Beer, ale and Malt Liquor: old British beer styles

Beer, ale and Malt Liquor

old British beer styles

Preamble
A Beginning First, I'll you how it all started. With McMullen's AK. A mild. I grew up in the brewing town of Newark-on-Trent. Between school and university, I had a summer job in the last remaining brewery, formerly James Hole & Co., but then romantically called John Smith's (Newark). Already a real ale drinker, the prospect of working in a keg-only plant didn't excite me much. Filling kegs - I didn't dare tell any CAMRA friends about my traiterous occupation. All I day I squirted bright beer into oversized tin cans. Sometimes it was Old Tom; others it was IPA or lager. But the overwhelming majority was Hole's AK. Their standard bitter.
Hole's AK Bitter Beer The story I had always been told, was this: AK stood for Arthur King, former head brewer at Hole's and father of the beer. It seemed logical enough. Later, I discovered this explanation demonstrated the brevity of popular memory. So if Hole's AK was named after a former head brewer, why would Mc Mullens have a beer with the same name? A beer which, even more confusingly, was a light mild. Was it just coincidence? Or were the two in some obscure way connected? What did AK really mean? Any answers? These are the questions that prompted my initial interest in beer names and their history. What follows are the answers. And the answers to a load of other questions I thought up on the way. AK is an obsession for me. Not just for beer reasons. AK were also my father's initials. As a beer, it had represented the pinnacle of Newark's brewing tradition. It's unsurprising that those two letters had such a particular resonnace for me. Have I learned AK's real meaning? Read the rest and find out. You don't want me to spoil the ending, do you?

Introduction
Understanding old brewing texts There are two main obstacles to understanding brewing in the past: changes in the langauge and changes in the methods of classification. To help us around them, I will explain how British beers were classified by brewers, governors and drinkers in centuries past. I will also provide precise definitions of the words they used. I will consider here only the 18th and 19th centuries. The past is not only a a foreign country, but one where a foreign language is spoken. Without a good understanding of the language used and the specific meaning of certain important words, especially where these differ subtly from modern usage, it's impossible to make any useful analysis of original sources. 18th century English must be treated as a foreign language. And one for which dictionaries are not readily available. Considering the length of time they survived with essentially the same meaning, it's surprising how much confusion the general classifications of British beeer have caused. We like to think of the modern world as a much more orderly place than that the 18th century. It would be expected that, in the scientific times of today, classifications were more consistent, definitions more precise. In the case of British beer the opposite is true. The looseness of current terminology forms a veil of imprecision through which it is difficult to interpret old texts without the utmost care. Why it's so important Not yet convinced? Here are e a couple of examples to illustrate my point. These are the texts of two old advertisements from the Tennant Brothers Brewery in Sheffield. The first reads "Brewers and Bottlers of fine Ales & Stout since 1840". What does "fine Ales" mean exactly? I must have seen this expression thousands of times on old brewery mirrors and windows, yet, like everyone else, I totally misunderstood its meaning. Fine is not used as a synonym for good; it means clear. The word, as both an adjective and noun, was used very specifically by the brewing industry in realtion to the clarification of beer. That's why finings are so called. My second example is "Tennant Brothers, Ale, Porter and Bitter Beer Brewers". A modern drinker is likely to interpret "Porter" and "Bitter Beer" as referring to specific products. What the brewer is really trying to tell us is that he makes beers of all the three general types (or families of styles) current at the time. It's more than likely that there was no product called "Bitter". I will explain this system of classification in more detail below.

18th Century Classifications

Beer
heavily-hopped. The two main subtypes were:

Keeping Beer - strong and inteded to be kept for long periods (9-12 months). Different types of keeping beer were:
- March Beer - a beer brewed at the end of the best brewing season
- October Beer - a beer brewed at the beginning of the best brewing season
- Amber Keeping Beer - brewed from amber malt
- Butt Beer - beer aged in large barrels or butts. Porter and stout were brown butt beers.
Small Beer - a low-alcohol drink for immediate consumption

Ale
lightly-hopped. It varied in strength, but was always weaker than the strongest Keeping Beers. Ales were usually drunk as soon as they had cleared, after about 3 or 4 weeks in the cask. The main subdivision was on the colour of the malt used:

Brown Ale - brown malt
Amber Ale - amber malt
Pale Ale - pale malt

Malt Liqour the generic term, encompassing both beer and ale. (Malt Drink was also used.)
(Source: "London & Country Brewer", 1736 p.38-43)

