A couple weeks ago, I discussed my first foray into the homebrewing world. My first batch, a Belgian Blonde style beer from the Brooklyn Brewshop helped prove to myself that I could make something that was not poison. Although it is not my favorite style, it looked, smelled and tasted like beer, if a little less than perfect due to rookie mistakes.
On the heels of the maiden voyage, I brewed a one gallon (10 bottle) batch of a Chocolate Maple Porter. I learned quickly from my first batch that filtering is very important. Even more important is not siphoning from the bottom of the fermenting jug in the bottling process. My first batch had way too much sediment on the bottom of the bottle. This one ended up much cleaner and had so little sediment that I did not have to be careful when pouring into a glass.
Appearance: Beer poured a pitch black with a tan head that I refer to as volatile. As you can see in the picture the fizz looks more like a soda pop than a beer. Unfortunately the head dissipated quickly and did not lead to much in the way of lacing.
Smell: Some malty aromas as well as some light hops and yeast. Since I learned my lesson from the first time out, the yeasty smell was not as noticeably present this time.
Taste/Mouthfeel: Some malty flavor with a bitter dry finish was noted at the start. I did not pick up any of the maple flavor that I assumed would come with using maple syrup after the boil and as the priming sugar. As it warmed, the bitterness mellowed and the chocolate flavor came through. The mouthfeel was on the heavier side but toward the end, it was pretty smooth.
Overall: I really think I did much better this time around. The beer was much cleaner and enjoyable. The only complaints are the lack of sustainable head and the lack of maple flavor. However, as this is more my style of beer I would say it was a vast improvement from my first effort. For more info about Brooklyn Brewshop kits, please see Brooklyn Brewshop
I have since moved on from the Brooklyn Brewshop kits to a two gallon Irish Stout from Brewstock in New Orleans.
These babies will be ready just in time for St. Patrick's day.
Cheers!
Matt - enjoyed your post as I too just completed the Chocolate Maple Porter from Brooklyn Brew Shop.
ReplyDeleteI was actually searching the net to see if I had made it correctly because, as you also observed, the head dissipates very quickly! It does look like pop fizz.
I drank my first one as soon as the two weeks were up and I was disappointed with it. I had my next one 2 weeks after that, and I liked it better. I will wait another two weeks to see if it matures more. Apparently this is called "conditioning" (I'm new to brewing). The taste is as you described and I did not taste an maple flavour at all either.
Anyway, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who had these results with making it. I thought I had messed up. :)
Cheers
Brad
Thanks for the feedback, Brad. WIth these small batches, I have trouble with patience. I do really like the flavor of the Porter when it warms up. I made the mistake of opening a bottle of it and before I could pour it into a glass some fizzed out of the bottle.
DeleteThe tried the stout I mentioned above this weekend and it was almost flat. I am hoping that letting it hang out for some time longer will help.
I also have a Brooklyn Brewshop Coffee and Donut stout fermenting. Hopefully it will turn out better than the regular stout. Good luck with future batches.