Porter Kit Recommendations

[Shed101]

Well, I've got my first kit (Cooper's IPA) sitting waiting patiently, bottled and maturing slowly up high somewhere I'm unlikely to find while sleepwalking. :chug:
It's been almost a week and I can hear it whispering "go on, drink me, drink me" but i'm resisting.

Anyway I need to get going on another brew if just to avoid idle hands and build up a bit of stock for the future.

Mrs Shed wants a Porter, and who am I to argue? But i'm not finding much in the way of recommendations of good Porter kits.

I'm happy to make some basic modifications to a kit, but am taking it step-by-step.

So ... has anyone brewed a good Porter from a kit that they'd like to boast about?

Cheers

 

[beerbrewer76543]

This is my extract recipe that is an absolute cracker:

edit: sorry its not from a kit but it isn't much harder to make

Chocolate Porter
IBU 25.9
OG 1.049
FG 1.011
ABV 5.2%
EBC 53.7
BV 1.23

2.5kg LDME
500g Sugar
400g Carafa I
100g Chocolate Malt
100g Cocoa powder @ bulk prime
60g East Kent Goldings 4.7% AA@ 60 [22.5 IBU]
25g East Kent Goldings 4.7% AA @ 10 [3.4 IBU]
Yeast – 1272 / 1469
25L Total

Notes
Steep grains in 5L water at 67 deg C
400g LDME into 5L boil
14 Days Primary @ 18c
120g Sugar to bulk prime to 2.20 Vols CO2
100g Cocoa powder pre boiled in 500ml water, add during bulk prime

I think the cocoa would be best added at bulk prime so you can crash chill and gelatine for minimum sediment. Then when you pour into a glass you can stir up the cocoa that has settled without getting too much yeast at the same time

Cheers :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Fourstar]

Get yourself:

Coopers ESB tin
300g Choc malt
100g Roast Barley
200g Medium Crystal
1kg of DME
Yeast US05

Steep the Grain in as much water as you can @ 70deg then remove the grain, add the dme and boil the liquor for 15 mins.

add the liquor to your coopers tin and topup to 23L volume.

 

[Dazza_devil]

This was one of my first brews.

Robust porter

23 litres
OG 1057
Cooper's Mexican Cerveza Kit
1kg Light DME
1kg Dark DME

Speciality Grains
100g Roast Barley
250g Chocolate Malt
100g Carared
100g Caraaroma
in a bag steeped in 5 litres water @ 69 degrees C for 30 mins.
Sparge 2 litres water @69 degrees C.

Hops,
25g Target pellets added to boil @ 60mins
20g Target pellets @ 10 mins
20g Target Pellets @ 0 mins

1 pack dried SO4 yeast sprinkled

This turned out quite good after about 6 months bottle conditioning.

 

[petesbrew]

coopers dark ale
brew enhancer 2
250g choc grain (steeped for 30 min)
20g Goldings (steeped for 10min)
Safale S-04 yeast

Instructions pretty much as per Fourstars recipe

 

[Pennywise]

coopers dark ale
brew enhancer 2
250g choc grain (steeped for 30 min)
20g Goldings (steeped for 10min)
Safale S-04 yeast

Instructions pretty much as per Fourstars recipe

I make one similar to this except i don't use the BE2 or S-04. I go all malt and use Wyeast 1084 or even on the odd occasion Wyeast 1968. I'm not a fan or S-04 so IMO if going for a dry yeast I'd use Danstar Windsor.

 

[Shed101]

Great suggestions guys - thanks a lot :icon_cheers:

TBH some of them are a bit too involved for me at the moment. I'll build up to them slowly, partly because I want to learn along the way, not running before I can walk (or stagger), etc.

Plus getting hold of some of the ingredients may be a bit beyond my LHBSs

 

[bum]

TBH some of them are a bit too involved for me at the moment.

No! They really aren't. It does all look a bit complicated with the extra ingredients and and new steps but if you can make a cup of tea you can bash out a kit & bits beer like any of the above.

And that "it's all a bit beyond my LHBS" stuff is a load of crap. The sponsors above provide very good service and products (as do a great many other online LHBS if you'd prefer). And quite frankly, any LHBS that couldn't provide you with any of that stuff really isn't worth its salt and you should be thinking about directing your money elsewhere anyway.

I do understand the trepidation around changing your process (I'm in the middle of changing mine myself) so to somewhat answer your original question - the only porter kit I've heard of (the Cascade one) has pretty awful feedback. Some say Cascade's kits fall down mostly in the yeast department so it might be worth a crack with a better yeast from your LHBS. Without having tasted this kit I can confidently say you will get vastly superior results using pretty much any of the recipes above.

 

[Shed101]

And that "it's all a bit beyond my LHBS" stuff is a load of crap.

Well that's me told then! Thanks for your honesty.

I stand by my original assertion that I only want to go one step at a time ... so perhaps i'll be looking up a bit of grain steeping technique then.

 

[Pennywise]

One step at a time is a great way to learn, although so is jumping straight in the deep end. Me, I'm a one step bloke. Have a read on steeping grain, have a crack at it, then next time maybe look at yeast & temp control. Before you know it you'll have a much better brew than just your standard K&K.