Beer type	Bushels malt min	Bushels malt max	Malt yield/bushel	lbs/barrel min	OG min	lbs/barrel max	OG max	Average OG	FG	Calc. ABV
Intire small beer Brown malt	1.33	1.6	6.3	8.4	1023.26	10.08	1027.91	1025.58	1004	2.8
Amber Malt	1.33	1.6	7.62	10.16	1028.13	12.19	1033.76	1030.95	1004	3.51
Pale malt	1.33	1.6	8.13	10.83	1030.01	13	1036.01	1033.01	1004	3.78
Common Brown Ale	4.57	5.33	6.3	24.21	1067.06	28.25	1078.24	1072.65	1030	5.5
Strong Brown Ale (Stitch)	6.4		6.3	33.89	1093.89			1093.89	1052	5.35
Amber Ale	6.4		7.62	41	1113.57			1113.57	1052	7.95
Pale Ale	6.4		8.13	43.74	1121.15			1121.15	1052	8.96
October strong beer Pale malt	8	8.89	8.13	54.67	1151.43	60.74	1168.26	1159.85	1055	13.86
Stout Butt Beer Brown malt	8	8.89	6.3	42.37	1117.36	47.08	1130.4	1123.88	1055	8.92
Source: “London And Country Brewer” 1736, page 42, recommended quantites malt for 1 barrel (36 gallons) of beer Notes: Yield per bushel my estimate. Assumes making Small Beer wiyh the third mash. Final gravities based on Richardson's readings.

Theses are the strengths of ales and beers brewed from brown malt in the 1730's:

Type	lb/barrel	sg	Gallon	Quart (in pub)
Stout Butt-Beer	36	1100	10d - 13.3d	3.75d - 5d
Stitch	32	1089		8d
Starting Butt-Beer	29	1080	7d	2.75d
Common Brown Ale	21-27	1058-1075	5.625d	2.1d
Intire Small Beer	9.5	1026	2.66d	1d
Source: "London & Country Brewer", 1736 Notes: Calculated from the brew lengths (number of barrels per quarter of malt). These figures are based on: brewing with brown malt 55 lb extract per qtr. malt; brewing 2 barrels small beer per qtr at 9.5 lb/barrel (1026) from the same mash.

You will note that the differentiation between beer and ale had remained unchanged since the introduction of hops in the 16th century. Whilst ales had also adopted the use of hops, the quantity used was so much smaller as to make them readily distiguishable from heavily-hopped beers. In general, beers were hopped at about 4 times the rate of the corresponding ale:

Beer type	lbs hops per hogshead	lbs per 36 gallons
Strong Brown Ale	1 (48 gallons)	0.75
Pale Ale	1.25 (48 gallons)	0.94
October or March Brown Beer	3 (54 gallons)	2
October or March Pale Beer	6 (54 gallons)	4
Source: "London & Country Brewer", 1736, p.73: Notes: It's clear that the Pale Ale described here has little in Common with that of the 19th century. The description of brewing "Stock Beer" in "The Brewer" (p.37) is very similar to that of October or March Pale Beer in "London & Country Brewer".

There is another important fact to consider: the distinction between beer and ale was to some extent defined in law. Before the 1819 Weights and Measures Act when a standard barrel size was introduced, in London a barrel of beer was 36 gallons, but a barrel of ale only 32. (Outside London both, ale and beer had been in barrels of 34 gallon until 1819.)

As a modern person, accustomed to modern usage, I've found it surprisingly hard whilst writing this piece not to lapse into using the term beer generically. It's indicative of the difficulty of removing ourselves from our contemporary context.

You will have noticed that there is no mention of Porter in the above. That's because the source used is describing the situation at about precisely the time Porter suddenly appeared. Information dating from the end of the century, indicates that, at least from a Weights & Measures point of view, Porter was a beer. It was filled into 36 gallon barrels.

Here are some ale and beer strengths from around 1760:

Beer type	Bushels malt min	Bushels malt max	Malt yield/bushel	lbs/barrel min	OG min	lbs/barrel max	OG max	Average OG	FG	Calc. ABV
Keeping small beer	1.4	1.6	8.63	12.08	1033.45	13.8	1038.23	1035.84	1004	4.15
Common small beer	1.5	1.7	8.63	12.94	1035.84	14.66	1040.62	1038.23	1004	4.47
Porter	2.9	3.5	6.88	19.94	1055.23	24.06	1066.65	1060.94	1016.62	5.76
Strong Brown ale	2.9	3.5	6.88	19.94	1055.23	24.06	1066.65	1060.94	1022.16	5.01
Amber Ale*	4.5	5.3	8.25	37.13	1102.84	43.73	1121.12	1111.98	1050.32	7.97
Amber Ale				31.22	1086.49	36.78	1101.87	1094.18	1034.75	7.71
Small Beer (half barrel)				11.8	1032.69	13.9	1038.5	1035.6	1004	4.12
Pale Ale*	4.5	5.3	8.63	38.81	1107.51	45.71	1126.62	1117.07	1054.77	8.04
Pale Ale				32.64	1090.42	38.45	1106.5	1098.46	1038.5	7.77
Small Beer (half barrel)				12.34	1034.18	14.53	1040.25	1037.21	1004	4.33
Burton strong ale*	7.1	8	6.88	48.81	1135.21	55	1152.35	1143.78	1051.52	12.12
Strong Ale				41.05	1113.72	46.26	1128.14	1120.93	1051.52	9
Small Beer (half barrel)				15.52	1042.98	17.48	1048.43	1045.71	1004	5.46
Source: Combrune "Theory and Practice of Brewing" 1762, his recommended quantites malt for 1 barrel (36 gallons) of beer . Notes: * For the Amber Ale, Pale Ale and Burton Strong Ale, the first row shows the whole mash being used. The 2nd and 3rd rows show the more likely situation in practice, where a barrel of small beer is also made from the mash. I have calculated pounds per barrel, OG and ABV based on the amount of malt specified by Combrune.

