American Porter Edmund Fitzgerald Clone (AG)

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.
Well the results are in from my previous post. This was my first BIAB brew. I brewed this per the original recipe on the 1st page, added 1/4LB of pale chocolate since I had it on hand, and used US-05 Yeast which fermented down to 1.012.

I've never had Edmund Fitzgerald, but this recipe looked great, and wow is this a great porter. Great amount of roasted and chocolaty notes with a relatively dry finish. I'll surely be brewing this again.

IMAG1119.jpg
 
used US-05 Yeast which fermented down to 1.012.

Hi there, do you mind sharing what your OG was on this. I have a batch in the final stages of fermentation (also BIAB) but I only hit 1. 052 OG. Thanks.
 
So my fermentation has stopped at 1.016 consistent for 3 days. Its higher than I expected and with the og at 1.052 it will be a low abv porter. I love the color and the flavor is great although really roasty(a little astringent), which at 11 days I am guessing is normal? Hopefully it mellows with a little time. My question is... Should I leave it at room temp for another week in the fermentor or should I cold condition for that time before bottling?

20170128_162115890_resized.jpg
 
Has anyone put this on vanilla or peanut butter, or is it too roasty for that? I feel it might be an incredible base for a coffee vanilla Porter or a peanut butter Porter as the chocolate is there just from the malts. Any thoughts? Really want to plan this one out ahead of time.
 
I haven't done so myself, but I think it makes a great base recipe to add another flavor component to.

I have been planning to do a batch with coffee sometime in the near future.
 
So my fermentation has stopped at 1.016 consistent for 3 days. Its higher than I expected and with the og at 1.052 it will be a low abv porter. I love the color and the flavor is great although really roasty(a little astringent), which at 11 days I am guessing is normal? Hopefully it mellows with a little time. My question is... Should I leave it at room temp for another week in the fermentor or should I cold condition for that time before bottling?

Personally I would leave it until day 14 or so and then bottle. Age for 3-4 weeks in bottles then consume. But that's just me. I don't see the benefit of cold conditioning a low abv porter.
 
So based on 17 pages of feedback, it sounds like if WLP007 is not an option that US05 is the far and away better choice over S-04 or similar. This is the problem with limited yeast availability locally. $20 for one smack pack shipped is nuts. Have to order 5 different yeasts just to make it worth it, and without a dedicated yeast fridge, it gets on SWMBO's nerves to just have mason jars of yeast littered throughout the fridge.
 
I like the result of us05, I just mash accordingly. Nottingham should be good as well...
 
So my fermentation has stopped at 1.016 consistent for 3 days. Its higher than I expected and with the og at 1.052 it will be a low abv porter. I love the color and the flavor is great although really roasty(a little astringent), which at 11 days I am guessing is normal? Hopefully it mellows with a little time. My question is... Should I leave it at room temp for another week in the fermentor or should I cold condition for that time before bottling?


This is a very roasty porter and is supposed to be. It causes issues in judging when someone submits a beer like it and people ding it for being too roasty, I always have to point out the classic examples and ask if they've had it, then explain it actually has more roast character than the homebrew. My other favorite porter is the heretic shallow grave which is a smoother chocolaty porter.

On a brewing note, you can leave it a little bit longer to make sure all the roast grain particles drop out and that can help with astringency.
 
I kegged this 2 days ago after cold crashing and adding gelatin. The sample I took had balanced out and tasted really good. I will write more on how this brew came out once it has carbed properly.
 
10 days in the keg this beer is delicious. Strikes the perfect balance between chocolate, sweetness, and roast. Very ,very happy with this beer. Even though I missed my OG and ended up with a lower abv porter, it doesn't drink like it. Great Recipe!

20170213_214853.jpg
 
I recently brewed this beer with the only exception being I sub'd carafa special 3 for the black patent malt as I have an abundance of it and it turned out very good. Now I am looking at Roger Protz The Taste of Beer book and he states in there that Edmund Fitzgerald is brewed with roasted barley and 3 different hops: cascade, northern brewer and willamette and is 60 IBU's. Since I have never had the original beer, what is everyones thoughts on subbing the black patent for roasted barley and having such high IBU's?
 
I recently brewed this beer with the only exception being I sub'd carafa special 3 for the black patent malt as I have an abundance of it and it turned out very good. Now I am looking at Roger Protz The Taste of Beer book and he states in there that Edmund Fitzgerald is brewed with roasted barley and 3 different hops: cascade, northern brewer and willamette and is 60 IBU's. Since I have never had the original beer, what is everyones thoughts on subbing the black patent for roasted barley and having such high IBU's?


