Fermenting, maturing and serving Porter in 1813

You'd think March was Porter month from the amount I've posted on the topic. In reality, every month is Porter month here. You might have guessed from the title that this post discusses the steps from fermentation to serving.

The stuff about the temperature sort of tallies with what I see in brewing records. In the 1820's, Barclay Perkins were pitching at 63º to 67º F after which the temperature rose to around 80º F. Though the stronger Stouts were pitched much lower, at 58º to 59º F. By the end of the 19th century, their pitching temperatures were down to 60º to 62º F.

"The different worts after boiling are spread out thin in the coolers, and their temperature brought down to between 60 and 70 degrees, at which all the three worts are mixed together in a great vessel called the guile tun or square, where yest being put to it the liquor is fermented. The temperature at which the wort is set to working in the square, and the heat at which the several mashes are made, have greater influence than any other circumstances upon the quality of the beer. The greater the working heat is, the more rapidly the fermentation proceeds : therefore in summer, when the natural heat of the air is such that the working will advance perhaps more rapidly than the brewer wishes, he counteracts this by cooling the wort down as low as possible : on the other hand, in cold weather the fermentation must be encouraged by commencing it at a greater temperature : in general it may be stated to be between 60 and 70 degrees, at the discretion of the brewer, and in some degree regulated by the kind of porter he wishes to produce, and the malt from which he has extracted his wort. The fermentation is continued in the square as long as the head of yest which floats upon it continues to increase in depth ; but when the head shews signs of diminution the liquor is fit for cleansing. This is putting it into a great number of small casks, which, by dividing the beer into small quantities, lowers its temperature and tends to check the fermentation. The same end is also attained by causing the yest to flow off as fast as it is produced, and keeping the casks always filled up as they diminish by working, to leave no room for a head of yest to gather upon the surface of the beer. After the fermentation is concluded the beer is put into immense casks called store vats, where it is kept till wanted for sale. By keeping it begins to clear itself, and grow fine ; but it is seldom kept long enough to become perfectly so. It is when wanted drawn off from the store vats into casks, and then sent away ; and the consumer puts into the cask a small quantity of fining, sent out with the porter by the brewer, who calls it in the rough when his liquor requires fining.

The finings are made of isinglass dissolved in sour beer brewed from the wort of the fourth mash, or sour beer obtained from the waste of any of the processes. A small quantity of this fining beer being put into the cask precipitates the minute fecula, and soon renders the liquor quite fine. The flavour of the draught porter in London is almost universally obtained by compounding two kinds, the due admixture of which is palatable, though neither are good alone. One is mild, and the other stale porter; the former is that which has been lately brewed, and has rather a bitter mawkish flavour ; the latter has been kept longer, and is in some degree acid. This mixture the publican adapts to the taste of his several customers ; he effects the proportion of mixture very readily by means of the Beer Pumps, described under that article (see pl. 24). These will be found to have four pumps, but only three spouts, because two of the pumps throw out at the same spout. One of these two pumps draws mild, and the other the stale Porter; and the publican, by dextrously changing his hold to the next handle works, either pump, and draws both kinds of beer at the same spout; and an indifferent observer supposes that since it all comes from one spout it is entire butt beer, as the publican professes over his door, and which vulgar prejudice has decided to be the only good porter, though the difference is not easily distinguished."
“Pantologia: A new cyclopaedia Vol IX”, 1813, (doesn’t have page numbers)

Using sour beer for preparing finings has one pretty obvious disadvantage: it's a good way of introducing an infection. You can't help wondering how often such finings buggered the beer in addition to clearing it. Later in the century brewers moved over to using other dilute acids in which to dissolve finings.

I'm not sure what to make of the final section about the strange beer engines. Is it to be believed? Was this really common practice? Certainly a couple of decades later brewers were advised not to send out their Porter mild, but to always blend it themselves. Mostly to reduce the possibility of the publican adulterating the beer.

