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B-Day!

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
A couple of weeks ago, a coworker gave me a bunch of homebrewing equipment he was no longer using. Today was brew-day! I'm making a 5-gallon batch of Brown Porter. This was the first time I've actually strayed from the kits and used grains in my brewing.

"This is grain, which any fool can eat, but for which the Lord intended a more divine means of consumption... Beer!" -Friar Tuck



Here they are all crunched up.



Starting the pseudo-mash.



After steeping for about 10 of 20 minutes.



Just added the bittering hops (Kent Goldings)



Another important ingredient



My camera batteries went dead, but after an hour of boiling, I sparged the wort into cold water. Once the wort cooled to about 70-80*, the wort was aerated and I pitched the yeast. It's now sitting in the fermenter in my basement with a heater to keep it between 60-75*.

Original gravity was a little low at 1.035-1.036, but it should still turn out pretty good.

:D
 

DamienC

Turbo Monkey
Jun 6, 2002
1,165
0
DC
:thumb: Nice! Where'd you get your ingredients? I used to go to Manorfest over by the Lost Dog Cafe in Arlington to get all my stuff but according to their website they've since closed that location and haven't reopened yet. Until then I guess I'll just have to trek out to Jay's Homebrewing out in Fairfax.
 

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
Yossarian said:
Wow, you opened your fermenter....
Yeah, I know, I thought I killed my yeast, so I was peeking in occasionally to see if anything was happening. It's sealed up now.

Damien: I got most of the stuff while visiting my parents in PA, but got some of it at Jay's. The recipe is one of Jay's. I'll be shopping at Jay's from now on. It's a bit of a trek, but he has a great selection.
 

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
Fermentation went fast! The yeasty foam collapsed back in to the beer and the current hydrometer reading is at 1.020. After consulting the local brew shop, I went ahead and racked the beer to the secondary fermenter. Holy crap does it ever smell good! :drool:

 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
Oh Baby!!!!

May I may a simple birthday request, even though my birthday is months away - will you please reserve a bottle for me to sample on July 23rd up at Monkeyfest???
 

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
MMcG said:
Oh Baby!!!!

May I may a simple birthday request, even though my birthday is months away - will you please reserve a bottle for me to sample on July 23rd up at Monkeyfest???
If this batch turns out well, you definitely have a birthday bottle coming your way. :thumb:

Oh, and see the last picture? Now picture it with about a 1/4 inch of tan head on it and that's what's going on the fermenter now. The yeast is still working and I'm getting 4-6 "bloops" per minute out of the airlock. :D
 

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
I just took another reading and it's at 1.018. I'm hoping it comes down close to 1.012. That would put it at about 4-4.5% ABV. The color is a rich caramel brown, a bit darker than Newcastle, which is common for this style of porter. Of course I couldn't bring myself to dump my sample, so it went bottoms up. I'm happy to say that it tastes pretty good. Judging by the color I expected a brown ale taste, but it definitely has the malty goodness of a porter. :D
 

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
It's been 5 days since my last reading and I'm still at 1.018. I guess fermentation is done. I had another taste and, while tasty, it's not as full-bodied as I'd hoped. We'll see what happens once I bottle it and carbonation builds.

 

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
Popped a bottle open today and I'm pretty happy so far. It's finally got some fizz and it's a good bit darker than the picture above. It has a nice malty flavor with a hint of hops. It still has some time to go before it's finished as it feels a bit thin in the mouth, but so far so good.

Oh, and I put a batch of belgian-style white ale (wheat, coriander, orange) in the primary fermenter today. It should be done for MF too. :)