Michelob Porter

A couple of months ago, Anheuser-Busch had a promotion on Michelob, which consisted of a $15.00 rebate if you bought 4 six-packs. Now, I'm not a huge fan of A-B, and I rarely buy 6-packs, but this promotion appealed to my inner cheapskate. (My family would tell you that I don't have an inner cheapskate. It's very much out in the open. But I digress...) At any rate, a rebate of more than 50% got my attention, so I bought the four sixers, just to see what they're doing at A-B these days. To be honest, I'm kinda impressed. First off, I did not get my usual A-B headache from any of the Michelob varieties I have tried. Secondly, these beers are pretty good. Tonight's beer was Michelob Porter. Anyone that's read this blog for a while knows that Porter is my favorite beer style, which is why I named my dog Porter. Michelob's version of a Porter is nicely roasty, and quite dry. It has some chocolate flavor, but not sweet chocolate. It's probably a bit more carbonated than it should be, but it wasn't distracting. It poured a deep brown, with a small cream-colored head that dissipated pretty quickly. I enjoyed this beer, and I'm not concerned about having a full six-pack of it. The best part of this whole Michelob experiment is that the company was very prompt in getting my rebate to me. Kudos to Anheuser-Busch. I have a number of other varieties I'll be talking about in the near future.

Brewing Today

Since my Vanilla Porter didn't turn out the way that I had hoped - it had very little Vanilla flavor, and tasted more like a brown ale than a Porter - I decided to try brewing another Porter today. This time, I went for a Robust style Porter, with lots of roasted and chocolate malt. It's in the fermenter now, with the yeast doing its magic. The Vanilla Porter I brewed a few months ago has improved with age, but just doesn't taste like a Porter. It's drinkable, but not what I was hoping for. Maybe this one will make me proud.

Great Divide Brewing - Saint Bridget's Porter

Today I tried my first beer from Great Divide Brewing In Denver, CO - Saint Bridget's Porter. Saint Bridget is a patron Saint of Ireland, and the story goes that she turned her bathwater to beer in order to provide it to lepers and clerics. The story doesn't say that the beer was a Porter. At any rate, Saint Bridget's Porter is in the Robust style, full of coffee and chocolate goodness. It poured a deep brown - not quite black - with a half-inch tan head. Mouthfeel was decidedly creamy and rich. This was a great introduction to Great Divide's family of beers. I'll be investigating others in the future!

I'm back

2009 has started off more difficult than I expected, which explains why I haven't blogged in a while. I kinda lost interest in it. Back on January 17th, my family had to make one of the hardest decisions we've faced in a long time. A week prior, our favorite dachshund Porter injured his back, paralyzing his front legs. We spent a week trying to nurse him back to health, but it wasn't to be. We had him put to sleep to prevent him from suffering any more pain. He was the best dog ever, and we cherish the 9 years we had with him. Needless to say, blogging immediately went to the bottom of my list of priorities. The pain has lessened somewhat, but some reminders still bring tears to our eyes.

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

Tonight I tried a beer style I have not tasted before - an Imperial Porter. I'm not sure if Flying Dog invented this style, but their Gonzo Imperial Porter is the first one I have ever tried. I guess the 9.2% abv is what makes it Imperial. It poured an opaque black, with ruby highlights and a finger-tall brown head. The aroma is chocolate, while the flavor is chocolate, coffee, licorice and sweet highly-roasted malt. The finish is chocolate too, with some alcohol warming, and very little hop presence. This is a great beer for the colder months. Chalk up another excellent brew for Flying Dog.

Homebrewed Vanilla Porter - 1st Taste Test

Tonight I celebrated being back home from my business trip by popping the top of my homebrewed Vanilla Porter. It's probably too early to drink it, but I'm impatient when it comes to my homebrew. It poured a ruby-tinged black color with a big chocolate-milk colored head. I tried this beer before I bottled it and was disappointed by the lack of vanilla flavor, so I added some vanilla extract to each bottle. It doesn't seem to have helped. I didn't discern any vanilla flavor in this bottle. The Porter turned out more fruity than it should be for the style, which doesn't surprise me because of the temperatures I was fighting at the time it was fermenting. All my homebrews improve over time, so I hope that this one will as well. It is definitely not my worst effort, but I have made better. I'll report on it again as I let it age some more.

