Didn't think so.
I haven't posted because I haven't been brewing much, let alone experimenting. I have had a busy summer, and only did like 3 batches of some basic beers.
I did, however come up with an experiment. I went for a porter, my second-favorite beer style. This time, however, instead of messing with the one gallon, extract stuff, I started with a five gallon batch of a basic porter (the "robust" variety), and split the batch for secondary fermentation on top of some common flavorings for the style.
In hindsight, I should have kept a gallon unchanged as a control batch, but I'll do that next time. Here is the recipe:
- 12 lbs American 2-row
- 1.5 lbs Crystal 40L
- 0.5 lbs Black Patent
- 0.5 Chocolate
- 1 lb Organic Brown Sugar (added with 15 mins left in the boil)
- 1 oz. Fuggles hops ( added with 60 mins left in the boil)
- 1 oz. fuggles hops (added with 20 mins left in the boil)
I used White Labs WLP013 in a 2.5 Liter starter, which is just a basic, hop-less beer used to grow the yeast and ensure its health. Based on the original gravity (1.079), it should have been a 3 liter starter, but it seems to have worked fine.
I racked the beer to three secondary fermentation vessels. One, three gallon batch on top of frozen, thawed, then pasteurized (sort of: I baked them at 170F for 30 mins) sweet cherries; one, one-gallon batch with 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract; and another one-gallon batch on top of cacao nibs which had been roasted at 250F for 20 mins.
I tasted the sample I took for gravity readings, and I'm pretty sure I would have been letting it sit for a while, as the alcohol flavor (also called "heat") was VERY strong. It's a 7.5% ABV beer, so I'm not surprised, but it was definitely too much for my liking. Great body and deep, rich flavor though.
I actually will start posting pics and stuff, since I just learned how to do it from my phone.
