Irish Stout exports in the 1880s

Large quantities of Porter/Stout were exported from Ireland. The figures below must include to Great Britain as they exceed the numbers for total UK exports. Certainly, in the case of Guinness, the beer was almost all Stout. I’m sure the same was true for the other brewers.

The figures are dominated by Guinness, who accounted for more than three-quarters of the exports. Way ahead of the second-placed brewery, who could manage no more than 6%.

What’s odd, is that neither of the Cork brewers appears in the table. Perhaps these are just the figures for Dublin-based firms.
 

Irish Porter exports 1888 - 1891 (barrels)
brewery	1888	1889	1890	1891
Guinness & Son	495,153	503,448	542,300	546,086
Watkins & Co	38,385	38,048	38,160	38,219
Jameson Pim	36,359	30,752	29,718	29,324
D’Arcy & Son	19,950	22,980	26,109	28,173
Phoenix Brewery	21,300	20,316	21,657	6,647
Mountjoy Brewery	17,265	15,302	15,630	17,513
Sweetman & Co	4,914	4,869	2,951	—
E. and J. Burke	2,159	4,836	9,671	9,753
Others	464	482	107	765
Total	635,948	641,061	686,346	691,478
Source:
Brewers' Guardian vol 22, January 1892, page 20.

 

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1880 Strangman Double Stout

And here we have a proper Stout. At least in London terms. Or Dublin terms, for that matter. As Guinness Extra Stout was a similar strength.

The grist is very similar to Single Stout. Around 95% pale malt and 5% black malt. Far less roasted malt than in London Stouts. Though most of that was in the form of brown malt. Even so, London Stouts of a similar strength were mostly much darker: 37 to 51 SRM (according to BeerSmith). Which is a bit of a surprise. Irish Stout nowadays being pretty black.

Unless the brewing software is way out, in this period Irish Stout wasn’t very dark at all. Having a colour similar to pre-black malt Stout. But . . the calculations don’t take into account the black malt that went into the copper, rather than the mash tun. 84 of 700 lbs, in this case. I assume that more colour was extracted during the boil than in the mash. But how much?

The hopping rate was even higher than in Single Stout: 13.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) compared to 9.5 lbs. Which results in a pretty bitter beer. The hops themselves were English from the 1880 harvest and Bavarian from 1879. 

1880 Strangman Double Stout
pale malt	17.00 lb	95.10%
black malt	0.875 lb	4.90%
Fuggles 90 mins	3.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	3.50 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.75 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	1.75 oz
Fuggles dry hops	0.75 oz
OG	1076
FG	1018
ABV	7.67
Apparent attenuation	76.32%
IBU	102
SRM	27
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58.5º F
Yeast	WLP004 Irish Stout

Let's Brew - 1880 Strangman Single Stout

This beer I can understand better. Called “Single” in the brewing record, it’s obviously a Single Stout, which is Ireland really means Porter.

The recipe is generally the same as for Beer. That is, a combination of pale and black malt. The big difference is that there’s more than double the quantity of black malt. Which leaves this beer with a proper Porter-like colour.

Only two types of hops this time, English from the 1880 crop and Oregon Bavarian from 1879.

Was this beer aged? Probably not. Though There may have been a portion of aged beer blended in at racking time. 

1880 Strangman Single Stout
pale malt	13.23 lb	94.63%
black malt	0.75 lb	5.37%
Fuggles 90 mins	2.50 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	2.50 oz
Fuggles dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1059
FG	1014
ABV	5.95
Apparent attenuation	76.27%
IBU	54
SRM	25
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP004 Irish Stout

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1880 Strangman Beer

Irish recipes seem to be popular. So here's another one. Though from a different brewery.

I’ll be honest with you: I’m not really sure what type of beer this is. It’s too pale to be a Porter. And too dark to be a Pale Ale. All that’s really left is Mild Ale. Is that what it is? I don’t think so. No fucking idea, really.

The hopping rate, at just 4 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, certainly implies Mild to me. In which case, calling it “Beer” is a bit strange. But who am I to argue? Certainly, the colour fits in with the type of semi-dark Mild which started to appear at the end of the 19tth century.

Mostly, the grist is very straightforward. Just pale malt and a smidgin of black malt. With a bit more than a quarter of the black malt being added to the copper rather than the mash tun.   A practice that also occurred in London Potter breweries.

