New Realm Brewing Co.
Dear Replicator,
While visiting Atlanta, I had the pleasure of enjoying a delicious, true-to-style London porter from New Realm Brewing Company. I’d like to replicate this beer at home. Can you help me figure out how to do this? Cheers!
Mike Ott
Palm Harbor, Florida
The seed was planted for a “new realm” in the beer world in 2015 when businessmen Carey Falcone and Bob Powers were putting together a business plan to create a state-of-the-art new brewery in the beer-friendly destination town of Asheville, North Carolina. Falcone and Powers were scouring the region for the right location — and the right brewmaster — searching at length for the perfect spot. A resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Falcone stumbled upon the ideal brewery location, located not in Asheville but right in his hometown. The partners pivoted, and the brewery-to-be had a new home in the “Peach State.” Now, all they needed was a notable brewmaster willing to call Atlanta home.
Enter Mitch Steele; a person who was happy with the California lifestyle and with his position of Brewmaster of the renowned Stone Brewing Co. based in Escondido, California. Having spent a decade there and another previously at Anheuser-Busch, Steele was open to the idea of creating a brewing concept of his own. As Falcone and Powers pushed, full creative control and brewery equity was too hard for Steele to ignore. Falcone and Powers flew Steele out to check out the property they were considering. After sharing each others’ vision for what this new brewing concept might look like, excitement built and New Realm was born.
Enter New Realm
The brewery came together purposefully and brewing commenced in late 2017. New Realm Brewing officially opened its doors in January 2018. It didn’t take long to catch on.
“About 8 months into our stint in Atlanta, we realized we were going to be out of capacity before too long,” said Steele. “We need to start thinking about a production brewery.”
When those discussions began, Green Flash Brewing Co.’s Virginia Beach, Virginia brewery went into foreclosure and the fledgling brewery’s brain trust bid on the property and won. New Realm had a new production brewery. With the larger size and scale, it didn’t take long for Virginia Beach to become the company’s biggest market.
Much of the production brewing moved to Virginia while Atlanta became the center for innovation. The Atlanta brewery now brews all the one-off beers and brewpub exclusives (along with some core beers) while the Virginia Beach location handles the majority of the large-scale brewing for distribution.
The amazing part of the story is that Steele accomplished all of this as a commuter until May 2019, flying cross country regularly for three years until moving he and his family to Atlanta, where he oversees the entire brewing operation, while also heading the innovation brewery.
The organization grew in 2021 by acquiring an out of business distillery/restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, the company took over the lease of a seven-barrel brewpub in Charleston, South Carolina. A fifth location, in Greenville, South Carolina is slated to open December 2022, on Main Street, across the street from a minor league baseball field.
In a few short years, the brewery began to amass some prestigious wins in competition, including awards for its Euphonia Pilsner, El Juicy Cabre, Maibock, and a beer called Southern Tee, a kettle-soured ale made with lemon juice and tea; an alcoholic “Arnold Palmer,” so to speak. While not yet entered in competition, the English Porter has become a brewpub favorite, as well as a favorite of the brew team.
English Porter
While with Stone, Steele traveled frequently to England. During his travels he got well acquainted with the fine beer found in the famed Fuller’s pubs around the country. A favorite was Fuller’s London Porter, a classic, highly drinkable brown porter rich in flavor. Steele and his brew team created their interpretation of this classic porter, which quickly became a fan favorite.
Using 100% British ingredients, English Porter features a base of Maris Otter malt, with additions of chocolate malt, medium crystal (50L), and the signature malt for the beer: Simpsons Brown Malt.
“Simpsons is my maltster of choice when it comes to British malts. I have a personal relationship with the Simpsons,” said Steele. “The flavor profile produced from Simpsons Brown Malt is key to producing a great English Porter in my opinion.”
East Kent Golding hops and British ale yeast (SafAle S-04 dry yeast is his preference) round out the recipe.
“As a brewpub exclusive, we don’t brew enough to bring in liquid cultures and repitch them, so we started working with dry yeasts,” said Steele. This particular yeast works really well, has a great ester profile, attenuates fairly well, and settles out nicely.”
This 6% ABV, 34 IBU brown porter is cooled to 68 °F (20 °C) for pitching, then allowed to free rise to 72 °F (22 °C) to produce a proper ester profile. For New Realm, the process takes 19 days from brew day to keg day, but a homebrewer can brew their own with a similar result in about two weeks.
