Bottled Porter | Homebrewing

The Process:

During the last update we reviewed what I considered to be an extremely successful brew day. It was only the third brew but it felt like I was getting comfortable with the process. The fermentation went well and the transfer to the secondary fermenter was seamless. This is also the first time we have absolutely maximized the amount of beer being brewed in a single one gallon kit.

The Bottling:

Great news! For the first time we successfully bottled ten full bottles of beer from the kit. Even better news, we didn’t break a bottle this time. We are quickly becoming the masters of the siphon, there was even enough left over for a 4oz tasting.

The ABV: 5.23% just where we wanted it to be.

The Taste:

I am often called superstitious and I am not going to lie, it is certainly a personality trait so it’s hard for me to talk about this. It was absolutely delicious. I am learning to appreciate the Porter style and this made me giddy with excitement. There was a lot of layered flavor going on and at that point in time no off flavors to be found. I am nervous about this because all that remains is carbonation and bottle conditioning. I will be profoundly sad if something manages to go wrong there, but it is all part of the process.

Takeaways:

1) I cannot stress enough how much easier it is to brew in the cooler months of fall – I want to brew year-round so it will be critical to start working now on better temperature control.

2) Practice does make perfect, I was feeling quite down about the failed second beer but I do believe I have learned more from it than the successful first attempt.

3) The ingredient kits are a great way to get started but I am finding myself wondering what it would be like to go away from that, I see it happening in the near future.