Fuller's London Porter

[old faithful]

This is the bottled version (beerbistro offers the very drinkable draft form). I wonder if it is bottle-conditioned since the last pours from the bottle are turbid. This bottle's best-by date is only April 18, 2005 but it is fresh as a daisy, which makes me wonder again if it is bottled-matured.

Light roasty scents, coffee-like, good malty flavour with acidic tangs in the aftertaste, some black licorice in there, too. Yeasty with a quick finish. Very drinkable. Reminds me of the bottled Guinness when it used to be bottle-conditioned in England. (Is it still in Ireland?).

A very fine beer. That lightly acidic finish reminds me of Molson Porter of 15 years ago, that beer was kind of a Fuller's London Porter light. Whatever happened to that beer anyway?

Gary

[Wheatsheaf]

It isn't bottle-conditioned. Any sediment in a nearly-year-old bottle of Fuller's London Porter is probably a protein sediment that has settled-out over time.

[midlife crisis]

Bottled Guinness is all but extinct in Ireland, at least if my 10-day, multiple-pub sampling last year is any indication (and I did look for it everywhere I went).

[old faithful]

Can that really be?? I used to enjoy the bottle-conditioned Guinness when it was available in England. It has been some years since Guinness pulled that from the market there but I thought bottle-matured Guinness was still available in Ireland. It had a unique taste, earthy and sometimes estery.

Gary

[Uncle Bobby]

A very fine beer. That lightly acidic finish reminds me of Molson Porter of 15 years ago, that beer was kind of a Fuller's London Porter light. Whatever happened to that beer anyway?

Gary,

There was a point about 20 years ago where the then-Big 3 brewers consolidated their brands and a bunch of old-timer beers were pulled. Presumably they were pulled in favour of production space for their big brands which were backed up by the big ad campaigns.

Easily recalled brands that went MIA at that time included: Dow Ale, Kingsbeer Lager, Molson Oktoberfest, Black Horse, Molson Porter (with the plush two colour graphics on the label), and Labatt Velvet Cream Porter (my fave). I recall some of these brands specifically because I was halfway through drinking my way through the list of beers at the Brewers Retail (the apostrophe was optional) when they did it.

At the time one of my great uncles regaled us with stories of working at a brewery (either Dow or Olands) in New Brunswick in the 20s, and told us that the only thing that changed on the production line was the labels. The beer was all the same. Perhaps the consolidation of the brands was some kind of implicit recognition of the lack of variety in their recipes. There certainly has always been that suspicion among even the most committed consumers of big brewery beer.

Nonetheless at the time it was a good idea to keep the names of two or three of these less popular brands in the back of your head. Often times tap rooms, or even the Brewers Retail, would run out of the most popular brands on a hot day. Or at the very least, only be able to offer them with minimum refrigeration. A less commonly drunk beer like Black Horse however might be sitting at the back of the fridge untouched and ice cold.

Anyways, Molson Porter disappeared about that time, as I recall. And I have only ever seen Labatt Velvet Cream Porter once since then -- in a dépanneur in Montreal ten years ago during a rowdy Leafs weekend. Bought a six pack, too, and got teased for it. As good as I remembered it being.

-Uncle Bobby

[Bobbyok]

And I have only ever seen Labatt Velvet Cream Porter once since then -- in a dépanneur in Montreal ten years ago during a rowdy Leafs weekend. Bought a six pack, too, and got teased for it. As good as I remembered it being.

I picked up some Labatt Porter last summer at a Depanneur in Cap Rouge outside of Quebec City. I wish I hadn't, and that they hadn't resurrected it. It was nasty. Also saw it in Montreal. And it wasn't just a random bottle that had been sitting around the store for a while, there was lots of it at both places. That doesn't mean it hadn't been sitting around a Labatt Warehouse for a few years mind you, but if that's the case they should have left it there.

[old faithful]

It isn't great, I agree. Its formulation is different (I am fairly certain) from the old Champlain Porter which had more body, sweetness and a faint licorice taste. Also, Champlain Porter had a distinctive, yellowish head which old-timers will recall quite well. That Labatt Porter was at some point substituted for it, probably it was sold somewhere else in Canada before because I don't recall that Labatt always had two Porters on the market in Quebec (although maybe it did). I have seen Labatt Porter quite regularly in Quebec over the years but Champlain Porter was withdrawn some years ago. Ontario's Molson Porter was pretty good, not great, but not dissimilar to Fuller's London Porter, more like a light version as I said. I am sure it would have been better (as Stock Ale would be) on draft. I can't understand why Coors/Molson and Molson before that won't resurrect the beers Molson sold in the 1920's like true Porters, Stouts, IPA's and Brown Ales, at least to promote interest in their product and heritage. InBev/Labatt however introduced some Belgian beers, a positive development. I never thought I would see the day when a big company would promote a beer such as Hoegaarden in Ontario, extraordinary.

Gary

[joey_capps]

Labatt still periodically brews the Velvet Cream Porter in Quebec for the Quebec market. So, what you had, Bobby, was probably new. We went through this debate on Rate Beer a while back, but were finally able to confirm that they are brewing it again.

I didn't find it nasty at all. I thought it was a fairly nice. My bottle was over a year-and-a-half old when I drank it. Maybe you just needed to age it. Here is my reveiw.

2003 Vintage. Dark brown w/ swirling, frothy finger of beige foam. Sweet malty, milk chocolate nose w/ some fruity (cherry) notes. Creamy feel. Rich, rounded flavour of milk chocolate, licorice, & cherry liqueur. A decent beer from Labatt’s--who’da thunk it.