Obadiah Poundage's letter of 1760 gives dome fascinating insights into the development of Porter. Just a shame it's mostly been so badly interpreted.

Technological advances

There were some major technological advances in 18th century British brewing:

the thermometer (1760)
the hydrometer (1770)
the atemperator (1780)

These are the results of some of Richardson's early trials with the hydrometer in the 1770's:

Beer	SG	FG	attenuation	ABV
Strong ale	1110	1052	58	7.2%
Common ale	1075	1025	50	6.3%
Porter	1071	1018	53	6.6%
Table beer	1040	1004	26	3.4%
Source: “A History of Beer and Brewing” Ian S. Hornsey, 2003 p.436. Notes: ABV my calculation from the gravity drop.

Industrialistion

In the second half of the 18th century brewing began to be operated on an industrial scale in London. Before the development of railways, this was only possible in a city of London's size.

The largest brewery already produced a very respectable 91,000 hectolitres in 1748. Thirty years later, there were 6 breweries each pumping out more than 100,000 hl.annually. By the end of the century, Whitbread had taken the lead and broken the 300,000 hl barrier. To put this into context, in the 1790's the largest Mumich brewery maanged less than 4,000 hl.

These are more detailed figures the big London breweries:

Output in hectolitres
	1748	1758	1776	1782	1787	1792	1797	1799
Barcaly Perkins (Thrale)	58,262	53,352	123,397	140,253	172,821	195,569	231,737	223,063
Whitbread	-	105,722	167,093	199,824	239,429	291,308	314,220	332,549
Truman, Hanbury	64,480	90,829	135,834	151,218	155,964	159,565	191,805	191,150
Sir W. Calvert Felix Calvert	91,156	90,011	137,635	149,909	149,909	113,577	114,723	114,723
John Calvert	87,720	101,139	165,456	180,185	214,389	204,734	166,602	159,074
Meux, Reid (Reid and Co)	-	-	35,677	70,372	81,337	128,470	156,128	279,361
Hammond-Gyfford-Shum-Coombe -Delafield	-	-	132,561	135,507	148,763	173,803	196,060	192,459
Parsons-Goodwyn-Hoare	63,826	51,879	-	76,427	108,668	95,739	151,873	133,380
Total for largest breweries	365,444	492,932	897,653	1,103,696	1,271,280	1,362,764	1,523,146	1,625,759
Source: "The Brewing Industry in England 1700-1830" by Peter Mathias, 1959, page 551

(I have more complete figures in this spreadsheet.)

19th Century Classifications

19th Century Brewing
English breweries were modern, well-organised and technically proficient by the middle 1800's. William Loftus describes how they brewed in the 1860's in some detail.

There were three families of styles:

Bitter Beers
Ale
Porter

I'll try to explain them, as best I can, in what follows. I make no pretence of understanding exactly what all the letters - X, A, K, etc - used to denote different types of beer meant. But there are definite patterns. Ones which I think help us understand modern British beer styles and, more importantly, the relationships between them.

Bitter Beers
heavily-hopped. As the century progressed, IPA spawned numerous variations. By 1900, most breweries had at least two or three "Bitters" in their range. Beers generally assigned to this family are

Name	Description	Designation
Stock Beer	strong and inteded to be kept for long periods (9-12 months)	KK, KKK, KKKK
Pale Ale	a confusing designation used for a pale, highly-attenuated beer. Though these were called Pale Ale within the brewery, by the late 19th century drinkers usually referred to such beers as "bitter".	PA, IPA, EIPA
Light Bitter	light (or "mild") bitter beers. Often callen "Luncheon" or "Dinner" Ales, or simply "Bitter Ale" or "Bitter Beer".	AK, BB, BA, LBA, AKA

English beer names taken from old advertisements

Pale Ales
This is how IPA was brewed in the 1860's.

At the start of its rise to fame, IPA was one or two price classes (2d or 4d a gallon) higher Porters or Ales of the same gravity. The premium price is a sure sign of its renown. As other styles gradually weakened, a trend which hardly touched IPA and EIPA, the price differential was eroded to nearly nothing.

PA, the son still living at home with his parents, was less immune to the pressure of higher taxation. Its strength was whittled down from 1066º in 1860 to 1048º in 1914. Then things got serious. Strategies designed to conserve raw materials during WW I and WW II, encouraged brewers to slash the gravities of popular beers the most. By the 1950's most Pale Ales (Young's, for example) had become the standard Bitters of 1036º we know today.

AK
The weakest members of this family, AK and BB, for example, were amongst the lightest Victorian beers. Even the basic X Ale was stronger. The gravity of AK dropped more than any other style in the 1800's, with the possible exception of Porter. At least some of this was accountable to a change in public taste away from heavy beers.

