Winter porter

Winter is coming. It's a great time to brew a winter ale. My last 2 brews were a Belgian Wit but now it's time to try out some heavier brews. I had a friend's home-brew of a porter and was floored by the flavor. After chatting with some folks at work, I decided to brew this recipe:

• 3lb Porter/Stout liquid extract
• 4lb Dried malt extract (light)
• Safale US-05 dry yeast
• 0.5lb Crystal 60 grains
• 0.25lb Carared grains
• 0.75lb Chocolate grains
• 1oz Willamette hops
• 1oz Nugget hops
• 1 whirloc tablet

I did a mini-mash of the grains at 155F for 30 minutes. OG was 1.056 and my target was 1.06 so it's not too bad. I plan to add vanilla beans during the secondary.

2nd reading of specific gravity

The second reading of final gravity shows it at 1.014, temp around 70. This puts the ABV at 6.04% with 76% attenuation. We are ready for bottling!

Took a gravity reading today. SG is at 1.014.  This puts the beer at about 6.01% (with 76% attenuation for this yeast, thank you starter!).

Belgian Wit Redux, Brew Day

Trying again with the Belgian Wit. This time, I got a bigger kettle (7.5 gal thanks to Elizabeth's Christmas gift!). I've also mashed the grains at 160F (instead of 170F). I also used a yeast starter too. Let's see how it turns out!

Sweet wort after mashing: 1.04 SG. Not bad!

Color is looking good so far!

Sanitizing the wort chiller by submersing in wort during the last 20 minutes of the boil.

In the fermentation bucket. Color looks dark (again). We'll see how the yeast handles it.

OG at 1.06. Nailed it! Hopefully temperature stays around 70F this next couple weeks.

Belgian Wit: First Tasting After 1 Week in the Bottle

• 12/20/14: 1 week after bottling, 3 weeks after brew day
• Color is a golden amber, not too clear (but that's ok for a Wit)
• Very little head
• Smells like hops, sugary
• Missing carbonation
• Young beer -- flavor is there, but almost no carbonation
• Smell some coriander, no orange

Belgian Wit: First Tasting After Bottling for 1 Week and 5 Days

• 1 week 5 days after bottling (3 weeks 5 days of fermenting since brew day)
• Carbonation is better (than 1 week bottling)
• Color is a dark amber, malty
• Head holding better
• Smells malt, wheat
• Tastes like hops (bitterness)
• Under carbonated
• A taste of sweetness
• A hint of coriander, not much taste of the orange

Belgian Wit: Bottle Day

Took another reading on 12/13 and the specific gravity settled to 1.028.