1850 Porter - at last

[DarloDave]

Oh yeah, if you fancy trying it, I wouldnt mind swapping a bottle for one of those Brooklyn stouts!

[leedsbrew]

Lol. to be honest I was usually smashed!

I'm originally from Richmond N Yorks, Went to Cleavland College. Lots of mates from Darlo, Boro + best mate at uni was from Acklam

Aye a swap would be bang on. PM me man!

[DarloDave]

This seems to have finished at 1020 which is a little higher than i'd have liked. Any advice?

[leedsbrew]

what yeast are you using matey? I'd go for giving it a rouse 1st, see how it goes tonight/tomorrow. when I use wlp005 I find it needs rousing near the end of the ferment.

[jonnyhop]

This seems to have finished at 1020 which is a little higher than i'd have liked. Any advice?

Mine finished pretty high, 1016 I think. Still tasted good. I would add some yeast vit, but on the whole don't sweat it. Lots of good porters end with high gravity, gives it a nice sweetness.

[DarloDave]

Cheers, Ill have a look for some yeast vit - im pretty sure WIlkos have some in, to save me having to order some online

[hazard]

I'm planning on brewing this same recipe (from Durden park book) myself soon - got a Wyeast 1098 (Whitbread yeast, WLP007 equivalent I believe) smack pack and will put it on a stir plate tonight so I've got plenty of yeast for pitching on the weekend.

How did yours turn out? I must admit that I was taken aback when I first read the recipe - 1 oz hops per gallon? That 5oz or 150g in a standard batch!! Most I've ever put into a batch is about 75g. From your recipe I see that BU/OG is over 100. So what do you think? Enough hops? Too much hops? Just about right? I was thinking that maybe alpha acids were lower back in those days, and that less hops would be needed now, but would be keen to hear how it went.

[coatesg]

Use the hops suggested - 140g of 4.5% AA only actually comes in at about 60 IBU or so (assuming 4.5% fuggles as the book does) with an OG of 60. Remember that the maturation process over 3-4 months will cause a lot of the bitterness to mellow away anyhow.

And besides, if you think that's a lot of hops, you should see some of the other recipes in the book... 3oz and 4oz per gallon in some cases for the IPAs and stronger pale ales/barley wines.

[hazard]

OK thanks Graham. Its actually better to quote target IBU as you have done, easier to work with becasue I know that I've got some fuggles hops at home with AA of 6%, I can now work out how much I need to get 60IBU. If I simply add 1 oz per gallon then I'm going to be way over IBU.

Also, I should have read the book more closely, I didn't see the reference to an assumed AA of 4.5%. Anyway, I'm all set now, looking forward to trying this out. I've just brewed the Fullers Porter from GW's book, I'm really pleased with the way that one came out. This should be quite different, there's no crystal and a much higher IBU so I expect it will be drier and bitterer.

[mysterio]

Bloody hell, I must have a parmo right now.

The favourite around here was the classic 'chips, cheese and donner meat', which would usually melt into one big gelatinous cube by the time you eat it.

[coatesg]

Also, I should have read the book more closely, I didn't see the reference to an assumed AA of 4.5%.

It's tucked in the text somewhere at the front I think. Goldings are 5% from memory.

There are some recipes that it won't make any difference in - the IPA have theoretical IBU values into the high 100s to low 200s, which is probably nonsense as you can't taste any more bitterness over about 100-120, and much more won't go into solution. In those situations, I would stick to the quoted amounts verbatim as you're looking for hop flavour and aroma, rather than bitterness. Remember also that at very high gravities, the hop utilisation alters a lot from "usual" amounts (reduces substantially from memory).

Last of all - brewers in those days didn't know what an IBU was and didn't care - they used what they had and got on with it!

[jubby]

I'm planning on brewing this same recipe (from Durden park book) myself soon - got a Wyeast 1098 (Whitbread yeast, WLP007 equivalent I believe) smack pack and will put it on a stir plate tonight so I've got plenty of yeast for pitching on the weekend..

I brewed this in June with 1098, you won't be disappointed It's just about ready now, but I'm saving it for Xmas.

Also, I should have read the book more closely, I didn't see the reference to an assumed AA of 4.5%.

It's tucked in the text somewhere at the front I think. Goldings are 5% from memory.

There are some recipes that it won't make any difference in - the IPA have theoretical IBU values into the high 100s to low 200s, which is probably nonsense as you can't taste any more bitterness over about 100-120, and much more won't go into solution. In those situations, I would stick to the quoted amounts verbatim as you're looking for hop flavour and aroma, rather than bitterness. Remember also that at very high gravities, the hop utilisation alters a lot from "usual" amounts (reduces substantially from memory).

Last of all - brewers in those days didn't know what an IBU was and didn't care - they used what they had and got on with it!

I think your spot on there coatesg

[coatesg]

I brewed this in June with 1098, you won't be disappointed It's just about ready now, but I'm saving it for Xmas.

Ah - great minds! I have a corny full (made with WLP005) for my work Xmas do in Dec, and another keg for Xmas myself! Hic! (It's tasting pretty smooth already given the amount of roasted malts in there - even though it was only made in early Sept).

[hazard]

I've had my brew in the fermenter for 3 weeks now, started at 1062 and finished at 1017, this seems about right. I racked to another fermenter last night, put it in the fridge to condition for a few days and will bottle on the weekend.
I've got 23 litres in the fermenter, the advice on this forum is to drop the priming sugar as this may continue to ferement for a long time. I usyalllu use 150 dex per batch, will 100g be OK in this case?

[coatesg]

I'd use about 1/4tsp per bottle (which is about 40-50g in a 5 gallon batch).