Half Porter / Half Bacon Porter

[Relyt]

Hi guys,

Semi-newbie here, this is my third brew. Right now I'm steeping the grains for my chocolate porter. My plan is to make it a bacon porter, but I know there is quite a bit of risk involved. I'd rather not ruin a full 5 gallon batch (if that's what ends up happening), so i was thinking that after a week when I go to add the bacon (dry hog it), I could syphon half of it into the secondary and keep the other half in the primary and only add bacon to one of them... My concern is that there will be so much air in the two containers. Is that much air in the fermentors a no-no? What are you guys' thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

[Gunrunner]

It should be ok as long as you are careful not to diturb to much of the co2. Maybe take a little of the yeast cake with just to help with any further co2 production. I am no expert, just a thought.

 

[gypsyhead]

Just bottled a Bacon Stout myself, read up on it a bit and decided to go the Bacon Extract method as described in the BYO article below:

http://***********/component/resource/article/2060-breakfast-beers-bacon-beer

It's simple, and you can try using different flavored vodkas (I found a high quality green-apple vodka that made the bacon taste that much better).

Like the article discusses, the dangers of dry-hogging are primarily related to the oil content of the bacon as it pertains to reduced head retention, clarity, etc. Using the extract method also allows you to completely ferment and condition your beer, then taste and blend to figure out exactly how much bacon flavor you need to add before bottling so that you don't have to rely on a guess (with dry-hogging). Good luck bud, and I'd suggest buying locally butchered bacon if at all possible, you'll get a much richer flavor profile than the stuff you normally buy in the store.

 

[h22lude]

Good article. Let us know how this turns out. If it turns out good, I may make something similar