Stock Beer
Stock Beer was a strong Beer which was matured for many months or years and then blended with young beers or ales to give them the aged flavour. It was called Stock because a stock of it was kept in the brewery. It was rarely sold just by itself (I've only found a product called Stock Ale or Beer a couple of times in old brewery price lists).

The "aged" taste, as was discoverd when it was isolated in 1903 by the Dane Niels Hjelte Claussen (who worked at the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen), came from the action of Brettanomyces. Experiments in Britain the early 1900's showed that when a finished pasteurised beer was innoculated with Brettanomyces it acquired the typical aged taste within 10 to 14 days. The application of this technique would have made the production of Stock Beers much quicker and more reliable. Except that the demand for such beers had all but evaporated by the start of the 20th century.

This is a paper presented to the Institute of Brewing in 1904 by Claussen explaining the role of Brettanomyces in the production of Stock Beers (reproduced with permission from the Journal of the Institute of Brewing).

Pure Yeast Cultures
In "Brewing Science and Practice: Volume II Brewing Processes" (H. Lloyd Hind, London, 1940, pages 800-802) there's another interesting passage about Hansens work with single-cell yeast strains. It discusses experiments at the Worthington brewery in Burton in the 1880's brewing beer with pure strains. The conclusion was that pure strains did not produce better than mixed strains and ib fact had some disadvanatges during secondary fermentation, such as conditioning more slowly in the cask and producing beers which did not age well. It was not recommened for use in beers that were to be kept more than 6 weeks after racking. It says that at the time (1940) only a handful of British brewers used pure strains.

India Ales
When brewed	Package	Export/Home	Price/hogshead (in shillings)	Price/gallon (in pence)	OG	FG	lbs/barrel	Proof spirit %	ABV
1844	Bottle	Home	60	13.33	1044.69	1005	16.13	8.82	5.04
Not known.	Bottle	Export, India	60	13.33	1054.18	1013	19.56	9.15	5.23
Not known.	Bottle	Home	60	13.33	1047.18	1006	17.03	9.15	5.23
April 1845	Bottle	Export	60	13.33	1048.35	1004.25	17.45	9.8	5.6
1845	Cask	Export	60	13.33	1048.35	1004.25	17.45	9.8	5.6
Not known.	Bottle	Home	60	13.33	1049.93	1004.25	18.02	10.15	5.8
1844	Bottle	Export, India	60	13.33	1053.75	1006.5	19.4	10.5	6
1844	Bottle	Export, India	60	13.33	1053.82	1005	19.43	10.85	6.2
1845	Cask	Export	63	14	1049.6	1005.5	17.91	9.8	5.6
April 1845	Bottle	Export	63	14	1055.23	1003.25	19.94	11.55	6.6
Jan 1846	Bottle	Export	65	14.44	1061.95	1005.25	22.36	12.6	7.2
Not known.	Bottle	Export	66	14.67	1054.4	1004	19.64	11.2	6.4
Not known.	Cask	Home	81	18	1059.25	1012	21.39	10.5	6
April 1845	Cask	Home	81	18	1053.75	1006.5	19.4	10.5	6
March 1845	Bottle	Home	81	18	1054.83	1006	19.79	10.85	6.2
March 1845	Bottle	Home	81	18	1058.8	1005.25	21.23	11.9	6.8
March 1845	Bottle	Home	81	18	1058.55	1005	21.14	11.9	6.8
March 1845	Bottle	Home	81	18	1060.13	1005	21.71	12.25	7
Not known.	Bottle	Export	81	18	1058.38	1003.25	21.07	12.25	7
April 1845	Bottle	Export	81	18	1058.88	1003.75	21.25	12.25	7
Not known.	Bottle	Export	81	18	1061.28	1003	22.12	12.95	7.4
Not known.	Cask	Export, India	84	18.67	1061.98	1010	22.37	11.55	6.6
Dec. 1844	Cask	Export	84	18.67	1060.38	1005.25	21.8	12.25	7
Mar 1846	Bottle	Export	90	20	1052.25	1005	18.86	10.5	6
Jan 1846	Cask	Export	90	20	1054.83	1006	19.79	10.85	6.2
Jan 1846	Cask	Home	90	20	1055.33	1006.5	19.97	10.85	6.2
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1062.4	1012	22.53	11.2	6.4
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1062.65	1012.25	22.62	11.2	6.4
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1064.23	1012.25	23.19	11.55	6.6
Not known.	Bottle	Export, India	90	20	1065.55	1012	23.66	11.9	6.8
1844	Bottle	Export	90	20	1067.28	1009	24.29	12.95	7.4
Not known.	Cask	Export, India	90	20	1066.28	1008	23.93	12.95	7.4
Feb 1845	Bottle	Export, India	90	20	1068.53	1010.5	24.74	12.95	7.4
1844	Bottle	Export, India	90	20	1070.1	1010.25	25.31	13.3	7.6
Jan 1844	Bottle	Export, India	90	20	1067.61	1007.75	24.41	13.3	7.6
Not known.	Bottle	Export	90	20	1068.93	1007.5	24.88	13.65	7.8
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1069.18	1007.75	24.97	13.65	7.8
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1068.93	1007.5	24.88	13.65	7.8
Not known.	Bottle	Export, India	95	21.11	1067.1	1007.25	24.22	13.3	7.6
Not known.	Cask	Export	95	21.11	1069.43	1008	25.06	13.65	7.8
*Source:* “Scottish Ale Brewer”, by W.H. Roberts, Edinburgh, 1847, pages 171 and 173 *Notes:* 1 hogshead = 54 gallons 1 shilling = 12 pence

Ale
The descendent of Britain's pre-hop brews, Ales were still considerably more lightly-hopped than Bitter Beers. Most breweries made several, their relative strength indicated the number of X's in their name.

