AG#3 - Brown Porter

[oblivious]

Recipe looks good, might doing it in the near future

Not sure about the color, but you could up the chocolate malt to 500g and it will add to the roastness of the porter

[SiHoltye]

I'd sooner hit taste than colour, more so because it's my first Porter brew. Good advice though.

[SteveD]

Recipe looks good, might doing it in the near future

Not sure about the color, but you could up the chocolate malt to 500g and it will add to the roastness of the porter

500g of chocolate would be a bit too overpowering IMO. Might as well forget the brown if you're going to do that. Chocolate malt is cloying if used too heavily. Add a bit of black malt for colour adjustment. 2 - 3Oz would do it. Historically accurate, as well.

[oblivious]

Recipe looks good, might doing it in the near future

Not sure about the color, but you could up the chocolate malt to 500g and it will add to the roastness of the porter

500g of chocolate would be a bit too overpowering IMO. Might as well forget the brown if you're going to do that. Chocolate malt is cloying if used too heavily. Add a bit of black malt for colour adjustment. 2 - 3Oz would do it. Historically accurate, as well.

sorry ,I am getting fecken confused with metric to imperial, I meant 250g or 0.5 pounds of chocolate malt

[mixbrewery]

This is looking very tasty...
What is the preferred yeast?

I'm now undecided for tomorrows brewday - this or a Pops Choc Stout

[SiHoltye]

I could get some black malt from my local HB shop but then that would be adding a new grain to the accepted recipe just for the sake of colour. I won't do that this time. I think perhaps the lighter choc I am using and perhaps a lighter shade of crystal might mean I'm off the colour a little.

The yeast I've got little choice over now 'cos I've only got dried and can't get the liquid fullers yeast before Monday. Only choice to be authentic is to perhaps culture up from a bottle of 1845. But on this occasion I won't bother and instead use S-04. I'll think positively about not adding much with the yeast by thinking I'll be tasting only the effect of grain and hops, and use Fuller yeast next time if it needs anything.

[SiHoltye]

This is a tasty brew indeed. I've had to re-pitch due to poor temperature control from the outset but now we're at 1.018 and falling.

The sample jar tastes georgeous. All biscuitey/mocha coffee-like and filling. Looking forward to this as it gets colder. It won't be overpowering at (hopefully) 5%. It tastes like the caramelised bit that bursts out of the side one of your mum's sweet mince pies that she has baked in the oven whilst looking after you at the beginning of the Christmas holiday, oh and your only six and Christmas is really special yeah! You bite the edge of the pie to get the sticky bit and take some pastry and caster sugar with it too - yum, yum.

Anyone dribbling...I am.

[Barley Water]

Anyone dribbling...I am.[/quote]

Had to laugh at that one, it just conjures up a really ugly image which I am trying to forget (we would say drooling over here, dribbling would be something else entirely).

Anyway, after giving you a bad time, I am very interested in the way your brew comes out. I have a very good formulation for a robust porter but want to also get one for a brown porter. Had a very good experience with a pint of London Porter about six months ago and would just love to make something similar (and hopefully even better). Please be sure to share how yours comes out. Also, what yeast are you using? There was a trace of dyacetyl in the London Pride I had and in my opinion really added to the effect.

[SiHoltye]

I love eating sweet pies, who doesn't? Sure it can get a little messy if they're runny and sticky, but nothing you can't lick off you fingers.

Safale 04 is the yeast I used for this. For it's stable sedimentation properties. I will update this as things progress. I plan to bottle 12 pints to put into a comp on Nov 17th, and will guzzle the rest from corni pronto. I will attempt restraint, though 2 weeks is usually my mark.

[SiHoltye]

Just bottled and kegged this brew. It's not strong at 4.4ish% but nice and tasty. It was aimed at getting up to 5%, but I got my ferment temperature wildly out of control early on and upset my yeast. On tasting the sample jar it tastes of the coffee/chocolate/bitterness it should with goodly balancing sweetness. This is all flat of course and unmatured. I'd make this again this weekend if I hadn't promised a Pale Ale for my missus. Purgatory. Doesn't she know it's autumn now!

[David Edge]

Going back a bit:

Is that pale amber malt similar to diastatic amber malt?

Pale amber was typically 30EBC while diastatic is around 50EBC. I tend to mix pale and diastatic where pale amber is required.

Pale amber is diastatic, so you can use that in conjunction with pale to help convert non diastatic grains. I would think that its diastatic power is pretty good, being made from a higher nitrogen barley than pale is, and kilned quite gently.

I'm not convinced it will convert more than its own weight although I can't cite any evidence other than that I've struggled with it. It's the other reason I cut it 60:40 with pale. Note too when using large quantities of diastatic amber that dia-amber grist isn't very fermentable. A 100% dia-amber grist only attenuated from 1104 to 1054 for me.

[SiHoltye]

I have been weak this evening.....

I bottled 6 pints of this brew for a competition, about 2/3rds of a corni for end of Oct, and 6 bottles for me (now 5).

The smell is fire roasted sweet chestnut shells - where they blacken and burn just a bit, spot on for my nostalgia buds! The taste is Porter too but I have to come clean and say final taste must be reserved for a fresher palate than mine this evening, and these observations are made after just 1 week of warm (19°C) bottle conditioning. The remainder go outside now for a long bit.

Ah that smell description is soooo right. Not bitter burnt, not at all, sweet burn that makes you hungry! Roast chestnuts on a Sunday evening, Bullseye if your lucky, Surprise Surprise if your not! The dog lying too close to the fire after your finished the chestnuts and toasted bread, getting sparks on him, singed dog hair - eurgh! Time for bed, school day tomorrow.


I shall do this again after the w/e brew of Pale ale I promised my wife for Christmas. In truth I am begrudging that a little now. When I do this again I may look at increased brown, crystal and choc. Not a lot more but to try and make it even more a mouthful to go with that aroma! Will probably end up as a Robust by the end of tinkering! Up the specials/up the base! Also my ferment temp will be better controlled next time.

Yum yum yum.

Oh and no particular sweetness to it. Not in the way I was concerned about. In that the yeast could have attenuated more fully under better fermentation conditions.

[SiHoltye]

It is not big, nor is it clever, but I have finished my corni of this. Still 12 days to go until it's 4 week cold maturation period is up.
I have got the next 2 corni's full now though with min maturation dates on them 21/10/07 and 08/11/07, and AG#6 (primary) going in this now empty corni in a weeks time, so perhaps at some point before the year is out I may drink something of my own that isn't immature! This AG#3 Brown Porter is really lovely though, will be doing this after the Christmas Beer, Festival Mild, and Simmonds Bitter I'm planning now. Am asking for more Corni's for Christmas, am thinking I NEED 4 for my regular gravity of around 1.040 and 2 for laying down a historic IPA, and a historic Robust Porter, great for next Chrimbo! In total 2 more shinys please Santa. I've been good, honest.

[Vossy1]

It is not big, nor is it clever, but I have finished my corni of this. Still 12 days to go until it's 4 week cold maturation period is up.

A man after my own heart
Sometimes the odd corny has to be sacrificed to the beer god, for the sake of the other corny's peaceful maturation

[SiHoltye]

I have spotted this is your way also Vossy. Almost made reference to your unquenchable thirst in my own admission! Brew it dark, no-one will know how young it is!