First time brewing a porter

Hello All

This is only my second time to brew and I am attempting to make a mini-mash clone of "Flag Porter". I am using the recipe from Clone Brews by Tess and Mark Szamatulski (pg. 92 for those of you who have the book) and I am looking for comments/thoughts/experience on brewing this or any porter.

I am thinking of using the 1-2-3 fermenting and bottling method – any thoughts?


Thanks
Chad

If sources are correct, this is a brown porter. Thoughts in general? Here are tips for a brown porter from Jamil and John's "Brewing Classic Styles"

-Just one hop addition (60min).
-English yeast with plenty of character and medium attenuation, fermented cool (65-67F)
-Don't overdo the roasted malt.
-Use brown malt.

cootr_brn said:

Hello All

This is only my second time to brew and I am attempting to make a mini-mash clone of "Flag Porter". I am using the recipe from Clone Brews by Tess and Mark Szamatulski (pg. 92 for those of you who have the book) and I am looking for comments/thoughts/experience on brewing this or any porter.

I am thinking of using the 1-2-3 fermenting and bottling method – any thoughts?


Thanks
Chad

Click to expand...

I have always used the 1 2 3 method for beer, I've never had a problem. The only time I devert from it is when I make wine, then its 30 days in the primary followed by 30 days in secondary.

Can't comment without seeing the recipe, can you post it? I have been using a 2-1-3 method, and sometimes a week or 2 longer in the bottle. The primary is where you want the majority of the fermenting to take place. Allow a couple of weeks there, it can't hurt and you are more likely to get full attenuation. I start checking the gravity at about 11-12 days to see if its done. Then moving to secondary will help it clear up and also make it easier to bottle/keg because you don't have a yeast cake to worry about at the bottom.

Here is the recipe and how I brewed the ingredients

Flag Porter – Clone Brews, pg. 92

Yield: 5 gallons
SRM: 44
IBU: 28
Original Gravity: 1.051 – 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.012 – 1.013
ABV: 5.1%


Beer Ingredients
-Base Grains
3.25 lbs. (1.5 kg) – British 2-row pale malt

-Crystal Grains
½ lbs. (.23 kg) – 55°L British crystal malt

-Specialty Grains
6 oz. (.17 kg) – British brown malt
5 oz. (142 g) – British chocolate malt

-DME or Malt
6.5 lbs. (2.7 kg) – M&F Light DME
(Substituted “7.5 lbs. – Extra pale liquid malt extract” for the DME)

-Hops
1.4oz. (40 g) – East Kent Goldings @ 5% AA (7HBU) (bittering hop)
(Substituted New Zealand Golding @ 4.1% AA – needed 2 “1 oz.” bags)
½ oz. (14 g) – Fuggles @4.3% AA (flavoring hop)

-Clarifiers
1 tsp. (5 ml) – Irish moss
(Substituted Whirlfloc Tablet)

-Yeast
1 smack pack – Wyeast’s 1084 Irish ale yeast





In a 6 quart (or larger) pot, bring 1 gallon of water to 150°F
Steep the base and specialty ingredients for 90 minutes @150°F

Strain the water into your brew pot

In a 6 quart (or larger) pot, bring ½ gallon of water to 150°F
Sparage the grains with ½ gallon water at 150°F

Add the water to the brew pot for 1.5 gallons total volume
Bring the water, in the brew pot, to boil. Then remove the brew pot from the stove and add:
Add water until total volume in the brew pot is 2.5 gallons
Boil for 45 minutes

Then add
½ oz. Fuggles, flavoring hops
1 Whirlfloc tablet
Return to stove and boil for 15 minutes

Remove pot from stove and start water flowing through wort chiller

Cool wort until 80°F

Strain the cooled wort into the primary fermenter and add cold water to obtain 5 gallons

When the wort temperature is 80°F, or below, pitch your yeast

Looks tasty!

I don't really see the point of the 1-2-3 thing. I usually just do 3-3: leave it in the fermenter for three weeks, then bottle and wait three more before drinking.

Racking to a secondary is only important for huge beers that are going to take many months to finish, or if you're dry hopping, or for lagers. For a porter, I think the extra transfer just adds more chance of contamination, plus more unnecessary work.