Name	Description	Designation
Mild Ale	ales of varying strength meant to be drunk young	X, XX, XXX, XXXX
Strong Ale	high-strength ale, usually aged	XXXXX, XXXXXX, SA
Old Ale	like the stronger milds, but aged	XXXX, XXXXX
Stock Ale	high-strength, aged ale blended with young ale to add the "aged" flavour	XXXK, XXXXK

English beer names taken from old advertisements

The weakest Old Ale was basically the same brew as the strongest Mild Ale, just more heavily-hopped and aged. Long storage in oak vats infected with Brettanomyces produced the "English taste" demanded by drinkers in the early part of the century. Later, the public shifted its affections to younger, weaker brews. By 1900, most Ale was drunk "mild".

Griffin Brewery Ale grists
	1839 X	1839 XL	1838 XX	1839 XXX	1839 KK	1839 KKK
pale malt	99.75	99.76	100	100	100	100
amber malt	0	0	0	0	0	0
brown malt	0	0	0	0	0	0
black malt	0.25	0.24	0	0	0	0
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0
hops (lbs/barrel)	2.08	2.19	3.12	3.75	3.97	5.12
hops (lbs/qtr)	6.97	6.85	8.8	8	10	10.67
gravity (lbs barrel)	26.5	28.5	32	38	32	38
gravity (OG)	1073	1079	1089	1105	1089	1105
barrels wort	131	125	141	128	141	125
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	89.01	89.06	90.24	81.07	80.57	79.17
Source: Brewing books of the Reid Brewery, held at the City of Westminster archive. Notes: % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

Barclay Perkins Ale Grists
	1869								1880
	X	XX*	XXX*	T*	KK	KK	KKK	KKKK**	X	XX*	KKK
pale malt	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	86.01	89.32	81.34
amber malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
brown malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
black malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
sugar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.99	10.68	18.66
hops (lbs)	538	1004	260	316	2438	2302	2768	1020	2396	535	5357
hops (lbs/barrel)	1.94	4	5	4	5.73	7.24	8	10	2.12	4.98	8.1
hops (lbs/qtr)	6.73	10.46	12.09	15.8	14.34	18.27	15.38	18.89	7.61	13.38	18.8
gravity (lbs barrel)	21.7	28.7	33.5	20.5	30.3	28.6	33.6	38.3	21.62	28.35	32.6
gravity (OG)	1060	1080	1093	1057	1084	1079	1093	1106	1060	1079	1090
barrels wort	277.9	251	52	79	425.2	317.8	346	102	1141	107.5	661.75
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	75	75	80.9	79.9	75.2	72.1	68.4	72.1	78.3	76.2	75.7
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: X = Mild Ales (sold young) K = Keeping or Stock Ales * party-gyled with X ** party-gyled with KK KKK was brewed just once in 1880

Porter
Porter was the generic term used to cover all porters and stouts. Here's how Porter was brewed in the 1860's.

Name	Description	Designation
Porter	the bottom-end, draught beer	XP, XXP
Stout	the porter equivalent of an XX ale	X
Double Stout	the porter equivalent of an XXX ale	XX
Triple Stout	the porter equivalent of an XXXX ale	XXX
Brown Stout	the name applied to the first stouts, brewed from brown malt. Some breweries (mostly in London) stuck to this name even after they had stopped using brown malt.	BS
Double Brown Stout	the stronger version of Brown Stout	DBS
Russian Stout	The strongest member of the Stout family

English beer names taken from old advertisements

The strength of Porter and Stout
Early London Porters were strong beers by modern standards. Early trials with the hydrometer in the 1770's recorded Porter as having an OG of 1071° and 6.6% ABV. Increased taxation during the Napoleonic War pushed its gravity down to around 1055°, where it remained for the rest of the 19th century. The huge popularity of the style prompted brewers to produce Porters in a wide variety of strengths. These started with Single Stout Porter at around 1070°, Double Stout Porter at 1085°, Triple Stout Porter at 1095° and Imperial Stout Porter at 1100° and more. As the 19th century progressed the Porter suffix was gradually dropped. British brewers, however, continued to use Porter as the generic term for both Porters and Stouts.