Another Day of Brewing

Things have been a bit lax around my home brewery lately. Jobs and life seem to have gotten in the way of conscientious brewing. Yesterday, my wife and I finally bottled my Vanilla Bean Porter, after a month in the fermenter. It should be ready just in time for Thanksgiving. I tasted the uncarbonated beer as we prepared to bottle it, and found that it didn't have the vanilla flavor I was looking for, so I added some vanilla extract to each bottle. Hopefully, I didn't go overboard. We also bottled our Florida Pyment, made from Muscadine grapes, which are native to the Sunshine State, and Orange Blossom honey. It's aging beautifully.

Every year I brew a special holiday beer, something with lots of alcohol and lots of body. Last year it was my Winter Warmer, brewed with dates and lots of spices. This year, I decided to brew a Spiced Bourbon Imperial Stout. It started fermenting within hours of pitching the yeast, and it's still going strong. I created the recipe by combining a couple of recipes from two different books I have, and then tweaked it some more. I expect that it will be black as ink, with a full body and about 10% alcohol. I hope it's ready for Christmas, but I have my doubts. I'll be reporting on it when I'm finally able to crack the top on the first one. In the mean time, my Porter should be ready in about 2 weeks. Stay tuned.

Darwin Brewery's Original Flag Porter

Darwin Brewery is located in Durham, England and they have won numerous awards for this Porter. The Porter was created from a 19th century recipe, and was brewed using yeast from vessels of beer found in a salvaged ship that had sunk in the English Channel, back in 1825. Isn't that a great story? The beer poured a nearly black color, with ruby highlights. The pencil-thin head vanished pretty rapidly. The aroma is sweet toffee, and the flavor is mostly milk chocolate, dark roasted malt and coffee. It's almost stout-like. It has low carbonation, and a medium body. The alcohol level is at 5%, which is perfect for a Porter. I really liked this beer, and the brewery's done a good job with their antique yeast.

Today's a Brew Day! Vanilla Bean Porter!

It's been too long since I last brewed, and I'm late for getting my Halloween beer done, but I think I'll be just in time for Thanksgiving with the beer I brewed today. It's a Vanilla Bean Porter using real vanilla beans rather than extract. I'll post the recipe when it's all finished - just in case it's undrinkable. I'd hate to have someone follow my recipe only to discover the beer is terrible. I don't expect that to happen, but I'm just being cautious. Here's a pic of it boiling away in the pot.

I decided to soak the vanilla beans in some Jim Beam bourbon, to help "extract" the vanilla flavor. I think the bourbon will give the beer an extra-interesting little kick too. I put the bourbon in with the vanilla beans, and it's amazing how powerful the vanilla aroma is after a couple of hours of soaking.


I'm really looking forward to this recipe. I originally planned to make a Butternut squash Porter for Thanksgiving, but I got lazy. Thinking about having to cut it up, boil it, and then adding it to the wort convinced me to re-think my plans. I've been wanting to make a vanilla-infused brew for a while, so this was the perfect time.

My Apricot Witbier is carbonating now, so I'll be reporting on that in the near future. I'll be popping the cap on the first one next weekend. Stay tuned.

Flying Dog Road Dog Porter

Here's another beer left over from my birthday party - Flying Dog's Road Dog Porter. At one time, this beer was described as Scottish Porter, but the "Scottish" seems to have been dropped from the name. I think it's the same beer. It's been a while since I've had this, and I'd forgotten what it tasted like. I was anticipating a deep rich chocolatey roasty porter, but this is not that beer. It was very subdued, with very little roasted malt flavor. The body was a bit thin for a Porter. It poured a deep ruby-brown color, and had a rapidly disappearing head. Overall, I was a bit underwhelmed. It wasn't "bad", just so-so.

SURPRISE!!

