November 22, 2008

Carboy #1 – Bottled

Category: Porter — Josh @ 7:22 pm

I bottled carboy #1 this afternoon/evening. Beer temperature during bottling was @ 67F. I targeted 2.6 Volumes of CO2 for carbonation. This calculated out to 5.0 ounces of corn sugar for the 5.5 gallons of beer in carboy #1. The priming solution was made with 2 cups of water plus the corn sugar, boiled for 6 minutes in a small pot with a lid, then set aside and let cool in an ice bath with the lid on. FG was 1.014 @ 71.2 F (1.015 corrected) before adding the priming solution. ABV is calculated at 5.1%. Yield was 44 12oz Bottles and 6 22oz bottles (5.16gal). This tastes really good. It has a nice roasted, almost smoky flavor which fades into a sweet, hoppy, nutty, malty finish. The FG of this was spot on.

November 15, 2008

Carboy #2 – Bottled

Category: Porter — Josh @ 9:36 pm

I bottled Carboy #2 last night. Beer temperature during bottling was @ 69F. I targeted 2.6 Volumes of CO2 for carbonation. This calculated out to 4.09 ounces of corn sugar for the 4.5 gallon of beer in carboy #1. The priming solution was made with 2 cups of water plus the corn sugar, boiled for 6 minutes in a small pot with a lid, then set aside and let cool for several hours with the lid on. FG was 1.015 @ 74.6 F (1.017 corrected) before adding the priming solution. ABV is calculated at 4.8%. Yield was 47 Bottles. It tastes pretty good, has a good initial bitterness and roasted flavor which fades into a sweet,nutty, malty finish. I was slightly disappointed with the FG. I was hoping that it would finish a few points lower.

October 25, 2008

Racked carboy #1

Category: Porter — Josh @ 10:37 pm

I racked carboy #1 to secondary. SG was [email protected](1.018 corrected). It tastes more like a porter than carboy #2. Carboy #2 tastes more sweet.

Racked carboy #2

Category: Porter — Josh @ 7:58 pm

I racked carboy #2 to secondary. SG was [email protected](1.018 corrected). It tasted very much like a brown ale. Not like a porter at all. I plan on racking Carboy #2 either today or tomorrow.

October 19, 2008

My First Porter

Category: Porter — Josh @ 9:58 pm

12.00 lb Maris Otter(UK)
3.00 lb Pale Malt, Muntons
2.00 lb Pale Ale Malt 2-Row
1.00 lb Caramel Malt – 20L
1.00 lb Caramel Malt – 80L
0.60 lb Black (Patent) Malt
0.53 lb Chocolate Malt
0.25 lb Caramel Malt – 120L
0.25 lb Caramel Malt – 40L

1.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.00%] (60 min)
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [3.70%] (60 min)
1.00 oz Fuggles [3.00%] (15 min)
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [3.70%] (15 min)
2.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 min)
2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
0.25 lb Treacle (100.0 SRM) (Boil 15.0 min)
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [3.70%] (3 min)

Water used was half tap water and half distilled water. Initial Mashin was with 23 quarts of water at 170F. Mash settled at 155 F. Total mash time was 60 minutes. Ending mash temp was 153 F. A 10 gallon Igloo cooler was used for a mash tun. Water absorbed by the grain was about 8 quarts with first runnings around 14 quarts. First sparge was with 18.5 quarts of water @ 179 F and second sparge is with 18.5 quarts of water @ 179 F. Total volume collected for boil was 12.5 gallons SG [email protected] (corrected SG 1.048).

A 60 Boil was performed in a single kettle was performed using the schedule above. I used an immersible wort chiller to cool the wort down to 78F and drained into 2 – 6.5 gallon carboys. One filled to the 6 gallon mark and one filled to the 5 gallon mark. I has no issues with draining the keg this time as I constructed a hop stopper from two stainless steel mesh colanders. It worked very well. I did not let the trub settle much, after looking at the amount that was settling, I decided to go ahead and pitch the yeast.

Carboy #1 (6 gallons). Pitched 1 vial WLP0002(past exp date), 1 vial WLP004(past exp date) and 4 grams Salfale 04 dry yeast. Carboy #2 (5 gallons). Pitched 1 vial WLP002(past exp date) and 7 grams Salfale 04 dry yeast.

SG of the wort going ionto the carboys was [email protected] (corrected SG 1.054).