Griffin Brewery

	1844			1867			1877
Beer type	OG (lbs/barrel)	OG	hops (lbs/barrel)	OG	OG	hops	OG	OG	hops
Regular Porter	21.8	1060.1º	2.75	20	1055.4º	2	21	1058.2º	2.25-2.5
Crs.	21	1058.2º	3.75	20	1055.4º	2	21	1058.2º	3-3.25
Crs. Export				22	1060.9º	4.5	22	1060.9º	5
Com. Sea	22	1060.9º	3
S	26.5	1073.4º	3.75
S Crs.	27	1074.8º	4.8	25	1069.3º	4.5	26	1072º	4-4.25
S Export							27	1074.8º	6.25
SS	31.5	1087.3º	4.56
SS Crs.	31.5	1087.3º	5.75	30	1083.1º	4.25	30.5	1084.5º	4-4.25
SSS	35	1097º	6	34	1094.2º	6
SSS Crs.				34	1094.2º	6	34.5	1095.6º	6-6.25
SSS Export							35	1097º	7.5
Source: Brewing books of the Reid Brewery, held at the City of Westminster archive. Notes: Reid brewing logs from 1837-1838

The move from Brown to Pale malt
The large London Porter breweries pioneered many technological advances, such as the use of the thermometer (about 1760) and the hydrometer (1770). The use of the latter was to transform the nature of Porter. The first Porters were brewed from 100% Brown Malt. Now brewers were able to accurately measure the yield of the malt they used, it was noticed that Brown Malt, though cheaper than Pale Malt, only produced about two thirds as much fermentable material. When the malt tax was increased to help pay for the Napoleonic War, brewers had an incentive to use less malt. Their solution was to use a proportion of Pale Malt and add colouring to obtain the expected hue.

When a law was passed in 1816 allowing only malt and hops to be used in the production of beer (a sort of British Reinheitsgebot) they were left in a quandry. Their problem was solved by Wheeler´s invention of patent malt in 1817. It was now possible to brew Porter from 95% Pale Malt and 5% patent malt, though most London brewers continued to use some Brown Malt for flavour.

Griffin Brewery (Reid) Porter and Stout grists
	1844/1845								1867							1877
	Rg	Crs	Com. Sea	S	S Crs	SS	SS Crs	SSS	Rg	Crs	Crs. Exp.	S Crs	SS Crs	SSS	SSS Exp.	Rg	Crs	S	SS	SSS
pale malt	83.14	80.55	81.02	82	81.29	85.88	85.73	83.07	83.31	83.11	39.26	40.24	86.17	39.92	23.93	84.37	87.46	58.21	86.19	39.92
amber malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	41.73	40.24	0	39.67	54.93	0	0	28.14	0	39.67
brown malt	13.86	14.99	14.73	14.06	14.52	10.81	10.92	13.52	11.26	11.29	14.94	14.45	10.28	17.86	18.57	10.08	9	10.1	10.27	17.86
black malt	4	4.46	4.25	3.94	4.19	3.31	3.34	3.41	5.42	5.59	4.07	5.07	3.54	2.55	2.57	5.56	3.54	3.54	3.54	2.55
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
hops (lbs/barrel)	2.83	3.76	3.03	3.76	4.92	4.55	6.15	5.83	1.92	2.5	4.42	4.27	4.2	6.09	7	2.16	2.99	4.27	4.2	5.83
hops (lbs/qtr)	11.61	15.67	12.96	12.05	15.77	11.62	14.92	12.66	9.16	11	15.47	13.16	10.23	12.66	12.86	8.47	11.67	13.16	10.22	12.66
gravity (lbs barrel)	21.8	21	22	26.5	27	31.5	31.5	34	20	20	22	25	30	34	34	21	21	25	30	34
gravity (OG)	1060	1058	1061	1073	1075	1087	1087	1094	1055	1055	1061	1069	1083	1094	1094	1058	1058	1069	1083	1094
barrels wort	459	866	462	359	333	347	330	139	952	879	224	818	648	133	257	392	234	818	648	139
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	89.34	87.43	94.11	84.94	86.45	80.37	76.43	73.84	95.2	87.9	77	77.1	73.12	70.66	62.41	82.32	81.9	77.1	73.05	73.84
Source: Brewing books of the Griffin Brewery, held at the City of Westminster archive. Notes: Rg = Regular Porter Crs = Keeping Porter S = Single Stout SS = Double Stout SSS - Triple Stout % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

Griffin Brewery (Meux, Reid & Co) brewery grists
	1839 IPA	1839 BPA	1839 Porter	1838 KP	1837 BSt	1838 KBSt	1838 EBSt	1837 DBSt
pale malt %	100	100	80.39	82.88	77.78	78.4	77.78	78.13
amber malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
brown malt %	0	0	14.95	13.46	18.39	18.35	18.39	17.86
black malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast malt %	0	0	4.66	3.66	3.83	3.25	3.83	4.02
hops (lbs/barrel)	5.88	5.61	2.09	4.13	4.61	5.15	5.32	4.86
hops (lbs/qtr)	26.6	22.67	10.23	16.44	14.04	16.23	17.16	11.23
gravity (lbs barrel)	20.55	20.17	22.14	21.46	26.71	25.98	25.74	30.38
gravity (OG)	1057	1056	1061.32	1059	1074	1072	1071	1084
barrels wort	452	303	392	398	320	331	339	208
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	92.9	81.5	108.4	85.4	81.4	81.9	83.1	70.2
Source: Brewing books of the Griffin Brewery, held at the City of Westminster archive. Notes: KP = Keeping Porter BSt = Brown Stout KBSt = Keeping Brown Stout EBSt = Export Brown Stout DBSt = Double Brown Stout % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

Anchor Brewery (Barclay Perkins)

In the early decades of the 19th century, Barclay Perkins was not just the largest brewery in London, but the largest in the world. It brewed on a massive scale. Look below at the size of their 1812 brews - 1200 barrels (around 2,000 hl) or more. That's more than many micros brew in a year.

