1880 Whitbread Porter Tasting

A serious sinus infection delayed the kegging of this beer for two weeks! Meaning it was in the primary fermenter for 4 weeks. For new homebrewers who may think this is terrible believe me, it is not.

You may have read books or blog posts in the past saying that after fermentation is complete you must get your beer off the yeast cake or you risk off flavors and/or ruining your beer! Friends and other homebrewers may have told something similar. The thing about brewing is that we are learning all the time and some of  what we learn today contradicts what we thought was true not that very long ago.

The trouble here is that the printed word lasts a long time. Couple that with the viral nature of the internet and you have two forces at work to revive outdated information. The third leg in this axis of ignorance is that we as human beings find it very hard to let go of long held beliefs. Even when those beliefs are proven wrong.

I kegged this beer  six days ago from this writing. It probably could use another day or three but I couldn't wait. The first pour happened just a moment ago and I am sipping a beautiful and silky smooth porter at this very moment.


First of all, I set my CO2 regulator to 9 PSI and my keezer is at 40 F which should give me 2.2 volumes of CO2 in my beer. A bit on the high side for an English Porter but within limits. The initial impression of the beer is, yes, it could do with three or so days more on the gas before drinking. The carbonation is low and the head is thin and does not last long. This will improve.

Next is the color. A rich, dark chocolate hue that is everything a porter should be. The nose is very pleasant with the aroma of roasted coffee and chocolate. Upon tasting I get more of that roasty, coffee, chocolate character with a hint of dark fruit... plumb or raisin.

The final gravity came in lower than predicted and that is noticeable. Not in the extra alcohol but in the lack of extra sweetness. While the beer does have a sweet aspect it is in no way too sweet. The same can be said of the hops. The hint of hop bitterness is there but not up front. Both malt and hops have found their perfect Goldilocks zone.

This beer is silky smooth going down. The first thing I want before even finishing this pint is to have another. But I will hold off knowing that this beer will get even better given a little bit of time.

Time. Four weeks of time spent on the yeast cake in the primary fermenter. Something that would have been unthinkable when I started brewing 20 years ago. Then again, back then I would have beer expected to transfer this to a secondary fermenter to "clean up" before bottling or kegging and we all know that's a load of bollocks these days don't we.