Three types of hops were used. English from the 1879 and 1880 harvests along with Bavarian from 1880.

1880 Strangman Beer
pale malt	13.25 lb	97.57%
black malt	0.33 lb	2.43%
Fuggles 90 mins	0.67 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.67 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	0.67 oz
Fuggles dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1058
FG	1014
ABV	5.82
Apparent attenuation	75.86%
IBU	22
SRM	15
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	WLP004 Irish Stout

 

Let's Brew - 1906 Murphy XX Stout

We’re now getting to a proper strength Stout. One which have counted as a Stout in London.

The excitement comes from a grist that’s different. There’s another element to the grist, other than just pale and black malt. And that element is amber malt. How exciting. Amber malt is something which turns up in stronger London Stouts. So it’s not such a surprise to see it here.

There are also changes with the hopping. For a start, the rate is far heavier at 14 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. Compared to just 5 lbs per quarter for Porter.

The types of hops are slightly different, too. There were two types of English hops, without any vintage listed. Along with Oregon hops from the 1904 and 1905 seasons.

With the high rate of hopping, my guess is that his was aged for a while. Probably at least six to twelve months.

1906 Murphy XX Stout
pale malt	15.00 lb	88.24%
black malt	1.00 lb	5.88%
amber malt	1.00 lb	5.88%
Cluster 90 mins	3.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	3.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	3.00 oz
Fuggles dry hops	1.25 oz
OG	1072
FG	1018
ABV	7.14
Apparent attenuation	75.00%
IBU	101
SRM	30
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58º F
Yeast	WLP004 Irish Stout

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1906 Murphy X Stout

Another Irish recipe for you lucky devils. This time, a  Stout.

Now I’m not really sure that this was marketed as a Stout. But I’m guessing that it was. I’d plump for it being sold as Single Stout. Despite only having a gravity about the same as a London Porter.

The grist is the same as that of their Porter. That is, 92% pale malt and 8% black malt. Which is pretty stripped down compared to the Stouts brewed in London. Where, in addition, brown malt, flaked maize and a couple of types of sugar were pretty standard.

There is a slightly higher rate of hopping than in Porter: 6 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) compared to 5 lbs. The hops themselves were, but no all, English. Two from the 1904 season and one undated. There was a single type of Oregon hops, also from 1904.

Was this aged at all before sale? I doubt it. Though there may have been some aged beer blended with it at racking time. Some Kraeusen, too, possibly.

1906 Murphy X Stout
pale malt	11.50 lb	92.00%
black malt	1.00 lb	8.00%
Fuggles 100 mins	0.875 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.875 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.875 oz
Fuggles dry hops	0.75 oz
OG	1053
FG	1012
ABV	5.42
Apparent attenuation	77.36%
IBU	27
SRM	29
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	100 minutes
pitching temp	57º F
Yeast	WLP004 Irish Stout

 

Let's Brew - 1934 Cairnes Double Stout

Yet another Cairnes recipe today. Well, I need to somehow justify all the time I've been spending going  through their brewing records.

Unlike Single Stout, which had seen its gravity whittles away over the years, Double Stout was the same strength as in 1923. Remaining at the same strength as Guinness Extra Stout.

Though there have been some changes to the recipe. Namely, the addition of flaked maize and a type of sugar. Not exactly sure what type of sugar it was, as it’s only described as “Saccharum”. It’s probably a kind of invert. Though I can’t be sure. I’ve guessed No. 2 invert.

The base malt was mostly made from Irish barley. Though 10% was made from Californian barley.

The hops are very different from in 1923., when they were all English. Here, they’re a split between Oregon and Styrian. The hopping rate is about the same at around 8 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt.  However, as the types of hops were higher in alpha acid, the calculated bitterness level is quite a bit higher 53 IBU.
 

1934 Cairnes Double Stout
pale malt	10.00 lb	80.65%
roast barley	1.00 lb	8.06%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	4.03%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.75 lb	6.05%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.15 lb	1.21%
Cluster 120 mins	1.25 oz
Cluster 60 mins	0.50 oz
Styrian Goldings 60 mins	0.50 oz
Styrian Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1055
FG	1014
ABV	5.42
Apparent attenuation	74.55%
IBU	53
SRM	34
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1084 Irish ale

 

What I missed

the first time I went through the Cairnes records. Was something very important, in terms of a peculiarity of Irish brewing.

