Daily Archive for March 3rd, 2009

Recipe – Vanilla Bean Porter

Published on March 3, 2009 in beer. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Vanilla Bean Porter
The Homebrewing Depot, West Allis, WI

Malt 1: 2 Qts. Amber LME (or 6 lbs of LME)
When I convert from LME to DME, I multiply the LME by .75. Going the other way I multiply the DME by 1.25.

Grain 1: 1 lb. 40L Crystal Malt
Grain 2: 1/2 lb. Chocolate Malt
Grain 3: 1/4 lb. Black Patent

Hop 1: 1 oz Challenger
Hop 2: 1/2 oz. Argentine Cascade

Yeast: Wyeast #1098 British Ale (65-75)

Adjunct 1: 1 Whole Vanilla Bean

Boiling Schedule:
Steep Grains for 30 to 45 minutes in 1.5 gallons of water @ 155-170F. Remove grains. Bring water to a boil. Remove water from heat and mix malts until dissolved. Bring water back to a boil and add Hop 1 @ 60 minutes and Hop 2 @ 10 minutes left in the boil.

Notes:
Transfer to secondary fermenter after 7-10 days. Split vanilla bean length wise and add to the secondary fermenter for 10 days. Bottle with 1.25 cups of wheat DME or .75 cups of corn sugar. Bottle condition for 2-3 weeks.

Recipe – Goosebrau

Published on March 3, 2009 in beer. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Goosebrau (Lakefront Brewery Riverwest Stein clone)
Frugal Homebrewer, Waukesha, WI

Grains + Hops: 4# John Bull Lager extract kit

Malt 1: 3# LME

Yeast: Dry (can’t remember type)

Boiling Schedule:
Bring water to a boil. Remove water from heat and mix malts until dissolved. Bring water back to a boil and add kit and malt extracts and boil for 30 minutes.

Notes:
Two weeks in primary. Bottle with 1.25 cups of wheat DME or .75 cups of corn sugar. Bottle condition for 2-3 weeks.

Vanilla Bean Porter – tasting (part deux)

Published on March 3, 2009 in beer. 0 Comments Tags: , .

After waiting roughly 3 weeks more for my beer to condition, I’m happy to post that my results were positive. I brought the bottles upstairs into warmer conditions. I belive that, with the extra time allowed the priming sugar to do its job.

The beer was sitting in about 59 degrees while in the basement. The temp upstairs was averaging about 63 degrees (we keep our home cool).

There is a nice head to the beer and actually a lot better taste. I’m very please with my first porter considering the errors that I’ve noted on this beer. The alcohol feels very light but since I never took an OG reading, my only gage is “am I feelin’ it?”. I’d definately brew this again and I know that I could provide a better batch by avoiding some growing pain mistakes.