Adding Port To A Stout

[dj_sdix]

Hello all

I'm pretty new to brewing and have succesfully drunk a couple of kits

I don't know if anyone has tried this, but a shot of port in a guiness is very nice indeed! I am currently fermenting a muntons stout kit with a beer enhancer pack. I was thinking about adding a shot of port to each bottle when bottling up, would this work? and would i also need to prime the bottles with sugar?

I've also read a little on secondary fermentaion, but i'm not clear if I have to add and sugar/dextrose for this, could I add the port during the secondary fermentation?

Cheers
Si

 

[newguy]

Very interesting idea! Not sure how you'd manage to add port to beer and keep that sweet port character because the yeast would happily ferment the sugar left in the grape juice in the port. Maybe try adding it to the secondary, as this is much safer than adding it at bottling time. The sugar in the port will throw off your priming calculations and you'd very likely end up with bottle grenades.

Scotch is something that also goes very well in stout and with barleywine.

 

[dj_sdix]

Oh yeh! I hadn't thought about the sweetness of the port being sucked out by the yeast, might make an interesting taste mind.

I've never done a secondary fermentation, any info how to do this would be much appreciated, can I do it in a keg?

Cheers
Si

 

[newguy]

All that you really need to do is transfer the beer to another vessel. I suppose that you could secondary in a keg.....come to think of it I have done that once with a lager but it's not something I'd do again. If you do transfer to a keg, you'll either have to vent it often to allow the CO2 to escape, or don't vent it and allow it carbonate naturally. You'll be left with sediment, but that will be drawn off with the first 2 or 3 pints. Just be warned that once a kegged beer is overcarbonated, it's quite difficult to save it (you'll be venting the thing night & day for a long time).

If you secondary in a carboy (or whatever), the fermentation is done when the yeast not only drops out, but also starts to stick to the wall of the carboy. When you see that thin film of yeast appear on the wall, it's done and can be bottled/kegged. The film won't be even.

Hope this helps.

 

[Beerpig]

Just add the shot of Port prior to pouring & drinking

Cheers

 

[dj_sdix]

i can see what your saying, just thought it might be a nice experiment to try. Think i might give it a pop anyway.

Cheers
Si

 

[winkle]

Very interesting idea! Not sure how you'd manage to add port to beer and keep that sweet port character because the yeast would happily ferment the sugar left in the grape juice in the port. Maybe try adding it to the secondary, as this is much safer than adding it at bottling time. The sugar in the port will throw off your priming calculations and you'd very likely end up with bottle grenades.

Scotch is something that also goes very well in stout and with barleywine.

hmmm, whiule we're at it what about rum in stout?

 

[dj_sdix]

All that you really need to do is transfer the beer to another vessel. I suppose that you could secondary in a keg.....come to think of it I have done that once with a lager but it's not something I'd do again. If you do transfer to a keg, you'll either have to vent it often to allow the CO2 to escape, or don't vent it and allow it carbonate naturally. You'll be left with sediment, but that will be drawn off with the first 2 or 3 pints. Just be warned that once a kegged beer is overcarbonated, it's quite difficult to save it (you'll be venting the thing night & day for a long time).

If you secondary in a carboy (or whatever), the fermentation is done when the yeast not only drops out, but also starts to stick to the wall of the carboy. When you see that thin film of yeast appear on the wall, it's done and can be bottled/kegged. The film won't be even.

Hope this helps.

helped loads

Cheers

 

[Screwtop]

dj_sdix fortified wine has strong liquor (brandy) added to the barrel to stop fermentation short (kill the yeast from high alcohol) so leaving it sweet and highly alcoholic. Think you would have a problem calculating your priming sugar with added port/sugar also don't know how your particular yeast strain would cope with the higher alcohol level. Think it might be best to create it in the glass, then you can fiddle with getting the mix just right too.

 

[newguy]

Rum in stout? Another good suggestion which I'm now itching to try.

In Canada and the US, honey beers are gaining in popularity with the big brewers at the moment. Honey browns are particularly common. To ensure that they aren't creating bottle bombs, the brewers will filter the beer to remove yeast & bacteria immediately after they add the honey. This ensures the yeast won't be fermented. I've been toying with the idea of doing the same thing with maybe a dozen bottles and then pasteurizing the lot to kill the yeast and bacteria. Only problems I foresee are 1) carbonation, 2) oxidation, and 3) yeast autolysis. Even still, I think I may try it anyway.

