American Porter Edmund Fitzgerald Clone (AG)

[JMass]

I've never tried real EF. I did have this at my LHBS during my last trip. They have 2 homebrews on tap when you go to buy something, which is nice. It was very smooth and tasty. I have a lot of Willamette from my hop garden, a lot of Sterling and some Cascade in my freezer, so this could be the next brew. I'll just put in Cascade and/or Sterling in instead of the Centennial.

I'm not sure when to brew - probably in June. I have a small kegerator with 2 taps and I have 3 kegs. The kegs are empty now, but I have a batch in primary and one in secondary - both Cascade Pale Ale varieties.

 

[motobrewer]

brewed this yesterday. didn't take any grav readings but I hit my mash temp. only change was i subbed cascade. I made a 1.4L starter for WLP007, and it was blowing off this morning. strongest ferment i've ever had.

only concern is right now brewmometer reads 73F. i'll probably run it down to the basement tonight, it's 60F down there.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Just an update since my last post. After a few months of aging in the keg, this baby has turned out fantastic. Still not EF...but a damn good porter. Nice work Ohio.

 

[motobrewer]

good to hear. i just racked mine to secondary (need more kegs...) after 4wks. tasted pretty darn good. probably will sit in the secondary for 3 or so weeks.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

All I can say is the flavor definitely improves over time.

 

[motobrewer]

pulled a sample after two weeks on the gas. unfortunately i'm fermenting an oktoberfest right now so all my beer is at 52F. my only change was I subbed cascade for centennial.

excellent beer! well balanced, completely smooth. a month ago it had a bit of sharpness to it but that has rounded out. I noted that it was a bit sweet, however the finish is dry (for a porter).

haven't had EF in awhile, I might have to pick up a 6er to do a comparison.

 

[chase]

I brewed this back in January. I replaced the Centennials with more willamette. I hit the gravity values perfectly. I've never had this beer commercially, but my god, it is good.

I took a few to my homebrew club and they all loved it, including our president who just won midwest homebrewer of the year. I also put a couple gallons on some sweet cherries. It was possibly the best beer I've every had. I am definitely going to make this again, and I am definitely going to enter it in some competitions.

 

[crlova2]

I brewed this back in January. I replaced the Centennials with more willamette. I hit the gravity values perfectly. I've never had this beer commercially, but my god, it is good.

I took a few to my homebrew club and they all loved it, including our president who just won midwest homebrewer of the year. I also put a couple gallons on some sweet cherries. It was possibly the best beer I've every had. I am definitely going to make this again, and I am definitely going to enter it in some competitions.

Did you follow basically the recipe of the OP? What yeast did you use? What temp have people been fermenting this at?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I fermented this at 68F as I do for all of my ales. Turned out great.

 

[crlova2]

ohiobrewtus,

I am doing this recipe this weekend. I am going to make a starter tomorrow and I ordered two vials of the wlp007. I saw on your recipe that you use 1 vial with a 2 quart starter. I have a 2L erlymer flask I make starters with on a stir plate. My question is whether I should use both vials in the starter or just use one?

Thanks

 

[doodlebug]

Brewing this tomorrow, LHBS didn't have 007 so going with Safale S-04 :rockin:

 

[crlova2]

I am brewing this this weekend too. I got some 007 in the mail and just made the starter. It was like clumpy and odd texture. Is that bad news?

 

[ohiobrewtus]

ohiobrewtus,

I am doing this recipe this weekend. I am going to make a starter tomorrow and I ordered two vials of the wlp007. I saw on your recipe that you use 1 vial with a 2 quart starter. I have a 2L erlymer flask I make starters with on a stir plate. My question is whether I should use both vials in the starter or just use one?

Thanks

Unless you plan on using the other vial for something else, then toss 'em both in there. Check out the yeast calculator at mrmalty.com to get an idea about how large your starter should be.

As for your 'clumpy' yeast, my guess is that it will be fine. Trying to make a starter out of it is going to tell you for certain. What is the date on the vials?

 

[crlova2]

Well got too drunk last night so the brew is now postponed unitl tomorrow. How long do I need to let the starter go on the stirplate before I can put it in the fridge and decant? Ohiobrewtus, the date was dec 2010... Anyone have any suggestions on water profiles for this brew or porters in general?

Thanks

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Wow, yeast from the future. I'll be REAL curious to see how this turns out!

 

[crlova2]

Isn't it the expiration date that is posted on the yeast vial? Maybe I saw it wrong and it wasn't a date in the future... Are the dates the expiration or date they were made?

