Porter Kit Recommendations

[Fourstar]

It's all looking good.

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

Sorry, English Bitter
http://coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/br...s/international

Either way, just use a light coloured kit with the grains ove noted. Anything dark will just be way too robust and possibly even pushing foreign extra stout territory. MUST use a light coloured kit with that amount of grain.

 

[Shed101]

Sorry, English Bitter
http://coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/br...s/international

Either way, just use a light coloured kit with the grains ove noted. Anything dark will just be way too robust and possibly even pushing foreign extra stout territory. MUST use a light coloured kit with that amount of grain.

Phew, that makes more sense, for a minute I thought it was all a joke ... like that bloke that suggested I used parmesan as an adjunct.

 

[Dazza_devil]

Yeah this one I reckon http://store.coopers.com.au/products/home-...home-brew-1-7kg-


There's a big thread on brewing with this kit I think.

 

[Fourstar]

Phew, that makes more sense, for a minute I thought it was all a joke ... like that bloke that suggested I used parmesan as an adjunct.

Haha no worries. As i said, if you cant get the Bitter kit just use any light coloured kit you can find. Even the Coopers pale kit could be used as the base. Something with equal that bitterness basically to keep it in the porter territory. :icon_cheers:

 

[Stagwa]

Hi Shed,

Check this thread out it's a very popular brew on another forum, have a read of the whole thread as there are many variations and tweaks along the way. The recipe is as easy or "complicated" as you want:



Wassa's Honey Porter


I have done a variation of this along these lines:

Makes 20 liters

Cascade Mohogany Porter KitMorgans Dark liquid Extract 1.5Kg tin

200g Steeped Chocolate Malt

500g Capilano honey

10g Cascade boiled for 5 min in the liquor from steeped grain (stood for further 5 min before straining into fermenter)

US05 Yeast (I feel that this yeast will allow you to enjoy the beer in a few weeks)



This was a really nice beer and the variations are endless.



Cheers,

Stagwa

 

[Dazza_devil]

Hi Shed,

Check this thread out it's a very popular brew on another forum, have a read of the whole thread as there are many variations and tweaks along the way. The recipe is as easy or "complicated" as you want:



Wassa's Honey Porter


I have done a variation of this along these lines:

Makes 20 liters

Cascade Mohogany Porter KitMorgans Dark liquid Extract 1.5Kg tin

200g Steeped Chocolate Malt

500g Capilano honey

10g Cascade boiled for 5 min in the liquor from steeped grain (stood for further 5 min before straining into fermenter)

US05 Yeast (I feel that this yeast will allow you to enjoy the beer in a few weeks)



This was a really nice beer and the variations are endless.



Cheers,

Stagwa

If you are gonna use honey, I can't be specific but I remember hearing bad things about the Capilano.
The best honey IMHO would be Tasmania Leatherwood Honey, worth the extra couple of bux and make sure it's fresh.

 

[boingk]

Cascade Mohogany Porter Kit

Thats a very average kit and basically comes out as a dark, relatively flavourless ale. I've done it before with good yeast and other additions and it wasn't awesome, but definitly drinkable.

I'd recommend my standby for darker brews. Its easy and goes down a treat:

1.7kg brew kit (Homebrand Draught/Lager/Real Ale, Coopers Draught/Lager etc)
500g LDME
350g Crystal grain
150g Choc grain
100g Black grain

Then add whatever yeast you feel like (S-04 for Brit traditional style, or US-05 for lighter-bodied higher-alcohol...kit yeast for cheapskates).

I'd actually lean toward the Coopers Real Ale kit as its a slightly more bitter kit...but thats just my preference.

Cheers - boingk

 

[Shed101]

Update time ...

Here's what I did:

Coopers Real Ale
S-05
1kg Dark Dry Malt
300g Choc malt
100g Roast Barley
200g Crystal
OG 1042
FG 1012
Gave it 14 days at 18c then 3 days at 5c, bulk primed to 2.1 CO2

The main thing I learnt along the way is that I need to avoid the 'doughball' when steeping. There's no way I got all the goodness out, colour is a little lighter as a result.