 

[Shed101]

One step at a time is a great way to learn, although so is jumping straight in the deep end. Me, I'm a one step bloke. Have a read on steeping grain, have a crack at it, then next time maybe look at yeast & temp control. Before you know it you'll have a much better brew than just your standard K&K.

Fair enough.

I already did the tempmate thing, so i've got that bit sorted :icon_cheers:

 

[bum]

It can be as complicated or as simple as you want to make it. This is a good starting point: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...;showarticle=80 but there is plenty of good stuff (and maybe not so good, so do your research well) around the board. That link really is the whole idea in a nutshell though. Simple as.

Ignoring the hops and cocoa powder steps of the above recipes, as complicated as they may look there really is only one added process to what you're currently doing. Give one of the simpler looking recipes a go and you really will see a pay off for the small amount of extra effort. It does increase the cost a bit but you'll taste every cent and more.

Oh yeah, the only thing you need to be aware of is that when you buy your grain be sure to ask for it to be milled. These grains need to be cracked open to release the beery goodness. Every supplier should do this for you for free and if they won't, again, perhaps there are better places you could be spending your money.

Good luck with it.

 

[Fourstar]

Well that's me told then! Thanks for your honesty.
I stand by my original assertion that I only want to go one step at a time ... so perhaps i'll be looking up a bit of grain steeping technique then.

Hi Shed,

The recipe i have noted is probabaly one of the simplest as all you have todo is steep some grain.

An easy way todo it is get your crushed grain, dump it into a grainbag/cheesecloth/hopsock and steep this like a teakbag in 70deg water in the biggest pot you have at home. agitate as often as possible to try and get maximum extraction and after around 15 mins simply draw this up, throw it away and boil off the liquor.

That liquor is basically the essence of the gods. It will bring your brewing to a whole new level. There is nothing better than the flavours you get from fresh grain. Once its ben steeped, boil this liquid for 15 mins to hill off any bugs in the grain (lactobacillus is very prominent in grain and you dont want that in your fermenter.)

once its boiled, you can chill it down in the sink (covered) with some cold water to take the edge off it and bring it down to body temp/ambient. simply add this to your fermetner along with your kit and DME, topup to your desired volume and pitch your yeast and away you go.

Will be the best beer you have made to date. i can guarantee you (others will agree).


Basically if you know how to make a cup of tea, you can steep grain. Its not rocket science, it just extends your brewday by an hour or so. :icon_cheers:

 

[Dazza_devil]

It's not so bad or difficult jumping in at the deep end, I did and never looked back.
Everything you need to know is here and there's always someone willing to help.

 

[Fourstar]

Everything you need to know is here and there's always someone willing to help.

Or bitch at you.

 

[bum]

It is called "tough love".

Which is one letter different than what you get from the taxi drivers of Bendigo.

 

[Shed101]

It's not so bad or difficult jumping in at the deep end, I did and never looked back.
Everything you need to know is here and there's always someone willing to help.

Ah, thanks guys, I'm touched ... it's like a support group, but one where we don't have to look at anyone's ugly faces. :icon_vomit:

(now i've just got to decide on which brew to try ... eeny, meany, miny, mo ...)

 

[bum]

(now i've just got to decide on which brew to try ... eeny, meany, miny, mo ...)

My two cents, for what it's worth (about two cents, usually), they all look good but for simplicity's sake you can exclude Boagsy and L_Bomb's for the time being because they rely on bittering hop additions and since you're not looking at using hops right now they wouldn't quite work the same without it. You could omit the hops (goldings) from petesbrew's recipe and still turn out a nice beer. Fourstars is good to go right out of the box. On paper the only thing splitting those two recipes is that Fourstar's would be a little fuller in most ways. A bit roastier, a bit sweeter, a bit more body. Not necessarily either a good thing or a bad thing - just up to your preference. In terms of keeping things closer to your current experience petesbrew's would be closest but the difference is not huge. HomeBrewer79's suggestions are good too but maybe liquid yeasts are for the next brew or something?

 

[Fourstar]

My two cents, for what it's worth (about two cents, usually), they all look good but for simplicity's sake you can exclude Boagsy and L_Bomb's for the time being because they rely on bittering hop additions and since you're not looking at using hops right now they wouldn't quite work the same without it. You could omit the hops (goldings) from petesbrew's recipe and still turn out a nice beer. Fourstars is good to go right out of the box. On paper the only thing splitting those two recipes is that Fourstar's would be a little fuller in most ways. A bit roastier, a bit sweeter, a bit more body. Not necessarily either a good thing or a bad thing - just up to your preference. In terms of keeping things closer to your current experience petesbrew's would be closest but the difference is not huge. HomeBrewer79's suggestions are good too but maybe liquid yeasts are for the next brew or something?

Ass with all of my recommendations for partials/kits they are always a dumbed down AG recipe.

Petes recipe is more a tricked up kit, mines a tricked down AG.

Either way, i build my recipes for partials using a kit to sub out hops+base grain or DME/LME to cover base grains and add your own hop additions. I never build recipes to complement the kit and help the kit shine. I always use the kit to complement the grain/hops etc. As most of your flavour is going to come fo the grain and hops you add and not the bog standard ISO hop tin, i find thats the best approach to getting more flavour into your beer. :icon_cheers:

 

[Shed101]

It's all looking good.

... but what about this Coopers ESB fourstar mentioned? I don't see any sign of a Coopers ESB kit