First Brew - Porter

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.

Dork42775

Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Asheville , NC
So i just brewed my first beer and am shooting for a nice Chocolate Coffee Porter. I received a kit from a friend (new in box) and he had some ingredients with it already so i with the help of my local brewers supply came up with a recipe.

I would like a hoppy, bitterish chocolate maybe coffee taste in the end and here is the recipe i have. ( 5 gallon recipe)


- 1 lb crushed grain, porter blend (.5 british chocolate malt, .5 200 degree dark crystal malt)

- 6 lb Nothwestern Dark liquid malt

- 1 lb Briiess Dried malt extract

- 4 ounces Blackstrap Molasses

- 2 ounce's Willamette pellet hops 3.8% at 10 minute boil

- 1 ounce Willamette pellet hops 3.8 % at 50 minute boil

- 1 White Labs English Ale Yeast ( liquid)

- I am thinking of brewing a half pound of Death By Chocolate coffee beans ( very dark chocolate flavor) into a pint of coffee and add it to secondary. Any advise would be appreciated if this sounds like a bad idea to add the coffee.

My SG was 1.090 and i was thinking that was pretty high but could that be due to the molasses? And if so what do you think the FG should be? Plus it took about 28 hours to see bubbling in the airlock but after 60 hours i am getting a bubble a little less than every 2 seconds. Does everything seem ok to you guys and how long in the primary, 7 days maybe?
 
I wonder about your 1.090 original gravity reading with a 6 pounds of extract, a pound of specialty grains, 4 oz molasses and a pound of DME. How big of a batch was this?
 
I agree, 1.090 sounds high. Oh well, still looks tasty.

You're right on on your coffee idea. Secondary is usually the best place to add it. You might need a little more than a pint so that you're not wasting part of your 1/2 lb of coffee, but it should be fine.

Looks good, can't wait to hear how it turns out!
 
Oops. I just read the post and saw a 5 gallon recipe. I would still question that 1.090 original gravity reading though. I don't see how you get that with what you have down in your recipe. But if it tastes good and your hydrometer is off...who gaf? (PM me for translation)
 
Who gives a Ford indeed. ;)

I think you've inspired me to coffee my next stout. I've been jonesing for a couple of St Pats day beers to go into fermenter soon. Might as well, eh?
 
So what final gravity should I be shooting for? Also does it help to tip the bucket a little to possibly speed up the fermentation or just let it sit there and slowly bubble? And yet another question, when I got these ingredients I also received 2 ounce's of Challanger Pellet Alpha Acid 7.1% but it has been sitting around for a year. I can smell the "cheese" odor through the unopened vacuum bag also. Is this still usable for anything?
 
I just ran some numbers in BeerSmith and it looks as if you should have been at about a 1.056, and your fg should be about 1.014 for a toatl of about 5.4% alc.

As for the "real" numbers, I have no clue how you got to a 1.090 so I can't say for sure.
 
Maybe it was a 1.060 but he was upside down when reading it. :drunk:
 
I'm imagining Batman, hanging upside down, monitoring his fly sparge? :D
 
I am somewhat dumb but i think i ...... well???????????? Just kidding and i am sure the booze in my system at the time might have affected my judgement.
 
OK so i just checked the density after 5 days in the bucket and it is reading 1.024 which is looking alot better. Maybe i misread the OD of 1.090 but i am pretty sure it was right. The bubbling has slowed down to once every 7 or 8 seconds and it never really went crazy like i was expecting but i do have a nice foam at the top. I am thinking of changing to secondary Saturday evening, what do you guys think?
 
Back
Top