However, the samples I took along the way certainly proved that it's gonna be a tasty beer regardless.

OK, better have a look for another K&E idea....

Cheers

 

[Shed101]

Well, a fortnight is long enough to wait in anyone's book, so i'm having a sup right now.

Really pleased, a massive improvement on my first effort. The Cooper's Real Ale kit seems like a good base to be playing with, especially for the more bitter brews.

Colouring is definitely veering towards a brown porter (probably because I didn't get enough out of the grains)
A little on the bitter side for a porter imho - but that's ok 'cos i like bitter
Likewise the malt is a bit hard to spot.
Surprisingly dry and really pleased with the US-05, no minging aftertastes.
Majorly impressed by the head retention.


The only real downside is the carbonation of 2.1 is too high for my liking, definitely doesn't suit my idea of a porter ... but that's one for experience.

Thanks for all the advice

 

[cosmo]

so you created this brew after doing a intial kit only brew am quite keen already on pushing out from just the kit brews into something a bit more tasty,could you please explain a poter to me. and how you dropped the temp down to 5 c

 

[BjornJ]

As soon as you have gone through a kit beer or two so you understand the process, it is great fun to make it a little more difficult (and rewarding) by adding some grains and maybe some hops.

Bascically beer is made by extracting malt sugar from grains, boiling this sugarwater (wort) with hops to create bittering/flavor and then cool before fermenting with yeast.
If you have done the kits already, you can improve the beer by trying any of the following

-another yeast, different yeasts will give different flavored beer (English, US, belgian, etc)
-add some grains (darker grains for colour and flavour, carapils for better body/foam, etc)
-add more hops (for freshness, more bittering, or just to give it your very own flavour)


All three are easy to play with and a quick search here or on google will get your fingers itching to try something new!

The probably biggest improvement you will make to your beers is when you are able to control the temperature.
Many of us use a fridgemate/tempmate which basically cuts the power to a fridge when the fridge reaches the temperature we want. this makes sure the beer ferments at a temp of our choosing, creating cleaner tasting beer with less "twang".

They look something like this

http://www.beerbelly.com.au/measuring.html or your local homebrew shop.

Next time you are brewing, try steeping some specialty grains to make the beer "unique". It will be a recipe you made up, no one else will have the exact same thing (for better or worse!)
It is as easy as heating some water, dump the grains in and after say 15 mins you get the grains out,. Having the grains in a netting bag makes it easy, some use a coffee plunger. The resulting "grain tea" is added to your fermenter as part of the sugar you would normally add from a box of brewing sugar.

thanks
Bjorn

 

[Shed101]

Top answer Bjorn!

Porter is basically a style of dark coloured ale, named so because it was produced for porters working in London in the 18th century. Some call it a mini-stout.

My Dad's always argued that Porter should be more like a small beer (very low strength for drinking all day while working) than the style guides and most of the brewers make it today (4-6%), but I'm pretty sure he wasn't around in the 18th century.

Have a look at a site like the BJCP style guidelines and you'll find more beer styles than you ever imagined existed... and then you'll be wanting to try making most of them, too :icon_drunk:

 

[manticle]

The resulting "grain tea" is added to your fermenter as part of the sugar you would normally add from a box of brewing sugar.

thanks
Bjorn

Except you should really boil the liquid for a bit of time (at least 10 minutes) as grain contains bugs that can stuff your batch

 

[Shed101]

Except you should really boil the liquid for a bit of time (at least 10 minutes) as grain contains bugs that can stuff your batch

And i suppose if we're getting into the detail, then you need to make sure that the grain has been milled - at the shop, or in a coffee grinder or whatever you have to hand. And then when you steep it you need to make sure the grain gets wet all the way through.

Easy stuff to overlook when you're new to it.

 

[Mickthe]

Some great info supplied from everyone.

My first foray into this style and I made a rookie mistake and it ended up too dark and very much like the dark ale i did the batch prior, i used a dark ale/stout type mix of grain for steeping, and the same S-04 yeast.

