Matt's beer take two - Brooklyn Brewshop Chocolate Maple Porter

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!

Why do you drink the beer you do?

One of my fundamental beer tenants is that I don't try to convince people to drink certain beers just because I like them. There is a time and place for any (ok almost any) beer. Confessing that your favorite beer is a domestic light lager may get some sneers from beer snobs, but if that is what you like, that is ok with me. If my reviews and descriptions of beers I try are not enough to convince you to give them a try, it is no sweat to me. I don't own any stock in beer companies.

I came across an article this morning regarding why people drink the beer they do and thought I would share it. If you read the blog regularly, you will see that I have posted from this author before with good reason. This guy articulates a lot of how I feel about beer topics.

Why he drinks good beer.

In the end it all comes down to taste. As I learned very early on, although I am an Accountant by trade, there is no accounting for taste.


Cheers!