Regarding the higher alcohol content impeding the yeast, I guess that depends on how much port gets added. If this is small, the high alcohol will be diluted quite a bit and the yeast in the beer probably won't be impeded that much. Unless of course you're adding port to a particularly strong Russian imperial stout. :super:

 

[Stuster]

How about trying some of the spirit flavouring additives that the *cough* essential oil producers add to their *cough* essential oil mix. I don't think they have port flavour, but rum, bourbon....

Why anybody would want to do this to a poor, unsuspecting beer I will never know.

 

[homekegger1]

DJ,

Why not transefer to secondary(Clean new fermenter) and leave for a week. Then rack into a keg. Seems you are a kegger. So work out how many shots of port you want per schooner, add this to the keg prior to filling with said stout. Once filled with stout, gas for 24hrs or so and refridgerate. Once carbonated stick in fridge and you will have no problems with the yeast eating all the sugar from the port. If you are like me, I have the gas already into the fridge and gas it at colder temps. Allowing any residual yeast to fall asleep. This should hopefully combat any extra fermentaion

 

[dj_sdix]

That sounds like a great plan, i was planning on bottling it but I am now worried about bottle bombs so keg sounds like the best option. I haven't got a beer fridge but I have got a cold place I could bung it, how low would the temp have to be to stop the yeast?

The stouts been in primary fermentation now for 5 days at 20c, seems to be slowing down so i'll transfer to a new fermenter in a couple of days. Was hoping to have this ready for new years, fingers crossed!

Cheers
Si

 

[dj_sdix]

Oh yeh, i'm using the standard under the cap yeast

Si

 

[dj_sdix]

Port Stout is a taste sensation!

I am pleased to report that this has worked beyond my expectations. Feedback from freinds has been 100%, but it is quite dangerouse as it does get you pretty wrecked, there is no hint of added alcohol, just a lovely porty(very subtle) taste. Thanks for all the advice. Here's the final recipie/procedure I used:

1x muntons stout kit(with under the cap yeast)
1x beer enhancer pack
1 litre tawny port

Brewed the kit as per the instructions using the enhancer pack.
Left in primary ferementor for 10 days at 16-18C (i had no vesel for a secondary)
added to port to bottom of keg with 80g demerara sugar disolved in 250ml water then added stout
left keg at 16-18C for 24 hours
moved keg to 8-10C for 48 hours

I tasted at this point and it was a bit on the sweet side so i brought it into 14C for the duration of conditioning. The sweetness gradually went but i'm thinking now mabey too much has gone I should have transfered back into 8-10C after around 48 hours. I had to vent some gas as well.

Hope you give it a try!

Si

 

[Ross]

Port Stout is a taste sensation!

I am pleased to report that this has worked beyond my expectations. Feedback from freinds has been 100%, but it is quite dangerouse as it does get you pretty wrecked, there is no hint of added alcohol, just a lovely porty(very subtle) taste. Thanks for all the advice. Here's the final recipie/procedure I used:

1x muntons stout kit(with under the cap yeast)
1x beer enhancer pack
1 litre tawny port

Brewed the kit as per the instructions using the enhancer pack.
Left in primary ferementor for 10 days at 16-18C (i had no vesel for a secondary)
added to port to bottom of keg with 80g demerara sugar disolved in 250ml water then added stout
left keg at 16-18C for 24 hours
moved keg to 8-10C for 48 hours

I tasted at this point and it was a bit on the sweet side so i brought it into 14C for the duration of conditioning. The sweetness gradually went but i'm thinking now mabey too much has gone I should have transfered back into 8-10C after around 48 hours. I had to vent some gas as well.

Hope you give it a try!

Si

Mmmmm... sounds tasty, might be a nice addition to a RIS, Think i'll give it a try in the glass, before adding to the keg though.
Out of interest, why did you add more sugar at the end?

cheers Ross

 

[dj_sdix]

Mmmmm... sounds tasty, might be a nice addition to a RIS, Think i'll give it a try in the glass, before adding to the keg though.
Out of interest, why did you add more sugar at the end?

cheers Ross

I added the extra sugar to make up the priming amount, this was just a bit of guess work. I found 1 reference on google about the sugar content of port, this said 50g+ per litre. I needed 130g for priming so added the extra 80g of sugar. It may have been a little too much as I had to vent the gas.

Cheers
Si

 

[Ross]

I added the extra sugar to make up the priming amount, this was just a bit of guess work. I found 1 reference on google about the sugar content of port, this said 50g+ per litre. I needed 130g for priming so added the extra 80g of sugar. It may have been a little too much as I had to vent the gas.

Cheers
Si

Thanks Si, makes perfect sense, now. i should have worked out you were naturally carbonating from your post ...

cheers Ross