It's not unusual for me to either miss or misinterpret things in brewing records. Hopefully, I spot my mistake not too far in. Because then I need to go back and fix all the table entries that I've already transcribed. Not the most fun work. Not that transcribing brewing records is ever something I would describe as fun.

On the face of it, it appears that every batch of Single Stout had a small quantity of what looks like Double Stout parti-gyled with it. And I mean a small amount. For example, there might be 194 barrels of Single Stout and just 14 barrels of "Double Stout".

But what's odd, is that there isn't a full fermentation record for the "Double Stout". Just one or two entrie. While there is a full record for Single Stout, right up to racking. Why would that be?

Eventually I twigged. There's a reason there isn't a full fermentation record. Because that wort wasn't fully fermented. At least not on its own. I'm pretty sure that this is "heading". One of the elements of Irish Stout. It's a strong wort in a high degree of fermentation which was blended in at racking or packaging time. It's effectively a sort of Kräusen.

Based on the amount of Single Stout and heading brewed, about 7% was added. Which would have increased the effective OG a little, as well as providing condition. It's the equivalent of the primings added in England, except it was in the form of wort rather than a sugar solution.

This is the relevant section of a brewing record. Where the Single Stout, with an OG of 1039 in the first row and the heading, with an OG of 1050, is the second.

Looking at it now, I've noticed something else. There's a gap below where it says "Shift to 6". It looks to me as if they're using the dropping system and the "shift" is when they drop from the round to the sttling square.

Cairnes Single Stout hops

Over to the hops. At the start of the period, Cairnes used exclusively foreign hops in their Single Stout. Either from Oregon or Belgium. That all changed in the middle of the year.

When English hops appear. There were still Oregon hops, but they were getting older as they all remained from the 1915 harvest. The reason is obvious: imports of American hops dried up. Once the war was over, large quantities of fresher American hops came into the mix. Though there were still some English hops used.

Let’s see how Fullers use of hops compared.

There’s a similar pattern to at Cairnes, where new foreign hops disappear in 1916. Though, in this case, rather than American hops they were Belgian and Germany. After that, it’s all English hops until after war’s end. When lots of French and American hops appear.

“MK”, obviously, stands for Mid-Kent. Not really sure what “B” means. I can’t think of a type of hops that starts with the letter “B”, other than Belgian.

Cairnes Single Stout hops 1914 - 1923
Date	Year	hop 1	hop 2	hop 3	hop 4
1st Jan	1914	Oregon 1912	Belgium old
1st Sep	1914	Oregon 1913	Oregon no date	Oregon 1912
7th Jan	1915	Oregon 1913	Oregon 1913	Oregon 1907
2nd Oct	1916	Oregon 1915	English 1915	Poperinge 1915
3rd May	1917	Oregon 1915	English 1916
7th Jun	1917	Oregon 1915	English 1916
1st Nov	1917	Oregon 1915	English 1916
3rd Jan	1918	Oregon 1915	English 1916
2nd May	1918	Oregon 1915	English 1916
3rd Oct	1918	Oregon 1915	English 1916	English 1917
3rd Feb	1919	Oregon 1915	English 1917
2nd Oct	1919	English 1917	English 1918	Pacifics no date
1st Jan	1920	Oregon 1918	English 1917	English 1918	old Pacifics
15th Apr	1920	Oregon 1918	English 1918
4th Oct	1920	Oregon 1918	Oregon 1919	English 1919
3rd Oct	1921	Oregon 1918	Oregon 1919	English 1919	English 1920
2nd Feb	1922	Sonoma 1920	English 1917	English 1920
1st Jan	1923	English 1921	English 1921	English 1921
Sources:
Cairnes brewing records held at the Guinness archives, document numbers GDB/SUB/0022 and GDB/BR17/1257.