Shawn Hargreaves said:

Looks tasty!

I don't really see the point of the 1-2-3 thing. I usually just do 3-3: leave it in the fermenter for three weeks, then bottle and wait three more before drinking.

Racking to a secondary is only important for huge beers that are going to take many months to finish, or if you're dry hopping, or for lagers. For a porter, I think the extra transfer just adds more chance of contamination, plus more unnecessary work.

Click to expand...

I'm a fan of the long primary too, I usually go 3-5 weeks straight to keg, depending on my kegerator space.

That DOES look like a good recipe. I bet its strong, I wonder if you could cut back a pound of DME? I add a cup of brown sugar and 16oz of honey to my porter. Reply back in about 6 weeks and let us know how it is. I like using the secondary because I don't trust myself to avoid sucking up trub when I transfer to a bottling bucket. If I leave it in the primary long enough, there will hardly be anything at the bottom of the secondary.

Thanks for the feed back

two questions:
When you say "I bet its strong, I wonder if you could cut back a pound of DME?" Do you mean:
- that the alcohol might get to high?
- that it might end up to sugary-sweet?

What effect would cutting back on the DME have on the beer?

Thanks
Chad

I thought it would be too strong on the ABV, but now I see your gravity estimates. If you hit that OG, I guess it would be fine. On extract only brews, I usually don't use more than 6 lbs of extract and all my beers come in between 5-6%. You are going 7.5 lbs plus 3lbs on the partial mash. I just did my first pm so I don't have a good feel for how much the grains will add to the gravity. I was originally planning to mash 2 lbs of grain and boil with 8 lbs of extract. I ran it through the trial version of Beersmith and the estimated OG was way off the charts for the style I was brewing. I held out 2lbs of extract (saving $$$) and Beersmith hit closer to the style gravity. My gravity for the pm wort was about 1.044 and then my gravity before closing the fermenter was 1.053. I think its just going to be trial and error for both of us to see how these come out.

Sorry to keep on but I also have read a number of threads where big beers with high OG can be tempermental. Cutting back DME would keep your gravity down and keep you out of the big beer category. If you hit a gravity of say 1.070, then you would need a ton of yeast, a big yeast starter, and lots of time for fermentation and aging. Try a search for 'high gravity beers' and see what you find. After all, you are not doing anything else anymore, once you find HBT, nothing else matters!

I will agree that my few experiments with high gravity extract beers ranged from okay to sub-par. I decided to hold off on anything above 1.065 until I switched to AG, and have since made several tasty beers at that gravity and one really good one at 1.083. Lots of people do make strong beers well with extract though, YMMV.

Well guys, I racked the beer tonight. Two weeks in the the primary and now one week in the secondary.

Here is where my beer stands,

Beer Recipe Data:
Original Gravity: 1.051 – 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.012 – 1.013
ABV: 5.1%

My Beer Data:
Original Gravity: 1.056
Final Gravity: 1.016
ABV: 5.24%


Since my beer has a higher OG and FG than the recipe will this mean that my beer will have a sweeter flavor?

Thanks

Maybe slightly, but if you have a higher OG then generally your FG will go up too. You still had good attenuation. Your beer will just come out slightly stronger, but really that's a pretty small difference.

I don't think you will notice that difference. By the way, I had to look up where Kyle is located. Twenty minutes to Austin, twenty minutes to New Braunfels and Shiner Bock on tap everywhere in between...sweet!

Well I bottled the beer today

After bottling there was about three ounces left in the bucket that did not make it into the bottles, So I thought I would take a drink and see what it tasted like. And I had something happen that I have never experienced.... The beer was room tempature and flat and I LIKED it.

I am really stoked about how this beer is going to turnout :rockin:

I am trying to get some pics up as soon as I, to bad we cant post samples

Well I have a problem with waiting and I so I opened one of the bottles today. I was surprised how much carbination the bottle had.

Is that normal?

How much carbination should a bottle have after week?

If your beer is warm, it probably hasn't gotten the CO2 into solution yet, it's all in the headspace. Chill one for a few days then give it another shot.