A London Porter
A London Porter, 5.3% abv
Malt – Maris Otter, Brown, Black, Amber, Crystal
Hops – East Kent Goldings
Yeast – House Ale Yeast
Based on a recipe from Whitbread’s Brewery, dated 1896, that we gleaned from ‘Old Biritsh Beers and How to Make Them’. The archives just have this down as ‘Porter’, nothing more.
We call it A London Porter to differentiate it from its sibling, the racier Export India Porter, where export levels of hops give a fruitier, more flighty beer. In a London Porter things are warm and dark and rich. The feel and texture are nourishing. Dried fruit - raisins, prunes and dates - and chocolate. Then a balanced espresso finish. Hints of leather, tar, tobacco. Lots of coffee and cocoa.
The recipe itself is typical of London, in its use of a large proportion of brown malt, which gives the beer a hint of spice along with some smoke, leather and tar in the flavour, and a dry finish. Also a portion of black malt was added to the boil, which apparently was something only done in London, which increased the roast/coffee character. East Kent Goldings were the hops of choice for the best beers at that time.
We brewed the first version of this beer in Feb 2010 (it was our 10th batch of beer).
Hello,
A while back I contacted you and asked you where to find your Baltic Porter in the EU. While I still have not found that beer, I did have some of your beers imported from the UK. Among those was your London Porter which I absolutely loved. The fullness in flavor and mouthfeel is just amazing given its rather low ABV.
But since I can’t afford the import taxes on the amount of London Porter that I would like to drink, I will soon attempt to homebrew a batch of it. Is there anything more you can tell me about the recipe than the website says? What is a large proportion of brown malt? Is 10% getting somewhere into the right range?
I totally understand that you can’t share everything with me, but any help would be much appreciated. Thanks for your help and amazing beers.
Cheers
Dennis Niehoff