Salty Liquorice Porter

[Moebbels]

So the GF wanted an over-the-top liquorice porter. She also wanted to follow the brewing process on the side so I made a modified version of my smoked porter recipe that worked really nicely. I made a small batch and used only a total of 2.4kg, or a little over 5lbs of malts which made for an easy and relaxed brew day.

OG: 1.053
FG: 1.013
ABV: 5.3%
IBU: 30
SRM: 20

Mash at 67 degrees celsius
84.4% Pale Ale
6.3% Crystal 40L
4.2% Crystal 20L
4.2% Chokolate Malt
0.8% Carafa Special III

1 tbsp of Salty Liquorice Syrup and Liquorice root powder each, added at the last 10 minutes of the boil.

30 IBU:s of Warrior at 60 min

US-05

 

[JKaranka]

Interested straight away!

 

[ChefRex]

So is this bottled yet? if so how is it, interesting but I can't say I've seen salty liquorice syrup in these parts

 

[Moebbels]

So is this bottled yet? if so how is it, interesting but I can't say I've seen salty liquorice syrup in these parts

I just brewed this on saturday. I will update here when I bottle it and get a first impression. Liquorice is pretty big in Finland so we have lots of products surrounding it
One thing I noticed straight away is a pretty nonexistent krausen despite some vigorous bubbling from the airlock. Hope it still will have some head retention.

 

[Moebbels]

Took a gravity measurement of this during the weekend. Was at 1.015, which is a bit higher than expected but I'll let it sit for a few more days.
The first whiff from the fermentor made me think that this had spoiled or something. A few minutes in the glass and the smell got nicer. Pretty mild, mostly liquorice.
Taste was surprisingly salty, reminded a bit of gose, and the liquorice really lingers on the palate. This seems to be turning out better than I expected.

 

[arbadarchi]

Subscribed! I was just thinking I wanted to do a licorice brew.

 

[davidst]

I'm addicted to salt licorice (salmiak) although everyone I've ever let try it has completely hated it. I'm curious to see how this beer turns out.

 

[arbadarchi]

I'm addicted to salt licorice (salmiak) although everyone I've ever let try it has completely hated it. I'm curious to see how this beer turns out.

Is there a difference between salt licorice and the high quality black licorice like the stuff from Australia?

 

[davidst]

Is there a difference between salt licorice and the high quality black licorice like the stuff from Australia?

I'm not sure about the stuff from Australia, is it more salty than sweet and slightly burns the tongue? The salt licorice has Ammonium chloride in it (instead of sodium chloride that you'd find in table salt), and it's a very unique taste. It's definitely an acquired taste, every person I've given a dubbel zout to has spit it out.

 

[arbadarchi]

I'm not sure about the stuff from Australia, is it more salty than sweet and slightly burns the tongue? The salt licorice has Ammonium chloride in it (instead of sodium chloride that you'd find in table salt), and it's a very unique taste. It's definitely an acquired taste, every person I've given a dubbel zout to has spit it out.

After watching this video [ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nDFTyRDSG-U[/ame] I think I'll pass on this brew lol.

 

[JKaranka]

It's not that bad. I agree on the acquired taste, and everybody I hand some to seems to spit it. I like the Turkish Peppers the most.

 

[Moebbels]

Just tried this yesterday. Nice clear dark body, still could see through it against light. Brown head that disappears quickly but this I believe will change with some aging.
On the nose you can still tell that this is a bit green. The taste is quite nice, reminds a lot of a normal porter, that's on the roastier side, but with the aftertaste you get a really nice, mellow and almost umami-like flavor. The mildest hint of bitterness lingers on the palate.

I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with this one. I have never made really good dark beers but this one turned out quite nice. The liquorice is very mildly evident, if I didn't know about it I would think its an ordinary porter. As for the nice aftertaste, I would believe that the little amount of salt in the syrup could have played a part in it.

If I were to try this again, which I might, then I'd triple the amount of syrup and double the amount of liquorice powder and leave the rest as it is now.

 

[The_Nid_Hog]

Sounds like things turned out very nicely. I had a gose with licorice at Warpigs in Copenhagen last summer and I've been thinking about trying to recreate it. Hearing that this worked out well, I think I'll give it a shot.

 

[Moebbels]

A little update on this. As time went on, the liquorice note became milder and the beer turned more into a nice regular porter with a smooth liquorice note on the aftertaste. If you want to have the liquorice really dominate the flavor profile, then it would be better to ditch the syrup and use around 3 times as much of the powder. Otherwise the malt base and amount of hops works really well.