Home Brew Forum

Now have a www site with recipes etc.

http://www.durdenparkbeer.org.uk/index.html

They seem to have made the same mistake on all the recipes in that the ingredients are lists per gallon of required volume but they show 23L in brackets. So ignore the 23L and just multiply the quantities by 5 for a 5 gallon brew length.

Interesting that they advocate a stiff mash and three hour mash period in their "Brewing Old British Beers" section!

I would wholeheartedly recommend the Whitbread London Porter recipe. It's excellent - takes a while to smooth out but when it does....wow. It is the best of the recipes I've made from that book (and I've made quite a few)

The amount of hops seems a hell of a lot. Gives bitterness in excess of 90.....

May well try the porter in the very near future

I've added the recipe to my collection, scaled up and slightly adjusted the hops (halved the amount) and changed the grain bill to suit my efficiency.

PieOPah wrote:The amount of hops seems a hell of a lot. Gives bitterness in excess of 90.....

That's nothing. You should see some of the other recipes in the book!

slightly adjusted the hops

Don't - the beer is fine as it is. Remember this is not a modern running beer. It's meant to be kept for several months before drinking. The flavour of the hops mellows and blends with the rest of the beer.

Besides how is halving them 'slightly adjusted'? Would you like someone to half your salary and go 'oh...it's only a slight adjustment'.

If you can vouch for the amount of hops then I'll stick to the original

Just seems like a scary amount

If it needs to be kept for several months before drinking then I think I had best get my bottles cleaned up

I doubt that the Durden Park crew have palettes like old leather and so only release recipes which are drinkable. I think it's a case of keeping the faith and following the recipe to the letter.

Okay, adjusted for efficiency and volume (the London Porter seems to have a low efficiency based on the OG)

Says you can use Goldings or Fuggles so I have done half of each. My final recipe looks like this -

Whitbread 's London Porter (1850)
12-B Robust Porter



Size: 35.0 imp pt
Efficiency: 65%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 321.17 per 1 imp pt

Original Gravity: 1.060 (1.048 - 1.065)
|===================#============|
Terminal Gravity: 1.015 (1.012 - 1.016)
|====================#===========|
Color: 29.0 (22.0 - 35.0)
|================#===============|
Alcohol: 5.93% (4.8% - 6.0%)
|=======================#========|
Bitterness: 73.53 (25.0 - 50.0)
|================================|

Ingredients:
5.0 kg Maris Otter
1.0 kg English Brown Malt
0.35 kg British Black Patent
60.0 g Goldings (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 90 min
60.0 g Fuggle (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 90 min

Schedule:

Notes:
Mash grain for 3 hours at 150º F (66±1º C). Raise temperature to 170º F (77º C) for 30 minutes.

Sparge with hot water at 180 - 185º F (82 - 85º C) to O.G. or required volume.

Boil with hops for 90 minutes.

Cool and ferment with a good quality ale yeast.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.0.8

I think I might have used just Fuggles when I did it.

You're right about the recipes assuming a low efficiency. I basically kept the hops the same but scaled the recipe to suit the sort of efficiencies I get on my kit.

The Durden Park process recommends mashing with a very stiff mash ( just less than 2L/kg) perhaps this is why the efficiencies are so low ?

That's interesting Andy. As you know I go for wet mashes to increase efficiency. Maybe this is at the expense of flavour

/Phil.

I generally go for 2L/kg and I used to get 75% on my old set-up. When I finally get the new one up and running I was planning on moving to thinner mashes for various reasons.

When I finally get the new one up and running I was planning on moving to thinner mashes for various reasons.

Ditto

steve_flack wrote:I would wholeheartedly recommend the Whitbread London Porter recipe. It's excellent - takes a while to smooth out but when it does....wow. It is the best of the recipes I've made from that book (and I've made quite a few)

Oh my, I couldn't agree more! When I first got a copy of Old British Beers, this was one of the first recipes I made and it is an incredible beer. Now, I brew that beer at least once a year.
Oh, I agree, don't adjust the quantities because they seem high, the beers come out great just as they are listed!!

PieOPah wrote: If it needs to be kept for several months before drinking then I think I had best get my bottles cleaned up

Or go mad and buy another corny

Right, the Whitbread London Porter is on my list for the first brew of 2007!

Sounds great.