Category: Homebrew

Iron Porter – homegrown edition

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Iron Porter

A couple weeks ago I came up with this recipe for the kind of porter that you just cannot find any more. 
But I took that recipe and substituted in my own homegrown Mt Hood hops. 
Not really knowing the IBU, I planned for the highest alpha, but if they were even as low as half of what they should be they would fit in nice with the porter style
You really need some sort of bag when using whole hops or they tend to plug things up. 
Iron Porter – homegrown 
9 lbs 2 row
12 choc malt
4 oz black patent
1 oz roast barley
8 oz crystal 80
2.5 oz dried Mt Hood @ 60
2.5 oz dried Mt Hood @ 10
Mashed at 152
05 yeast
** skip ahead to bottling day**
OG of .058
FG of .010
Had to hold my self back from drinking to much if this right from bottling bucket. Once carbed  this is gonna be one great beer. I think I hit it right where I wanted it. Slight roasty and just the right sweet. The IBU seems in the mid range of the style. 
But we will see once it’s fully ready

Rhubarb apple cider

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Rhubarb apple cider
1 lb table sugar and 1 lb brown sugar
 
Mixed it with 3.5 lbs thawed frozen rhubarb from this spring. Let it sit over night to pull the rhubarbiness out 
Strained it all out and rinsed with the apple juice. 
Dumped all the liquid (2 1/2 gallons total juice) into my 3 gallon Carboy along with 1 packet of US 04 yeast. 
Airlock it, and we let it go. I’ll take a look in a month. 

Building my Porter

stoutmakerLeave a comment
Porter. Stout. Brown. Which is it? Its one of those “I know one when I taste one” Be beer snobby all you want, I don’t care. I know better.
 
If you wanna call it a Porter go ahead, it will fit into that category somewhere. One of the descriptions says it basically lets the brewer decide the characteristics.
I really do like the “know one when I taste one” line because I think in every Porter drinkers mind, they have a certain taste that makes a Porter stand out.
 
Recently the kind of Porter I came to know and love has been scarce, maybe even extinct. Today the Porter is more or less regulated to a base beer for spicing or fruiting. It seems every style is heading down that path now that Craft Beer is on every corner. Can’t be happy with a good solid beer any more, its gotta stand out.
 
All right enough of the blabbering.. What I wanna do here is make that good solid Porter that I cannot find any more. In my head, a Porter is roasty, but not like your modern dry stout. More like black patenty roasty but less ashtray. Sweet, but not like a Brown sweet. Enough to cut the roasty. Hopping is where I think most Porters of today fail. They either are so low hopped that they feel sweet, or shoot up over the top into American Dark Ale territory. A body thats there, but not distractingly full. Medium/rare like.
 
Here is what I came up with:
 
Iron Porter – 5 Gallon  To be bottled
6%
47 IBU
 
9 lbs 2 row
12 oz choc malt
4 oz black patent
1 oz roast barley  (really, I dont know why I leave this in)
8 oz 80L crystal
1 oz centennial @60
1 oz Williamette @10
 
mash 152 and 05 yeast
 
I have gotten away from bottling my Stouts and I feel I’ve lost part of an experience. This, particular recipe shall always be bottled.