 

Fullers Porter hops 1914 - 1925
Date	Year	hop 1	hop 2	hop 3	hop 4	hop 5
18th Nov	1914	MK 1913	Poperinge 1913	Hallertau 1912	Farnham 1913	Tolhurst 1914
17th Feb	1915	Poperinge 1913	B 1913	MK 1913	Tolhurst 1913
2nd Jun	1916	Tolhurst 1915	MK 1914	Farnham 1914
4th Aug	1916	Tolhurst 1915	MK 1914	B 1914	old hops
12th Apr	1917	MK 1915	B 1915
9th Aug	1917	No. 2 B 1915	Tolhurst 1916	MK 1916
5th Jan	1918	MK 1916	Tolhuirst 1916
19th Apr	1918	Farnham 1916	MK 1916
14th Jan	1919	MK 1917	Poperinge 1914
10th Feb	1920	Alsace 1917	Alsace 1919	Sonoma 1916	Oregon
16th Jun	1925	Pacifics 1922	English 1923	English 1924
Source:
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.

 

Cairnes Single Stout sugars 1914 - 1923

Moving on to the sugars, this is where Fullers and Cairnes really diverge. At the start of the war, Cairnes Single Stout had a little under 9% sugar, in the form of glucose. In 1916, that disappears in 1916, and for the rest of the war there’s no sugar at all. Sugar does reappear in 1920, but only in the form of caramel.

Things at Fullers were way, way more complicated. Over the war years, they employed seven different types of sugar. Though in any single brew there were never more than three.

The most popular sugars were glucose and something called Special Dark. I’m guessing that the latter was some sort of dark invert sugar. The quantity used was pretty high at the start and the end of the period covered by the table. I assume restrictions on the supply of sugar was responsible for the drastic reduction in the quantity during the war years.

At Fullers, the proportion of sugar in the grist was far higher than at Cairnes. Starting at over 25%. Even in the most difficult later war years, the amount never fell lower than 6.5%. And for most of the time was well over 10%.

Fullers also used way more caramel, varying between 3% and 7.5%. While at Cairnes it went from zero to a maximum of 2%.

While at Cairnes, even at the start of the war, sugar was less than 10% of the grist. From 1916 on, that was reduced to zero. And, other than caramel, no sugar was used after WW I. 

Cairnes Single Stout grists 1914 - 1923
Date	Year	pale malt	roast barley	flaked maize	glucose	caramel
1st Jan	1914	74.45%	6.50%	9.93%	8.82%	0.30%
1st Sep	1914	70.03%	7.74%	13.34%	8.89%
7th Jan	1915	71.37%	7.22%	12.69%	8.72%
2nd Oct	1916	79.62%	7.11%	13.27%
3rd May	1917	79.62%	7.11%	13.27%
7th Jun	1917	87.83%	6.84%	5.32%
1st Nov	1917	87.83%	6.84%	5.32%
3rd Jan	1918	86.70%	6.88%	6.42%
2nd May	1918	91.17%	6.74%	2.10%
3rd Oct	1918	93.33%	6.67%
3rd Feb	1919	93.33%	6.67%
2nd Oct	1919	85.42%	7.46%	7.12%
1st Jan	1920	89.05%	7.66%	3.30%
15th Apr	1920	87.33%	7.37%	5.29%
4th Oct	1920	81.76%	8.54%	9.28%		0.41%
3rd Oct	1921	95.33%	3.91%			0.76%
2nd Feb	1922	76.04%	10.18%	12.64%		1.13%
1st Jan	1923	89.36%	8.51%			2.13%
Sources:
Cairnes brewing records held at the Guinness archives, document numbers GDB/SUB/0022 and GDB/BR17/1257.

Fullers Porter sugars 1914 - 1925
Date	Year	glucose	invert	Special Dark	cane sugar	Dark Trivert	Porteris	caramel	total sugar
18th Nov	1914	11.34%		12.60%				3.30%	27.25%
17th Feb	1915	3.83%				9.56%		2.91%	16.30%
2nd Jun	1916						15.84%	6.15%	21.99%
4th Aug	1916			4.90%				3.85%	8.75%
12th Apr	1917	3.44%		6.89%				3.59%	13.92%
9th Aug	1917			1.25%	1.25%			3.92%	6.42%
5th Jan	1918			2.35%	2.35%			3.69%	8.39%
19th Apr	1918	8.59%		4.30%	8.59%			4.42%	25.90%
14th Jan	1919	5.69%	5.69%					7.57%	18.94%
10th Feb	1920				6.92%			4.89%	11.81%
16th Jun	1925			13.50%				4.80%	18.31%
Source:
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.