Crimea Porter

Wherever the British army went in the 19th century, beer was never far behind … and it was usually in the form of Porter. And when the British army invaded the Crimea in 1854, they got thirsty.

Surprisingly, given their experiences with mortality amongst British troops in India, soldiers were given a ration of rum, but no beer. In India, units that were supplied with beer instead of spirits had far fewer deaths from disease. As sickness ravaged the ranks, this time in the form of cholera, army doctors once again turned to Porter as a remedy.

At first, though, they had to acquire it themselves. Staff surgeon T. Alexander wrote to the inspector general of hospitals, Dr. Hall:

“As medical officers have latterly been requiring bottled porter, and purchasing the same from the canteens at 2s. per bottle, would it not be advisable to have a supply sent out at once?”

That’s very expensive Porter: 2s (2 shillings) is 24d (pence). In London, a pint of draft Porter cost 1.5d. A quart bottle of Guinness only cost 7d, and that was a stronger and more expensive beer.

Dr. Hall’s reply wasn’t very encouraging:

“I have sent the porter as you demanded it, but it has not been found to answer well by others who have tried it as a restorative after cholera.”

Unsure of which was best, the military authorities sent a letter to the senior medical officer of each unit in the Crimea asking if they recommended rum or Porter be given in rations. All but one chose rum.

The soldiers knew how to get their hands on rum, even when not officially supplied with it. Having ample supplies of food, they’d sell some to allied troops in exchange for spirits. I assume that was the French. I doubt the Turkish soldiers had much booze with them. Why did they sell food for drink?

“This may be attributable to two causes, a distaste or dislike for food which affords little variety, and the well-known penchant of the British soldier for spirits.”

Basically because British soldiers were a bunch of drunks.

Despite the lukewarm response of the army doctors, Porter was supplied to the troops. Not just any old Porter, but one specially brewed under contract. How do I know that? I’ve found the brewing records. These are the details, along with Truman’s other Porters for comparison purposes:

You can see that the gravity of the Crimea Porter was a touch higher than the other versions. Overall, it most resembled Keeper (Keeping Porter), a beer meant to be vatted and aged. The hopping is, well, fairly crazy. Pounds of hops per quarter is a good source to check. The East India Company specified 20 pounds of hops per quarter of malt in its contract for IPA. The Crimea Porter got a tad less, but was still a pretty hoppy beast.

Crimea Porter wasn’t around for long; it disappeared in 1856 when the Crimean War ended. ■