And the flavour descriptions: mild Porter was "bitter mawkish" and stale Porter "in some degree acid". I think I can understand what the second means. But the first? The word mawkish has fallen into disuse and doesn't really say a lot to me.

That might be it (at least for a day or two) about Porter. But you never know, I might find something else I just have to share.

Archeological Evidence of Long Term Beer Aging Pre-1850

Another milestone reached today: the last post from my Earl list. I'd avoided this topic until now because it required some research. I'm a lazy git. And my research time is very limited. Yesterday I did none at all. Cask-conditioned Fuller's London Porter in Wildeman saw to that.

I'll take long term as meaning more than 12 months. That is what you meant, isn't it, Alan?

The following is a quote from "A Treatise on Adulterations of Food" by Fredrick Accum, published in 1820:

"OLD, OR ENTIRE; AND NEW, OR MILD BEER.
IT is necessary to state, that every publican has two sorts of beer sent to him from the brewer; the one is called mild, which is beer sent out fresh as it is brewed; the other is called old; that is, such as is brewed on purpose for keeping, and which has been kept in store a twelve-month or eighteen months."

He's talking specifically about Porter, in case you were wondering. As Accum went round the large London Porter breweries (and took samples of beer for analysis) I think he knew what he was talking about.


This next quote is from "The London and Country Brewer" of 1736:

"A particular way of Brewing strong October Beer.
There was a Man in this Country that brewed for a Gentleman constantly after a Very precise Method, and that was, as soon as he had put over all his first Copper of
water and mash'd it some time, he would directly let the Cock run a small stream
and presently put some fresh Malt on the former, and mash on the while the Cock
was spending, which he would put again over the Malt, as often as his Pail or Hand-bowl was full, and this for an Hour or two together; then he would let it run off intirely, and put it over at once, to run off again as small as a Straw. This was for his _October_ Beer: Then he would put scalding water over the Goods at once, but not mash, and Cap them with more fresh Malt that stood an Hour undisturbed before he would draw it off for Ale; the rest was hot water put over the Goods and mash'd at twice for small Beer: And it was observed that his _October_ Beer was the most famous in the Country, but his Grains good for little, for that he had by this method wash'd out all or most of their goodness; this Man was a long while in Brewing, and once his Beer did not work in the Barrel for a Month in a very hard Frost, yet when the weather broke it recovered and fermented well, and afterwards proved very good Drink, but he seldom work'd, his Beer less than a Week in the Vat, and was never tapp'd under three Years."

It's discussing the private brewing October Beer, a strong beer meant to be aged that many reckon to be the forerunner of Barley Wine. Three years before tapping - sounds like long-term ageing to me.

At Guinness, the Export Foreign Extra Stout (FES) had a long ageing:

"FES at this time was only brewed in the 3 winter months January to March when DS and SS sales were lowest. It was due for sale in the 12 months of the following year (January-December), on average 15 months old. . . . . Due to the prolonged storage of up to 2 years in vat before sale, FES brewing had to be limited due to the available vathouse capacity and the volume brewed well ahead of sales."
"A Bottle of Guinness, Please" by David Hughes, pages 71-72.

Fredrick Accum

I'm a sucker for tables. What I always look for in brewing manuals or academic books are tables of data. Of particular interest (to me, at least) are tables of analyses of beers.

It's surprising how long ago the first chemical analyses of beer were made. Fredrick Accum detailed in his 1820 work "A Treatise on Adulterations of Food" a method for discovering the alcohol content of beer. The first thing he noticed was the difference in strength between examples of the same beer sampled at the brewery and in a pub.

