Too much of a good thing?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MacGuffin

Active Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
Location
Illinois
1 lb. DME Dark
6.60 lb LME Golden
1 lb Chocolate
1 lb Smoked Malt
.75 Caramel/Crystal 80l
1.25 Palisades (60min)
.50 Mt Hood (15 min)
Safale US-05

So I am a little ambitious over my second ever batch.

I have smoked porter in the primary for almost 4 weeks now and have no problem letting it sit for a few more. Everything looks normal and tasted awesome after the pre-fermentation gravity reading. Sweet, chocolate with some burnt notes from the smoked malt .

I also have 1 cup of Vanilla coffee beans soaking in about a 1.25 cups of Seagrams Dark Honey Whiskey. They smell great and the samples taste awesome. I am aware that about 1.50 cups of bourbon/whiskey is the appropriate ratio per 5 gallons.

The questions are :
Are there too many dang flavors going on?
What are the chances of getting 5 gallons of off-flavored porter?
How many days before bottling, should I add the whiskey soaked beans?
 
1. That's up to you. If you liked the taste after 4 weeks, then you like it. It should only mellow more and lose roasty-ness over time.
2. Off-flavors due to fermentation or infection? Probably slim if there aren't any already. Beer is pretty stable after 4 weeks fermenting.
3. Add them whenever you want, really, but give them around 3-4 days to sit. Good call on the Dark Honey, by the way.
 
I guess the best way to determine if the flavors are complimentary would to take another reading sample and add some of the whiskey. The beans really do add a kick to the whiskey. :D
 
Just added the Whiskey-soaked Vanilla coffee beans the primary. Samples tastes good with and without the whiskey soaked beans. I poured the sample giving the sample a 5:1 ration between porter and whiskey and it doesn't seem to overpower the chocolate taste. The initial burnt note from the smoked malt seems to have possibly faded. The porter has been sitting for 42 days and should be bottled up by this weekend.

The FG I got was 1.021 when I expected a 1.016. I guess I also expected it to taste a little thicker.

Does the addition of the whiskey alter the FG?

I am expecting to keep the batch bottled for at least two months.
Any suggestions I may be missing?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top