in terrible condition.

When Fullers introduced a Porter of their own somewhat later, they went for a pre-WW I gravity of 1050º. While Youngs seem to have opted for a lower gravity. I was going to say interwar strength, but in the 1930s, Youngs Porter was only 1035º. They seem to have pulled the 1041º gravity out of the air.

The recipe is quite similar to Oatmeal Stout. Except there’s crystal malt instead of flaked oats. It’s quite a simple recipe, really. Just pale and crystal malt, roast barley and Young’s Special Mix sugar.

There was only one type of hop: English, from the 1988 harvest. And, as far as I can tell, only one hop addition at the beginning of the boil. 

1990 Youngs Porter
pale malt	6.75 lb	70.90%
roast barley	0.50 lb	5.25%
crystal malt 150 L	1.50 lb	15.76%
glucose	0.50 lb	5.25%
molasses	0.25 lb	2.63%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.02 lb	0.21%
Fuggles 60 min	2.25 oz
OG	1041
FG	1012
ABV	3.84
Apparent attenuation	70.73%
IBU	29
SRM	29
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	60 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale