11/28/2021 4:21 PM over 3 years ago
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-7 |
Mash Complete |
1.030
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23 Liters |
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78 °C |
11/28/2021 6:45 PM over 3 years ago
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Sweet wort has a great dark colour and rich roasty aroma. Taste strong cocoa notes.
Very happy so far.
Gravity high and volume low - may add some distilled water to the boil.
SG = 1.014 @ 75° adjusted to .034 online. Actual measurement after cooling =.030 |
11/28/2021 6:48 PM over 3 years ago
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-7 |
Boil Complete |
1.040
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18 Liters |
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11/28/2021 6:48 PM over 3 years ago
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Colour taste and aroma are great.
Added approx 2l distilled water partway through boil |
12/5/2021 1:03 AM over 3 years ago
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+0 |
Racked |
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12/8/2021 9:55 PM over 3 years ago
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*Racking*
Transferred to serving keg, adding priming sugar and gelatine finings.
Conditioning at approx 14° without blowoff.
*Sample*
Somewhat aggressive dark malt flavours, overly thin. Malt and overall flavour profile would benefit from toffee / biscuit.
Some sour taste, probably from yeast in suspension.
Hops flavours need a little additional freshness - lemon or citrus would also help bring out the orange/marmelade notes.
Overall orange-cocoa flavour of the wort has dropped out significantly. |
12/8/2021 10:30 PM over 3 years ago
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+3 |
Sample |
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12/8/2021 10:30 PM over 3 years ago
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Head: At present nicely carbonated, slightly low of perfect but good head formation and retention.
Colour: Pretty dark for a porter. Definitely need to review SRM prediction for this one - could go a lot lighter and that would probably improve on taste imperfections too.
Mouthfeel: noticeably thicker, contributing a lot to the overall balance, which is much improved. Didn't take SG, possibly its the priming sugar.
Aroma: Very pleasant, fresh aroma. Can smell yeast. Hops like fresh grass and herbs, with a good amount of spice. Overall very inviting.!
Taste: Taste much fuller and better balanced than before. Hop flavour of marmelade or bitter orange is predominant and quite possibly too strong - actually maybe that explains the sourness? There is a very noticeable sour-burnt aftertaste halfway through the beer, which is definitely too unpleasant for many palates. The sourness has a strong cherry taste which shines through after the initial marmelade/bitter orange. The flavour hops and roasted malts should both be reined in by a good 20 - 50%, and I think we might have a winner. Lets also see what happens with a longer conditioning - that's a promising note!
I still think a bit of biscuit would help, as might a touch of caramel. Both should be pretty restrained, caramel may or may not work. Maybe a bit of ruby-type malt would work instead of both? And/or something from the Empire Ale/Monroe/Barba Rossa mix? A rounder cherry note could work really well, even together with the biscuit and caramel. If it doesn't blur too much together.
Overall I find this a very promising direction for a modern porter, albeit needing taming! The cherry chocolate marmelade combo actually works, and there is a promising hint of biscuit, caramel, or peanutbutter- and honey sandwich, that needs to be pushed up a notch or 2 in volume for this beer to balance out. The existing flavour profile probably needs to be wound back a little, but a really intense porter might be possible by leaving it as is. Lets see what further conditioning does! |
12/10/2021 11:32 AM over 3 years ago
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+5 |
Fermentation Complete |
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12/10/2021 11:32 AM over 3 years ago
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Moving to 11° fridge for 4 week conditioning |