I gave it a 3.2/5

[Bobbyok]

I assume that mine was the 2003 version as well, purchased in June 2004. Here's my rating - a 1.4 out of 5:

Dark brown colour with a frothy and fizzy fully diminishing off-white head. Cola-type look. Hmmm...a porter that smells vaguely like a malt liquor, that can’t be good. Grainy, corn, vinous, and alcohol aroma. No roast, no coffee, no chocolate. This is almost as bad as calling Keith’s an IPA. Corn, red wine, and cola flavours, and a weird rubbery-type finish. Oily and slightly syrupy mouthfeel.

I think my Keith's comment was in regard to the lagerish characteristics of this one. Just didn't seem like a Porter at all. The corn-like aroma and that almost indescribable rubbery finish killed it for me.

[Uncle Bobby]

I can't understand why Coors/Molson and Molson before that won't resurrect the beers Molson sold in the 1920's like true Porters, Stouts, IPA's and Brown Ales, at least to promote interest in their product and heritage.

Gary,

I once had a book of historical beer recipes written by a crazy old English guy who went so far as to malt his own grain. He said that many of his recipes had been gleaned from the major breweries, many of which had archives of recipes dating back hundreds of years.

The recipes existed only in the recipe books of these breweries -- none of them were ever produced any more. For some reason they had allowed this fellow to reproduce them in his book.

(BTW -- Apparently my copy of this hard-to-come-by book still exists in the book collection of George E. of Guelph. Grrrr...!)

I cannot imagine the major Canadian brewers releasing any of these beers, either as recipes or as finished products. Why would they release something that shows up their current line of products? To say nothing of the fact that they probably regard these recipes as some kind of intangible asset/intellectual property (like back-dated song catalogues) which should only be sold and never given away.

That said, has anyone ever tried to wrest an old recipe from one of the majors? Red Cap provides the only example that I can think of.

(Should we start a new string?)

-Uncle Bobby

[old faithful]

A new string yes but I'll say this: releasing such beers would be a specialty line, a sideline, other big breweries have done something like that, e.g. A/B has issued verious beers of this nature over the years. They don't feel it would harm their major line-up. I think it would reinforce it. Most producers of something put out different qualities, only Molson and Labatt (until the purchase in the latter case but that was a special situation) kept putting out the same old thing with minor variations. They had the example of micro-brewing before them, of imports, and kept wondering, say, how to make a better Molson Canadian commercial. Earlier I speculated that maybe they thought the micro market wasn't worth their attention but I think on reflection they could have been more "high road", e.g., as Michael Jackson the great beer writer once said, "who knows what the market is for a stout"? I can understand that the big players would view their business as a mass market thing but still to withdraw the traditional products (e.g. Molson Porter), that Labatt ale in the engraved bottle (Labatt IPA it was, a fine beer) was unbelieveable to me, that they wouldn't allow that small remnant of traditional brewing to remain in their portfolio. I don't think they would worry about recipe disclosure. First, they don't need their old recipes, assuming they still have them, to recreate a 1920's style porter, they would have a good idea how that should taste from traditional-type imports and micro beers (Guinness itself, even reduced, provides some ideas for porter or stout). Sleeman just put out an excellent porter and I doff my hat to John Sleeman, he did exactly what Molson should have done. I think the big boys just got too distanced from the product, the product they were selling. I don't believe advertising is everything, it is important but not the be-all and end-all.

Gary

[DukeofYork = Richard]

I think the sad truth would be that since no one can verify what Molson's tasted like in the 1920s, they would add some caramel colour to Canadian and call it "Ye Olde Tyme Ale". Put it in a fancy "beere shoppe" bottle and claim it was the beer Al Capone drank.

They'd sell the most that way. How many people care if the beer is actually authentic?

[Uncle Bobby]

I can't understand why Coors/Molson and Molson before that won't resurrect the beers Molson sold in the 1920's like true Porters, Stouts, IPA's and Brown Ales, at least to promote interest in their product and heritage.

Gary,

I once had a book of historical beer recipes written by a crazy old English guy who went so far as to malt his own grain. He said that many of his recipes had been gleaned from the major breweries, many of which had archives of recipes dating back hundreds of years.

The recipes existed only in the recipe books of these breweries -- none of them were ever produced any more. For some reason they had allowed this fellow to reproduce them in his book.

Here's a link to the article I had read originally... in 1992 while I still lived in London. (Who says beer kills brain cells?!) Turns out the article was by Michael Jackson (should've guessed), and he has now posted it to his website.

http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000070.html

It looked intially like the book might still be available. (I had wanted to order a copy for George so that I can get mine back!) Unfortunately, CAMRA, the current distributor has told me that the book is presently out of print.

-Uncle Bobby

[pootz]

Hey Uncle Bobby: You tweeked the nostalgia meter with your recollections of all those defunct megas: Dow ale, Black horse, Kings beer, Molson porter, labatt velvet cream porter, molson bock, charrington toby, Magnum 5.5....remember Skol? How about Formosa tonic stout, club ale and diamond lager? Formosa ocktoberfest? Doran's encore? Kakabeka cream ale? Uncle ben's big blue? Okeefe bohemia maid?

If you collect I got 'em all in original stubbies and steel cans.

[old faithful]

My what a nice article from Michael, one I had read before but not lately. That evidence from the 86 year old lady that what was offered as Guinness was in fact precisely what the revivalist brewer intended to make, namely a Victorian-era London Porter, is fascinating, proof that recreated beers really can taste exactly like the beers of generations before. Wow.

Gary