New Realm Brewing Company’s English Porter clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.060 FG = 1.015
SRM = 35 IBU = 41 ABV = 6%
A deeper-colored London porter made from all English ingredients based in the tradition of the great English classics. Simpsons is New Realm’s preferred maltster, if available.
Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt
1 lb. (454 g) brown or coffee malt (190 °L)
0.75 lb. (340 g) medium crystal malt (55 °L)
0.5 lb. (227 g) chocolate malt (450 °L)
7.1 AAU East Kent Goldings hops (60 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 4.75% alpha acids)
14.25 AAU East Kent Goldings (0 min.) (3 oz./85 g at 4.75% alpha acids)
SafAle S-04, White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale), Wyeast 1098 (British Ale), or equivalent yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash in with 3.4 gallons (13 L) of water. With the goal of creating a dextrinous wort, achieve a mash temperature of 155 °F (68 °C) and hold for 45 minutes or until converted. If brewing with reverse osmosis or other pure water, be sure to add the salts as indicated in the “Tips for Success” section at the end of this recipe. Upon completion of the mash, raise temperature to 168 °F (76 °C) for mash out, recirculate, and prepare for sparge.
With sparge water at 170 °F (77 °C) and as close to 5.2 pH as possible, collect about 6 gallons (23 L) of wort, adding hops at beginning of boil and at the end of boil. If you choose to add a clarifier such as Irish moss or Whirlfloc, do so with 10 minutes left in the boil. At completion of boil, begin whirlpool then add final hops. Let sit for about 20 minutes.
Upon completion of whirlpool, chill as quickly as possible to 68 °F (20 °C), pitch yeast, and aerate if using a liquid yeast strain. Allow the beer to free rise to 72 °F (22 °C) but no higher. Fermentation should be fully complete in two weeks. If you want to achieve further clarity, chill before kegging or bottling. Carbonate to 2.65 v/v or bottle condition.
New Realm Brewing Company’s English Porter clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.060 FG = 1.015
SRM = 35 IBU = 41 ABV = 6%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Muntons Maris Otter liquid malt extract
1 lb. (454 g) Maris Otter pale ale malt
1 lb. (454 g) brown or coffee malt (190 °L)
0.75 lb. (340 g) medium crystal malt (55 °L)
0.5 lb. (227 g) chocolate malt (450 °L)
7.1 AAU East Kent Goldings hops (60 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 4.75% alpha acids)
14.25 AAU East Kent Goldings (0 min.)(3 oz./85 g at 4.75% alpha acids)
SafAle S-04, White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale), Wyeast 1098 (British Ale), or equivalent yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Using a muslin bag for easy removal of the grain, mash your pale ale and brown malts for 30 minutes in 3 gal. (11.4 L) of water at about 155 °F (68 °C). The goal is to break down any residual starch in the brown malt. Add the chocolate and crystal malts and allow to steep another 15 minutes.
When the mash is complete, remove the bag(s), draining the liquid without squeezing the bags. Raise temperature to near boiling and slowly stir in half of the malt extract. Return to the heat source and raise to boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding bittering hops at the beginning, Whirlfloc/Irish moss (if desired) at 10 minutes remaining, and the rest of the extract with 5 minutes remaining. At completion of boil, whirlpool, adding final hops. Let sit for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, boil and chill about 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water so you can “top up” your fermenter later.
Upon completion of whirlpool, chill wort quickly to 68 °F (20 °C). Add pre-boiled and chilled water to top up to 5 gallons (19 L). (Ideally, your chilled water is also 68 °F/20 °C.) Pitch yeast and aerate if using a liquid yeast strain. Allow the beer to free rise to 72 °F (22.2 °C) but no higher. Fermentation should be fully complete in two weeks. If you want to achieve further clarity, chill before kegging or bottling. Carbonate to 2.65 v/v or bottle condition.
Tips For Success:
For all-grain brewers wanting the most authentic replication as possible, it’s important to mirror the water profile of the traditional London porters. This can be accomplished with the additions of ½ tsp. each of CaSO4 and CaCl2, a ¼ tsp. of MgSO4, and just under 1 tsp. of CaCO3 in the mash, with the same additions, minus the CaCO3, in the kettle at start of boil.
Additionally, according to Steele, using Simpsons brand brown and chocolate malt is the preferred choice as this particular brand of malt delivers a unique flavor profile that is absolutely perfect for this beer style.