Barclay Perkins Porter and Stout Grists
	1805							1812						1851					1856								1862
	BSt	EI	FSt	Table	TT	Hhd	PSt	BSt	EI	FSt	Table	TT	Small Ale	BSt	EI	IBSt	TT	Hhd	Bst	BSt K	BSt ex	EI	IBSt	TT	Hhd	Fst	BSt	EI	IBSt	TT	Hhd
pale malt %	55.05	54.85	67.2	68.13	56.23	54.85	100	48.27	58.28	58.72	65.46	61.72	100	68.05	73.8	63.58	85	85	65.34	65.34	65.34	77.65	63.79	86.38	84.87	76.72	65.19	76.44	66.11	80.19	81.19
amber malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.39	0	0	11.48	0	0	10.66	4.45	10.8	0	0	11.49	11.49	11.49	0	11.15	0	0	0	11.11	0	11.26	0	0
brown malt %	44.95	45.15	32.8	31.87	43.77	45.15	0	37.33	41.72	41.28	23.06	38.28	0	18.74	18.41	23.05	12.12	12.12	20.18	20.18	20.18	19	22.4	10.54	12.1	19.55	20.91	19.93	19.79	14.78	14.47
black malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.54	3.35	2.58	2.88	2.88	2.99	2.99	2.99	3.35	2.66	3.09	3.03	3.73	2.79	3.63	2.83	5.03	4.34
hops (lbs/barrel)	3.45	3.8	3.02	0.68	1.87	2.69	3.98	3.97	3.82	3.29	0.25	2.53	2.9	6.22	4.47	9.04	3.25	4.29	6.56	8.14	8.14	4.68	10.12	3.1	3.69	4.54	8.33	4.6	10.02	4.32	5.66
hops (lbs/qtr)	8.04	12.38	11.68	4.31	6.27	8.95	8.67	9.43	12.89	12.19	2.14	9.63	14.23	13.44	16.88	15.75	13	16.38	14.4	17.9	16.25	17.05	15.86	12.72	15.46	19.54	17.9	18.08	15.58	22	25.45
gravity (lbs barrel)	25.05	19.53	16.59	11.18	18.98	17.37	28.69	25.27	18.97	17.28	9.21	18.67	15.75	28.49	21.72	30.59	20.52	21.91	33.5	33.5	33.5	22	38.7	21.9	21.5	22.2	32.4	22.6	36.03	20.1	21
gravity (OG)	1069	1054	1046	1031	1053	1048	1079	1070	1053	1048	1026	1052	1044	1079	1060	1085	1057	1061	1093	1093	1093	1061	1107	1061	1060	1061	1090	1063	1100	1056	1058
barrels wort	537	685	734	414	856	349	261	831	759	1187	1217	1217	1278	648	907	523	1037	990	615	615	615	1310.8	227.25	1067	1088	1421	623	1354	443	1374	990
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	58.48	63.7	64.08	71.23	63.7	57.75	62.41	60	64	64.08	80.1	71	77.42	61.6	82.1	53.32	82	83.6	73.3	73.3	73.3	79.8	60.3	89.7	89.8	95.4	67.1	88.8	56	97	97
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: BSt = Brown Stout TT = Porter (don't ask me what it stands for) IBSt = Imperial Brown Stout (later Barclays Imperial Russian Stout, then Courage Russian Stout) PSt = Pale Stout % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

Barclay Perkins
	1899/1900					1910
	BS	RDP	SDP	XLK	PA	BS	BS ex	RDP	OMS	XLK	EIP Ex	PA
pale	50.8	51.34	59.33	70.43	70.48	47.82	56.3	49.59	46.58	75.25	66.94	86.24
amber	11.36	11.49	6.41	0	0	11	14.07	11.64	11.87	0	6.53	0
brown	6.24	6.36	8.87	0	0	6.28	6.57	6.26	9.47	0	10.72	0
black	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast	5.08	3.71	3.33	0	0	5.62	6.08	5.66	8.21	0	6.77	0
C (chocolate malt?)	8.02	8.04	4.33	0	0	8.13	0	7.76	0	0	0	0
oats	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.41	0	3.65	0	0	0
rice	0	0	0	10.84	10.82	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
maize	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.02	0	0
sugar	18.49	19.07	17.74	18.73	18.7	21.16	15.57	19.08	20.21	18.73	9.03	13.76
hops (lbs)	376	326	147	400	112	232	480	264	240	270	204	192
hops (lbs/barrel)	3.19	2.79	2.57	2.16	4	2.69	4.03	2.54	1.83	1.48	3.39	3.11
hops (lbs/qtr)	8.87	8.84	8.32	10	16.45	7.73	12	8	7.5	7.5	11.91	12
gravity (lbs barrel)	27.44	22.67	24.01	19.31	21.69	27.29	27.51	23.47	19.21	16.93	20.1	21.69
gravity (OG)	1076	1063	1067	1054	1060	1076	1076	1065	1053	1047	1056	1060
barrels wort	118	117	57.3	185	28	86.3	119	103.75	131	182	60.25	61.75
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	76.4	78.3	78.3	89	88.2	76.7	81.6	76.9	78.4	85.6	80.4	83.7
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: BS = Brown Stout BS ex = Brown Stout (Export) RDP = Porter (Running?) SDP = Porter (Stock?) OMS = Oatmeal Stout PA = Pale Ale XLK = god knows, seems to be some sort of light Bitter or Luncheon Ale % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

