Brown Stout - London 1812
The Kernel Brewery in Bermondsey, Greater London, England 🏴
Stout Special|
Score
7.60
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Hops: Goldings, (Hukins)
Yeast: English Ale Strain
Another recipe from Barclay Perkins archives, this one quite a bit older than any we have made previously.
In the 19th century there were brown stouts and pale stouts. Pale was likely pale brown, and brown likely darker brown. So stouts were brown. This was a time of brown beer. The patents for roasting malted barley to get black malt (which enabled beers to become really dark) were only filed after the time of this recipe.
One of the reasons for digging out a recipe from this era was that our malt suppliers, Simpson’s, released their ‘Pale Export Brown Malt’ which feels close, we think, to how most all malt would have looked and tasted in the 19th century. Perhaps malt then would have been more smokey.
This pale export brown malt made up 40% of the grist, the remainder being our regular maris otter pale base malt. The main characteristic that the Pale Export Brown Malt brings is toast. The hops and yeast esters bring warm citrus fruits, so aromatically it comes across like marmalade on toast.
Initially the beer feels and tastes big, round, a little sweet, then slowly and inexorably the toast takes over, gently drying things out, with the tingle of hops around the edges stopping things from becoming austere. It is assuredly old fashioned in flavour, situated in a brown beer world we don’t inhabit anymore. But no less delicious for that. There is a good reason that our forebears enjoyed drinking beer.
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
330ml bottle. Pours an unclear dark brown with a huge beige head taking a bit to settle. Aroma of chocolate, burnt coffee grounds, light ash. Taste is very chocolatey and slightly sweeter than I expected, but the roast malts and burnt coffee ground notes add an assertive and lingering bitterness, some light ashy/smokey notes, dark malts. Medium bodied, soft fluffy airy mouthfeel.
Easily the best beer of 1812, as I said 213 years ago. Seriously though this is a top tier stout. Incredibly drinkable and more-ish.
Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 9
That’s just gorgeous stuff. Mellow roast, a little burnt caramel, earth, old tobacco, nip of baking cocoa, burnt rubber, leathery raisin. Bittersweet. Superb balance. Dry finish. Wildly drinkable.
Cask at Kernel, 26th September 2025. Pours a dirty murky dark brown. Aroma is malts, chocolate, earthy, floral. Taste is pleasant, cocoa, malty, decent cask
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Cask at Mother Arch iii, 24/09/2025.
Extremely dark mahogany brown topped with a beige cap that thins to a swirl and egdeing.
Nose is chocolate shavings, dark malts, dried fruit esters, mellow roast.
Taste comprises chocolate biscuit, charr, roasted bite, light spice, toffee.
Medium bodied, soft carbonation, drying close.
Solid cask stout.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle from The Beer Cave. Hazy brown body with ruby highlights and a thick beige head. Low carbonation. Faint lacing. Aroma of ash and coffee. Flavour of rust, ashy wood and cranberry. Medium body with a smooth mouthfeel. Soft fizz. Ashy and sharp - an interesting beer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8