A London Porter
The Kernel Brewery in Bermondsey, Greater London, England 🏴
Porter Series|
Score
7.58
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Re-brewed in 2024 with the addition of the letter 'A' in front of the name.
Malt – Maris Otter, Brown, Black, Amber, Crystal
Hops – East Kent Goldings
Yeast – House Ale Yeast
Based on a recipe from Whitbread’s Brewery, dated 1896, that we gleaned from ‘Old British Beers and How to Make Them’. The archives just have this down as ‘Porter’, nothing more.
We call it A London Porter to differentiate it from its sibling, the racier Export India Porter, where export levels of hops give a fruitier, more flighty beer. In a London Porter things are warm and dark and rich. The feel and texture are nourishing. Dried fruit - raisins, prunes and dates - and chocolate. Then a balanced espresso finish. Hints of leather, tar, tobacco. Lots of coffee and cocoa.
The recipe itself is typical of London, in its use of a large proportion of brown malt, which gives the beer a hint of spice along with some smoke, leather and tar in the flavour, and a dry finish. Also a portion of black malt was added to the boil, which apparently was something only done in London, which increased the roast/coffee character. East Kent Goldings were the hops of choice for the best beers at that time.
We brewed the first version of this beer in Feb 2010 (it was our 10th batch of beer).
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Theydon_Bois (46224) reviewed A London Porter from The Kernel Brewery 1 year ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Keg at Mother Arch iii, 01/11/24. Black with a tan cap that retains well. Nose is chocolate dipped raisins, earthy roast, dried fruit rinds, charr, dates. Taste comprises cocoa powder, toffee, chocolate biscuit, raisins, fruit cake mix, light ashen tones, roasted bite. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, drying close. Solid cask porter ... 3.8 had it again the following night at the Chesham Arms ... 4.0 so entered as a 3.9.
Svesse (15730) reviewed A London Porter from The Kernel Brewery 14 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
(Bottle, purchased at the brewery outlet) Very dark brown colour, almost black. Huge, creamy, beige head, leaving traces of lacing. Malty, roasted nose with notes of chocolate, cocoa, blueberries and creamy coffee. Malty, roasted taste with chocolate, cocoa, dark bread and smooth, creamy coffee coming through towards the end. Gentle coffee bitterness. Medium body, mainly dry. Soft and smooth mouthfeel. Very nice and well balanced porter.
Convair880 (6926) reviewed A London Porter from The Kernel Brewery 14 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Cask at Pigs Ear fest 2010. It was called ’A London Porter’. A dark brown/black coloured pour with a smallish beige head. Malty, coffee aroma. Tastes malty, coffee, dark fruit, roasty, slight bitterness. Very good quality porter from the ever improving Kernel.
Leighton (34941) reviewed A London Porter from The Kernel Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle at home. Red-brown pour with a light, bubbly head. Cocoa malts and light, brown sugar on the nose. Light to medium sweet, bit of dark malts, mild mocha, some slight sourness. Light bodied with fine carbonation. Dark, mineral malts to finish, some muddy roast, light sugars. Pretty nice.
Anders37 (30296) reviewed A London Porter from The Kernel Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle. Pours a dark brown almost black color with a small tan head. Has a roasted malty chocolate and dark fruit aroma. Roasted malty and slighlty smokey chocolate and dark fruit flavor. Has a roasted malty chocolate and licorice finish.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
[Bottle from West Country Ales, Cheddar] Dark brown, no head, slight prickly carbonation. Smells of chocolate, blackcurrant and (oddly) Marmite. Dry and smokey at first, but plenty of chocolate comes through. A little earth in the finish, and a touch more Marmite. Maybe a little thin. A decent, well-balanced porter, but lacks the wow factor.
Fergus (31329) reviewed A London Porter from The Kernel Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7.5
Absolutely no head. Aroma is earthy, woody and burnt toffee. This beer packs a very big flavour, compared to it’s slightly subdued aroma. Dark malty, liquorice, nuttyand finished with bitter coffee. On the palete is is slick, oily and slighlty syripy. The is very little in the way of carbonation with this one. I think it could do with a little bit more to lift those big flavours off the tongue and get a bit more aroma going. Very enjoyable and went down very easy.
cagarvie (40076) reviewed A London Porter from The Kernel Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
bottle at home ... 5.5% ... deep black .. creamy tight tan head ... soft coffee roast malts nose ... little over fizzy ... big coffee ... light chocolate ... light burnt edge... nice but lacking a little in body... little rough round the edges ... Bottle at home ... deep dark roast ... soft sweet roast malt nose ... juicy sweet roast malt ... good solid roast ... big chocolate ... nice. 3.8
madmitch76 (40452) reviewed A London Porter from The Kernel Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
2nd December 2010
Pigs Ear Festival. Very dark brown beer, residual tan head. Slightly minerally dark malt. A little sweetish fruit undertone. Trace of cream. Mildly dry finish. Nicely joined up light porter.
Harrisoni (26233) reviewed A London Porter from The Kernel Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Cask gravity at Pigs Ear 2010. Black colour with lasting beige head. Quite big roast malts on aroma with good sting on the finish. Tasty. Just a touch of burnt rubber. Some juicy blackcurrant fruit on the swallow. Burnt flavour does not go well as rest of beer is good.