What does this tell us?
Barclay's Imperial Stout label

These figures demonstrate that the BJCP-defined difference between Porter and Stout - that Stout is roasty and Porter isn´t - is total bollocks. Or at least that wasn´t the case in 19th century London. If anything, it was the other way around in the case of Barclays. The 1862 Porter (5%) had almost twice as much roasted malt as the Stout (2.8%).

In 1805 the Stout was just a scaled-up version of the Porter. In 1812 the difference was that the Stout had 15% amber malt, while the Porter had none. In 1851 and 1862, not only did the Stout have amber malt but around 50% more brown malt than the Porter. By 1862, the Porter was more heavily-hopped, with 22 pounds per quarter to the Stout's 18.

Nor is there any significant difference in the hopping levels (best seen in the pounds of hops per quarter of malt) between the two. In 1815 both Porter and Stour were hopped at around 9.5 pounds per quarter. In 1851, both had around 13 pounds of hops per quarter of malt.

The table shows well the change in Porter grists over the course of the century, with the percentage of brown malt falling and later the use of roast malt for colouring purposes.

Whitbread

Whitbread Porter and Stout grists
	1805			1844						1873				1904
	Porter	S	SS	Porter	KP#	S*	S Exp	SS&	SSS&	Porter	XpS	SS	SSS	Porter	C~	CS	S*	SS@	SSS#
pale malt	79.24	79.24	66.12	81.21	81.21	81.21	81.21	81.21	81.21	94.48	80.19	84.24	83.86	y	83.11	83.11	y	62.98	62.98
amber malt	0	0	19.33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21.12	21.12
brown malt	20.76	20.76	14.55	18.79	18.79	18.79	18.79	18.79	18.79	0	14.78	11.82	12.55	y	9.98	9.98	y	11.36	11.36
black malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.52	5.03	3.94	3.59	y	6.91	6.91	y	4.54	4.54
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0		0	0
total	216	216	216	199	173	199	199	26	199	138	270	200	176	134	206	206	74	417	58
hops (lbs)	2259	2248	2261	2298	1977	252	4340	302.72		1607	3288	2705	2451	818	832.31	1245	954.7	3744	602
hops (lbs/barrel)	2.83	3.12	3.9	2.94	2.94	4.06	6.89	5.41		2.65	5.81	4.55	6.81	1.42	2.98	1.46	4.13
hops (lbs/qtr)	10.46	10.41	10.47	11.55	11.46	11.56	21.81	11.46	11.49	11.64	12.18	13.53	13.93	6.09	12.07	6.04	12.96	10.42	10..42
gravity (lbs barrel)	18.5	19	21.9	23	22.1	28	27.5	32	36	21.4	25.3	27.8	33	19.4	20.1	20.28	27.07	31.23	34.3
gravity (OG)	1051	1053	1061	1064	1061	1078	1076	1089	1100	1059	1070	1077	1091	1053	1056	1056	1075	1087	1095
barrels wort	798	720	580	781	672	62	630	56	56	607	566	595	360	577	279	852	231	863	270
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	67.1	70.4	69	91.4	90.8	93.8	93.6	90.8	90.5	79.7	80.9	76.4	70	83.3	81.3	83.9	84.9	75	75
Source: Brewing logs from the Whitbread archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: * party-gyled Porter # party-gyled with SS & party-gyled with KP @ party-gyled with SSS ~ party-gyled with CS In 1805 every single brew had exactly the same ingredients, the only difference between Porter , S and SS being the volume of beer produced.

Truman, Hanbury and Buxton (Black Eagle Brewery)

Truman Porter and Stout grists
	1850
	Runner	Country Runner	M Keeping	Bottling Keeping	Export Keeping	Running Stout	M Keeping Stout	Export Stout	Double Stout	Keeping Double Stout	Imperial
pale malt	93.63	89.43	88.91	80.03	80.03	92.9	80.03	80.03	81.96	81.96	81.96
amber malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
brown malt	6.37	10.57	11.09	19.97	19.97	7.1	19.97	19.97	18.04	18.04	18.04
black malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0