Plum Porter, well sort of.

[user 18576]

Just a quick post to let everybody know regarding my version of Plum Porter.
I'm not really a fan of dark beers but loving the Titanic plum porter so much I decided to have a go at
re-creating it.
Started with a Festival 'Pride of London Porter Kit'. Brewed the normal way then added approx 25ml
(half a bottle) of Plum essence when barrelling the beer.
First impressions on tasting after about a month conditioning was disappointing, couldn't really taste any
plum flavour, the wife said it tasted remotely of pears.
Tried adding a few extra drops of essence to a glass of the porter and it just made it taste sickly.
Drank most of it anyway but got down to the last few pints left in the barrel and thought nope - just
cannot face another drop. Probably the worst beer I've made to date but if you don't give it a go you
don't know.
Would love to know where Titanic brewery get their Plum essence/extract from. I doubt they will be telling.

Paul

 

[AdeDunn]

They'll probably tell you that the late hopping with Goldings hops complements the plum, giving you that flavour that leaves you just wanting more of the stuff....

If you haven't figured it out yet, I rather love Titanic Plum Porter. Annoyingly, the nearest Titanic pub is in Stafford.... Supermarkets stock it now, but it sells out faster than I can get there and buy it.... lol

Oh, you might get closer with a stout kit, as it's the darkest darn porter I've ever seen! It's as black as tar.... I've tried to come up with an all grain recipe for it, but haven't had the opportunity (or the danglies) to try brewing it yet. I can tell you that I calculated 13.04 mls of essence for 20 litres, added in secondary, using various recipes online for plum porters etc. Everything I have read is that it's all about having the right hops in there to begin with, then using just the right amount of essence that complement these hops. So I was looking at Admiral for bittering, Bramling Cross and Goldings for Flavour and Aroma.

It's definitely NOT an easy one to reproduce though. Hence I've been so hesitant to even try yet. Still playing with my recipe.

 

[user 18576]

Hello AdeDunn.

Thanks for your reply,
Do you mean The Sun pub in Stafford, my home town, I used to live there (and Penkridge) before moving to
Burnham on Sea a few years ago.
My God Parents used to run The Sun in the 1970's - Ashley Howard, Think is wife was Pat?
Also they had one or two (not sure) gorgeous daughters (about my age as well)!!!
Go back there occasionally, But I drink the Titanic White Star and perhaps buy some Plum Porter bottles
to take home.
After all this I'm assuming you are referring to The Sun.
Anyway, thanks for your reply and info on the hops. I'll probably stick to bitters mostly in future cos thats
about my favourite - like White Star.

The Wagon & Horses, Stone Rd island had most of my wages in the 70's. Worthington 'E' was my downfall.

Paul.

 

[AdeDunn]

That's the place yeah. My memories of the place don't go quite as far back, but I do remember it in the early 00s when it was a bit of a hole to be honest, it quite literally had sawdust on the floor, and was the favourite hangout of the ward manager of one of the wards I worked on as a student nurse... lol Back before Titanic even existed (I worked at St Georges for a while. lol).

I'm a big dark beers fan, so the first time I tasted Plum Porter I was hooked. It was a seasonal originally though, and was like rocking horse poop.... The cask used to empty out quicker than The Grapes (got chucked out of there once, whilst on a ward night out with said ward manager.... lol) when the police vans arrived....

I was born in 75, so would have been a sorry state of affairs if I had been drinking ANY beer back then... My first taste of Worthingtons and Bass though put me off bitter for a very long time, Boddingtons and John Smiths didn't help either.... Then there was my first experience with lager, on my 18th Birthday, when my dad bought me 1 pint of Carling, then 1 pint of Tennants Pilsner, then 1 pint of Tennants Extra... Shish that stuff was nasty.... lol I drank cider until the age of 22....

I mostly brew Saisons and golden ales to be honest, you can have more fun with them, and they're easier to get right without temperature control. That, and I like my beer more fruity, rather than herbal and earthy. I did have a go at more traditional brews with fuggles and EKG, I wasn't at all keen though. The good thing about a golden ale, it can be on the path to a bitter, without the risk of any malts used for colour messing up the flavour.... lol

 

[user 18576]

You were born in 75, swap the numbers around I was born in 57.
Worthington Bitter was 12p pint when I first started drinking.
Never went in the Grapes much, used to check you for knives on the way in, (if you hadn't got one they would
lend you one). Sorry but the old one's are the best.
I started work at Lloyd's garage in 73.