Great Lakes website disagreed with that IBU level but agrees with the rest.
 
Brewed 5 gallons last weekend. Decided to take it in a different direction just for fun. (Used roasted barley instead of black malt, Crystal 80 instead of Crystal 60 and the last addition was Cascade instead of Willamette as GLBC has updated ingredients on website) Mashed at 152 and fermented with S04 at a little higher temperature. There is a lovely english-y toffee/dark fruit character on the nose. It's different for a robust porter but it's fantastic. It fermented out in 3 days flat and so yesterday I added 2lbs of PB2. Adding 1 oz of super good quality vanilla extract today. I'm gonna let that sit for 7 days and then bottle with a little more vanilla extract if needed. There's a lot going on with this beer. I believe it's related to the Special B. Ohiobrewtus this is an extremely good beer on it's own. It's also a dang fine base beer to experiment with. I love it. Thank you.
 
Plan on brewing this tomorrow. I hear different opinions on yeast. What would be the best yeast for this brew? What about fermenting temps? Secondary? I plan on legging this beer.
 
Plan on brewing this tomorrow. I hear different opinions on yeast. What would be the best yeast for this brew? What about fermenting temps? Secondary? I plan on legging this beer.


Common view is US-05 in mid 60's to produce the clean and dry character. I only used S-04 because I am shooting for something different altogether.
 
I just brewed this on Sunday and can wait for the results! My questions are is secondary necessary? If not, how long should I leave in primary before I keg? Thanks!
 
Officially bottled Thursday. Cracked a bottle yesterday because I am extremely impatient and although nowhere near ready carbonation-wise, this is incredible. The mouthfeel, the smoothness. Everything about this is amazing. 2lbs of pb2 and 2 oz of vanilla extract....it's just outstanding. Cannot wait for this to finish carbonating and conditioning. This beer REALLY lends itself well to additives.
 
I was looking to make a new porter this weekend and stumbled upon this. Sounds good (I never had a commercially made EF). What really made me want to make it is actually kind of funny-
My now 89 year old Dad was the lead insurance underwriter for the policy on the Edmund Fitzgerald while working for AIG in NYC.
Secondly, my brother is an attorney specializing in maritime law.......
 
It's a very good beer if you can get your hands on it. Available just about everywhere on the east coast
 
I'm going to brew this tomorrow. I have 05, 04, and Nottingham yeast on hand. Any recommendation on which one I should use?
 
Does this need to be bulk aged or can I just fill it straight into bottles and let it mature there?
I guess as it's only an OG of 1.060 it shouldn't need too long to mature?
:tank:
 
Brewed 5 gallons last weekend. Decided to take it in a different direction just for fun. (Used roasted barley instead of black malt, Crystal 80 instead of Crystal 60 and the last addition was Cascade instead of Willamette as GLBC has updated ingredients on website) Mashed at 152 and fermented with S04 at a little higher temperature. There is a lovely english-y toffee/dark fruit character on the nose. It's different for a robust porter but it's fantastic. It fermented out in 3 days flat and so yesterday I added 2lbs of PB2. Adding 1 oz of super good quality vanilla extract today. I'm gonna let that sit for 7 days and then bottle with a little more vanilla extract if needed. There's a lot going on with this beer. I believe it's related to the Special B. Ohiobrewtus this is an extremely good beer on it's own. It's also a dang fine base beer to experiment with. I love it. Thank you.




The GLBC website no longer lists the hops for EF. What was your final hop schedule and do you recommend it?
 
The GLBC website no longer lists the hops for EF. What was your final hop schedule and do you recommend it?



My final hop schedule was as follows:

1 oz Northern Brewer 60 min
1 oz Willamette 15 min
1 oz Cascade Flameout

Not sure that the Cascade or Willamette really did much for mine because of the malt complexity combined with the peanut butter and vanilla but if you go stock recipe, this should turn out well.

Those were the hops listed. I only went with what made sense in terms of hopping schedule for those specific hops. I'm sure you could swap the Willamette and Cascade too.
 
Ok. Any Thoughts?

Excited to be brewing a version of this for a 20 gallon batch. No Special B, so I'm throwing in Brown & C-80 (highest Crystal I have).

43 lbs 2-Row
2 lbs C-60
2 lbs Choc.
1 lb Brown
1lb C-80
1 lb Black.

Will also sub Fuggles for Willamette, as it's what I have on hand and the LHBS is 2 hrs. away.
4 Pkgs. SF-05
 
EF not available in DE. We used to pay friends to bring it back from trips. I am firing this up after lunch today using recipe on first page. I am pitching sloppy slurry wlp007 from my brown porter from 2 weeks ago.
Eric
 
Back
Top