Codename : Westfort Londinium Porterthorpe

English flag, the Cross of St. George

It has been some time since I made something in the style of a London Porter, it is in the family of the English Porter, with the the addition of one notable ingredient, as outlined by the Beer Judge Certification Program,

Grists vary, but something producing a dark colour is always involved. Chocolate or other roasted malts, caramel malt, brewing sugars, and the like are common. London-type porters often use brown malt as a characteristic flavour.

https://www.bjcp.org/style/2021/13/13C/english-porter

Ingredients

  • 1 lb 3 oz Maris Otter malt (3.8L)
  • 3 oz Biscuit malt (28L)
  • 2 oz Brown malt (55L)
  • 2 oz Dark Roast Crystal (113L)
  • 2 oz Crystal malt I (45L)
  • 1 oz Pale Chocolate malt (225L)
  • 0.5 oz Chocolate malt (360L)
  • 1/4 Campden tablet in strike water (optional)
  • 0.20 oz Pilgrim hops at 25 minutes
  • 1 oz turbinado sugar at 20 minutes (see notes below)
  • 1/2 tsp Irish Moss (optional) at 15 minutes
  • 0.20 oz Willamette hops at 5 minutes
  • 5 ml Windsor ale yeast

Vital Stats

  • BJCP Style : English Porter
  • Anticipated ABV : 4.5%
  • Anticipated IBU : 26
  • Anticipated SRM : 25
  • Pre-boil SG : 1.033
  • Post-boil SG: 1.045
  • Original SG : 1.045
  • Target SG : 1.011
  • Carbonation : 2.4
  • Water profile : Brown Porter
  • Brewhouse (in)efficiency : 69%

Brew Day

  • In this batch, I am doing a sparge, things are a little different. If you don’t want to sparge, just start with 6.5L of water, and skip the sparge step
  • Prepare 5L strike water, 152F
  • Add the milled grains to the bag
  • Place the bag in the hot water, set the timer for 90 minutes, and maintain the temperature at 152F. It is acceptable if the temperature varies by a couple of degrees in either direction
  • With about 15 minutes remaining in the mash in, heat 1.5L of water to approximately 170F
  • Stir occasionally
  • Calibrate the refractometer, AKA the sonic screwdriver
  • Lift the bag out of the water, and allow it to drip into the pot. Every bit of sugar that can be extracted will benefit the end ABV
  • Pour the sparge water over over the grain bag, this should help extract even more sugar
  • Bring up to a boil, 212F, set the timer for 30 minutes. Add hops, sugar, and Irish moss, as prescribed above
  • Sanitise everything required for fermentation.
  • Cool to room temp, an ice-bath or a snowbank work effectively.
  • Prepare the yeast mixture, per manufacturers directions.
  • Transfer the wort to the carboy, splash the wort around to aerate the contents.
  • Put the airlock on the carboy.
  • Store in a warm dark place for primary fermentation for 10-14 days. NB Belgian yeasts tends to prefer warmer temperature to start. 

Bottling Day

Brew Notes

Sign indicating warning
  • The choice of 1.5L of sparge water was arbitrary, I will likely try 2L with the next batch
  • In my most recent order of supplies, I got more English style crystal malts, I used them here, and more recipes will include them in the future
  • Mistake(s) were made, not sure what, where or how. The gravity readings were much higher than expected, even without adding the sugar, so its addition has been skipped to try to keep the ABV below 5.4%
  • My primary carboys are in use, so using half sized growlers is the order of business tonight
  • It looks like this batch will come in at about 5.3%, in theory that is a brew house efficiency of about 75% instead of my usual 69%. That will be factored into my next batch.

 

Pouring hot water over over the grain bag, called sparging, to extract more sugar.

 

The Porter wort chilling in the snowbank.

 

A pair of London Porters to ferment for 10-14 days.

 

Brew day : 4-Feb-2025