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Ya, I'm just giving you some flack. If it expires in 12/10, then you should be just fine.

 

[doodlebug]

Had a great brew, hit target of 1.060 exactly and got 81% efficiency for my first AG batch @ home. Yeaaahhhh!

Currently bubbling away @ 66 degrees, will definitely post pics and review of finished product. Thanks OhioBrewtus!

 

[crlova2]

Brewed this Sunday! All went well other than I only hit 1.056. Smelled amazing going into fermenter. Bubbling about 10 hours after pitching starter. I'll give updates to the results in about 2 months. Thanks ohiobrewtus.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Had a great brew, hit target of 1.060 exactly and got 81% efficiency for my first AG batch @ home. Yeaaahhhh!

Currently bubbling away @ 66 degrees, will definitely post pics and review of finished product. Thanks OhioBrewtus!

Great! Hopefully you enjoy it. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[JMass]

I just got the grains for this on Saturday. I brewed an APA yesterday, but will brew this soon. I saw with interest that someone substituted Willamette for the Cascade. I just threw out my 2009 Willamette hops due to overproduction. They smelled good though. I have loads more of Willamette from 2010.

I went to Wines and More looking for EF, but they said that it is not available in MA. In notice that the Beer Advocate gives it a straight 'A' though.

 

[JMass]

According to EF website:

HOPS
Northern Brewer: Traditional bittering hop for English style ales; provides strong bitterness to complement strong/assertive flavors of this porter
Fuggle: Traditional English hop for flavor in English ales; contributes milder earthy and woody aromas and flavors; adds complexity
Cascade: U.S. hop with citrus characteristics for aroma to balance roasted malts and add American element to this English style

 

[JMass]

OK, brewed 5.5 gallons (or thereabouts) on Saturday. OSG was 1.057 (but I used a spectrometer). I used Northern Brewer, Cascade and Willamette hops. The Northern Brewer hops were left over pellets and the othes were whole hops that I grew. I guess that's it. It was bubbling loudly last night, so I had to move the bucket away from the bedroom so I could sleep. I used the dry yeast as I don't prefer fussing with the liquid stuff unless I have a wheat beer.

 

[JMass]

Just reading back, I did adjust my water with chalk, epsom salt, sea salt (1/3 tsp), and bakiing powder. If forget all the amounts. I used the EZ water profile calculater. Based on my water and the SRM that water adjustments should be fine. I needed the little sea salt to get the Chloride ratio correct.

For 5.5 gallons I used 1/2 ounce Northern Brewer Hops, about 2 ounces of Cascade in the boil and then 1/2 ounce additions of Willamette. The Northern Brewer hops had a pretty strong smell and were 10% (alpha?)

 

[Dynachrome]

I tried the BYO recipe without getting too wound up in it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/edmund-fitzgerald-porter-clone-tribute-202821/

I used whole Cascade hops in lieu of pellets, no yeast nutrient, and used a dry yeast.

 

[KeithMoonsLiver]

made a partial mash version of this a few months ago. used windsor, which only got it down to 1.021, also ended up miscalculating the hops and have around 50-60 IBU. Still probably the best beer I've made yet, planning on making another soon with S-04.

 

[bmason1623]

I'm a newbie here so I need to ask questions. I have the EF clone in a secondary (after 1 week in primary) at the current moment. I will be kegging on 11/28. I noticed in the original post that the beer was carbed at 30 PSI for a total of 2.5 days (with a gentle stir after 2 days). Please correct me if i'm wrong but isn't that just under 3.5 weeks from brew to serve time? Will that be enough time to produce a good tasting beer? OTH, I don't want to wait forever for my beer to condition either. By the way, my wort tasted fantastic just after boiling.

 

[JMass]

I kept mine in primary for about 2 weeks. From there I kegged and added 'gyle' for natural carbonation. This carbonated quite fast and I was drinking it in a few days after that. Tastes great. It might have fermented a point or 2 more if I had waited longer before kegging. Right now it tastes like a dark chocolate milkshake to me. My wife said it was too sweet, but then said it wasn't. I think it has a slight sweetness balanced by the grains and leser extent the hops. I set the kegerator for 45F which seems an OK temp for this EF.

I don't understand the gentle stir comment above. Won't you lose your pressure if you stir the keg?

Anyway, the bottom line is YUM

 

[Dynachrome]

Three days in the bottle and mine is tasting pretty good already.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Three days in the bottle and mine is tasting pretty good already.

Why are you drinking it after three days in bottles?