I did have some success though in one aspect and that was the addition of some treacle and even though it has ended up being a tad sweet, the beer has a brilliant molasses aftertaste that just needs toning down.

Next time i will be using a lighter base tin, and maybe a liquid english ale yeast.

I am currently brewing only number 12 brew and something i found really effective a couple back was to do a variation of a recipe i didn't quite nail, by extract method, in a half size brew. That way i learned how to make it better by experimentation, and did not have 23 litres of average beer to consume, if it was worse than the first attempt. (That may help someone)

Mick.

 

[Shed101]

Some great info supplied from everyone.

My first foray into this style and I made a rookie mistake and it ended up too dark and very much like the dark ale i did the batch prior, i used a dark ale/stout type mix of grain for steeping, and the same S-04 yeast.

I did have some success though in one aspect and that was the addition of some treacle and even though it has ended up being a tad sweet, the beer has a brilliant molasses aftertaste that just needs toning down.

Would love to read the details of your recipe ... and the one you're planning next

 

[RobboMC]

I created a special Porter to commemorate the birth of my daughter.

Sophie's Special Porter
24 litres abv 5.4%

Muntons Nut Brown Ale kit
2 kg Morgans Caramalt Liquid malt
1 kg Light Liquid malt ( or dry malt extract )
1/2 kg Morgans Dark Crystal Master Blend malt
1/2kg Crystal grain, steeped
1/2 kg Brown grain, steeped

25g Goldings, 45 min boil
25g Goldings, 20min boil
15g Fuggles, 15 min boil
10g Fuggles, 5 min boil

I used the kit yeast, which isn't all that bad.
The result can be seen in my little photo,
sadly Morgans have discontinued the Dark Crystal lme so
you'll have to replace that with about 3/4 kg of Dark Crystal
grain and steep it yourself.

The Muntons kit is costly, but it's all malt, so this beer is sugar free,
I even primed it with dme. At the Bathurst brew comp that year
it only got knocked off in Dark Ale by Robust Porters, so I claim it
was best standard Porter.

 

[Mickthe]

Thanks for that Robbo, looks a goodun!

Shed101 - my recipe that was, well not a disaster, but it was not the brown porter i wanted and was too strong in caramel and molasses flavour (i don't like dessert beer)

Coopers Dark Ale Tin ( too dark :unsure: )
Morgans Caramalt LME
250g Treacle (too sweet/molassesy)
100g Choc Malt
100g Crystal
Late hops 5mins - 25g Styrian Goldings & Fuggles
S-04 Yeast

NEXT brew i will Sub In Lighter Base Tin, US05 yeast and Sub Out Treacle and S-04 Yeast. (These two outs will stay in my Dark Ale recipe which just has Roast Barley instead of crystal, and LDME instead of the Caramalt, and will reduce treacle by 100g)

Mick.

 

[petesbrew]

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:

True poetry, Shed! :icon_chickcheers:

 

[BjornJ]

I want to make a Porter as well and toying with the idea of adding some Treacle.

I put a question up here and most seem to think I should leave the treacle out, that it is more for stouts.
But I have read several places that treacle has been used by British brewers of Porter, so still considering using just a touch of it..

How much is a touch?
250 gr sounds like a lot after tasting the treacle I bought.
I was considering using 50 gr (or just leave it out), do you think 50 gr would be ok or better to just leave it out alltogether?

thanks
Bjorn

Thanks for that Robbo, looks a goodun!

Shed101 - my recipe that was, well not a disaster, but it was not the brown porter i wanted and was too strong in caramel and molasses flavour (i don't like dessert beer)

Coopers Dark Ale Tin ( too dark :unsure: )
Morgans Caramalt LME
250g Treacle (too sweet/molassesy)
100g Choc Malt
100g Crystal
Late hops 5mins - 25g Styrian Goldings & Fuggles
S-04 Yeast

NEXT brew i will Sub In Lighter Base Tin, US05 yeast and Sub Out Treacle and S-04 Yeast. (These two outs will stay in my Dark Ale recipe which just has Roast Barley instead of crystal, and LDME instead of the Caramalt, and will reduce treacle by 100g)

Mick.