if I were to label my beers.......

What do you think of this one?

porter day 19

I couldn't resist an update.

porter day 13

The porter is in the secondary and should remain there for two weeks before bottling. This will be the last picture until bottling day as there will be no change to the brew as it clarifies.

porter day 12 (racking day)

Well, today I moved the porter into the secondary. What a dark rich smelling brew this one is. I can't even see a one hundred watt bulb shining through this baby! Did I mention I'm excited about this one?

Before racking.


After racking.

porter day 11

I suppose I could rack this today, but I think i'll wait til tomorrow.

porter day 10

Maybe tomorrow I'll chuck this one over to the secondary.

porter day 9

It might be a couple days before I rack this one into the secondary.

porter day 8

Anybody getting sick of this yet! The bubbles in the airlock are starting to slow down. Oh by the way Ann, I think I know where your ice skates are.

porter day 7

I'm picking up a hint of ripe bananas from the jug. The Fink proves it's a new photo.

porter day 6

I swear this is a new picture. I can't wait for this one!

porter day 5

Still bubbling away. It smells really good too!

Porter day 4

The Porter is 0n the fourth day and it is still rolling along. I looks like some of the trub is sitting on the foam. I'm getting a nice hop smell through the airlock.

Porter day 3

I have just moved the Porter to the corner closet where the temp is around 60 degrees. As you can see, the foam is building and it's really churning. It should continue to roll for a couple of days before it flattens.

Porter day 2

It has been about 20 hours since pitching the yeast and the fermentation process is a little slow. The thin layer of foam is nothing to get alarmed about, sometimes they can take up to 48 hours to get rolling. I added a little yeast nutrient and gave the carboy a little shake. The blowoff tube was not needed so I attached the airlock in it's place. We'll see how it looks tomorrow.

Anatomy of a Porter

I just decided to take a trip through homebrewing using pictures. Kick back and enjoy the show.


Here the beer is boiling in the kettle. Contents: H2O, specialty grains, Malted Barley, Hops (3/4 oz. 60 min., 1 oz. 1min.), and Irish Moss (clarifier) 15min.
The specialty grains are steeped in one and one half gallon of water at 150 degrees for 15 min. and added to boiling water to reach 6 gallons. After boil is reached the fermentables are added (malt) as well as the bittering hops for a full 60 min. boil. Irish Moss is added with 15 min. left in the boil, with the aroma hops chucked in the last 1 min.
Unfermented beer is called Wort. Different grains, malts, hops, and yeast can be used to create many styles of Ale.



After a 60 min. boil the Wort cooled using an immersion chiller (made of coiled copper tubing) that has cold water through. When the Wort is cooled to 70 - 75 degrees it is poured into the fermentor and the the yeast is added. After the yeast is Pitched, the fermentor is shaken vigorously to create oxygen for the yeast to thrive. The fermentor is then placed in a dark area at room temperature to allow the yeast to activate, and the top is fixed with a blow-off tube to allow the initial foam to escape. This foam is called kreausen.






to be continued......................

No. 10 bottled

No. 10 of 2006the Nut Brown is in the bottles. I came up with 48 bottles of the dark nutty brew, and it looks good. Between the Irish Draught and Moose Drool we're down to about a twelve pack in the fridge to last three weeks. Looks like we'll have to support the local liquor store.
After viewing some of the discussions on the Northern Brewer message forum I've gotten a hankering to try some of the Micro Brews out these days.
Some of the breweries I'd like to try:
New Belgium
Bell's
Trader Joe's - Not a brewer, but brewed for them
If anyone has tried any of these or other interesting brews, leave your comments.

Hey Porter!

I just ordered a new beer kit. St. Paul Porter is it's name, and it promises to be a rich, dark, nutty brew. This will be my first porter so let's keep our fingers crossed. Tomorrow the Nut Brown gets bottled so if anyone is town they can swing by for a cold homebrew and a bottling lesson.