Brown Stout: brewery 7.25% ABV, pub 6.5% ABV
Porter: brewery 5.25% ABV, pub 4.5% ABV

Looks a bit dodgy, doesn't it. This is what Accum says:

"Whence can this difference between the beer furnished by the brewer, and that retailed by the publican, arise? We shall not be at a loss to answer this question, when we find that so many retailers of porter have been prosecuted and convicted for mixing table beer with their strong beer;"

These are the results of his (and others) analyses:

Ale, home-brewed 8.30% ABV
Ale, Burton, three samples 6.25% ABV

*Repository of Arts, No. 2, p. 74.—1816. p222

Ale, Burton* 8.88% ABV
Ale, Edinburgh* 6.20% ABV
Ale, Dorchester* 5.50% ABV
Ale, common London-brewed, six samples 5.82% ABV
Ale, Scotch, three samples 5.75% ABV
Porter, London, eight samples 4.00% ABV
Ditto, Ditto† 4.20% ABV
Ditto, Ditto† 4.45% ABV
Ditto, Ditto, bottled 4.75% ABV
Brown Stout, 4 samples 5% ABV
Ditto, Ditto† 6.80% ABV
Small Beer, six samples 0.75% ABV
Ditto, Ditto‡ 1.28% ABV

* Copied from Professor Brande’s Paper in the Philosophical Transactions, 1811, p.345.
† Result of our own Experiments, see p.174.
‡ Professor Brande’s Experiments.

Accum also has some interesting things to say about Porter and Entire and the difference between the two:

"OLD, OR ENTIRE; AND NEW, OR MILD BEER.
It is necessary to state, that every publican has two sorts of beer sent to him from the brewer; the one is called mild, which is beer sent out fresh as it is brewed; the other is called old; that is, such as is brewed on purpose for keeping, and which has been kept in store a twelve-month or eighteen months.

. . . . porter is very generally compounded of two kinds, or rather the same liquor in two different states, the due admixture of which is palatable, though neither is good alone. One is mild porter, and the other stale porter; the former is that which has a slightly bitter flavour; the latter has been kept longer. This mixture the publican adapts to the palates of his several customers, and effects the mixture very readily, by means of a machine, containing small pumps worked by handles. In these are four pumps, but only three spouts, because two of the pumps throw out at the same spout: one of these two pumps draws the mild, and the other the stale porter, from the casks down in the cellar; and the publican, by dexterously changing his hold works either pump, and draws both kinds of beer at the same spout. An indifferent observer supposes, that since it all comes from one spout, it is entire butt beer, as the publican professes over his door, and which has been decided by vulgar prejudice to be only good porter, though the difference is not easily distinguished. I have been informed by several eminent brewers, that, of late, a far greater quantity is consumed of mild than of stale beer.

The entire beer of the modern brewer, according to the statement of C. Barclay, Esq. 'consists of some beer brewed expressly for the purpose of keeping: it likewise contains a portion of returns from publicans; a portion of beer from the bottoms of vats; the beer that is drawn off from the pipes, which convey the beer from one vat to another, and from one part of the premises to another. This beer is collected and put into vats. Mr. Barclay also states that it contains a certain portion of brown stout, which is twenty shillings a barrel dearer than common beer; and some bottling beer, which is ten shillings a barrel dearer; and that all these beers, united, are put into vats, and that it depends upon various circumstances, how long they may remain in those vats before they become perfectly bright. When bright, this beer is sent out to the publicans, for their entire beer, and there is sometimes a small quantity of mild beer mixed with it.'

The present entire beer, therefore, is a very heterogeneous mixture, composed of all the waste and spoiled beer of the publicans—the bottoms of butts—the leavings of the pots—the drippings of the machines for drawing the beer—the remnants of beer that lay in the leaden pipes of the brewery, with a portion of brown stout, bottling beer, and mild beer."

Source: Fredrick Accum "A Treatise on Adulterations of Food", pages 197 - 202

Entire sounds delighful, doesn't it? Mmm slops, lead-laden beer and a bit of Brown Stout. "Quart of Entire please, barman, and make it good and leady." I liked the imaginative use of beer engines to mix stale and mild Porter whilst pouring. I wonder if anyone still has a set with four handles but only three spouts?

It's reading passages like this that makes me realise how difficult it would be to truly recreate early 19th-century Porter. Reading the brewing logs is one thing, but as the beer never seems to have been consumed in its pristine state, they don't tell you the whole story. Sadly, I think health inspectors might prevent a faithful recreation.