Shotover Oxford Porter 5% ABV
Three years and about 320,000 pints after starting the brewery we thought it was time to introduce a third beer. This was not an easy decision -anyone who has visited us knows our space constraints and that we have to be positively Japanese in our organisation. We decided to produce a winter beer and that a classic Porter would fit Oxford's history and our own local postitioning. So Oxford Porter was born.
The recipe was developed along the lines of a London Porter - we aren't sure there is a recorded history of Oxford Porters although these must have been common in the eighteenth century. The malt recipe used a combination of six malts at various kilning levels from Pale to Black plus a healthy dose of rolled oats to give a bit of smoothness. The hopping regime was simpler - just the English "noble" hops Fuggles and Goldings but in typically generous Shotover quantities. We were astonished by the results; pitch black, all expresso coffee, chocolate and silky smoothness with a strange condition that looks flat when first poured but then slowly breaks through into a thick creamy off white head that laces the glass.
As someone who has drank pale amber beers for years it was a revelation. It has an intense flavour and complexity. The brewhouse smells like a chocolate factory when we make it. I now go out trying black beers wherever I go.
The 800 litre pilot batch sold out in a week. The second full 1300 litre batch is leaving the brewery now. We plan to have it available until Easter 2013.
Brew details:
Malt (Warminster) : Pale Maris Otter, Crystal Malt, Brown Malt, Chocolate Malt, Black Malt, Wheat Malt, Rolled Oats.
Hops: Fuggles (UK), Goldings UK)