Today started out as a pretty normal Sunday, except that my sister and brother-in-law are down from New York, on vacation. Being a good sister, she brought me some Saranac, and some beer from a brewery I was unfamiliar with - Otter Creek Brewing, which is in Vermont. We ate a late breakfast, and had plans to do an early dinner at my daughter's house, so my sister could see her niece's new home. I decided to go do some shopping, in preparation for my 50th birthday, which is coming up in a week, so my sister and her husband and I jumped in the car and took a ride. Our shopping trip ended just in time to get to my daughter's home at the designated time. I knocked on the door, and as I was let into the house - SURPRISE!! My family had thrown me a surprise birthday party for my 50th. I was floored! Totally clueless! I never suspected a thing. It was a great party, with good friends and family, lots of good food, and plenty of good beer. I was touched that they had planned this for me, and I had a great time. When I knew I would be just in time for "dinner", I asked my wife to bring one of the new Otter Creek beers with her to go along with my meal. So the first beer I had was Otter Creek's Stovepipe Porter, a roasty robust version of the style. I then switched to Flying Dog's Snake Dog - a very snappy, hoppy IPA. I cut myself off at 3 beers, so I picked a classic - Samuel Adams Boston Lager. I think this is one of the best lagers on the planet. The time flew by, the party ended, and I think everyone left smiling. I had a great early birthday! And now I know why my wife wanted me to get a haircut!

Mad River Steelhead Scotch Porter

Mad River Brewing Co. is located in Blue Lake, CA and they make a number of beers with the "Steelhead" moniker. This is their Scotch Porter, and it's a tasty one. It poured a deep brown with a small tan head, which left lacing down the entire glass. There was a lot of sediment in the glass, so I think it may be bottle-conditioned. This is a roasty Robust Porter, with lots of chocolate flavor, some vanilla, and even some licorice. I also detected the mild smokiness of the peat-smoked barly they used. This is a great Porter - and isn't that a purty label too?

Brewing Day today!

Today was another brewing day. I've been trying to escalate my brewing frequency because I like to have a lot of homebrew selection when I go to the beer fridge. I was down to just a couple of varieties, so I needed to step it up. Today I bottled my Scottish Ale, after giving it a taste test from the fermenter. It tasted awesome, even without carbonation. I'm not sure I'll be able to wait the two weeks for it to carbonate. Bottling time is always fun because when our two dachshunds notice we're bottling, they stand under the fermenter, hoping to catch any errant drips (which are never in short supply). I've mentioned our one dachshund, Porter in earlier posts, but we also have a second one, a female named Penny (due to her copper coloring). The two dogs spend our bottling time trying to see who can get to the beer drips first. Invariably, one of them ends up licking beer off the top of the other ones head. It turns into a zoo.

While we bottled the Scottish Ale (which is actually probably closer to a Wee Heavy due to its alcohol content), I had my next beer boiling on the stove. I made a Belgian style Wit beer, with the addition of some fresh apricots we got at the local farmer's market. It's in the fermenter, and hopefully by tomorrow it will be bubbling away. It's probably a little late to be making a summer beer, but with the climate here in Florida, I don't pay much heed to the season. I already have my next two beers planned out - one for fall, and one for winter. I'll be making a butternut squash porter for Octoberfest, and a Spiced Imperial Stout for Christmas. I'll be posting about them when I'm able to taste them for the first time. In the mean time, my wife and I will be brewing again tomorrow, making an all-Florida mead with Orange blossom honey and muscadine grape juice. Technically, it's called a pyment, which is a mead made with grape juice along with the honey. Muscadine grapes are native to Florida, and we bought a bunch of juice at the local winery, specifically for this purpose.

With dinner tonight, I opened another bottle of my Maple Wheat that I brewed a while back, and it is mellowing nicely. I probably won't make it again, because there are too may other beers I want to make, but if I did, I would lay back a little on the maple syrup. It really kicked up the alcohol level, and I'm getting too old for that. We also sampled our metheglin again, to see how it's aging, and it's becoming really smooth. I'm not sure there will be much left by the time Christmas rolls around.

Since I've put some pics of Porter up here already, I guess I should give Penny some exposure too. So here's a pic of both dogs. Dachshunds are great dogs!

Style Profile - Porter

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that Porter is one of my favorite styles of beer. I even named my dog Porter. The Porter style seems to have come into existence in the late 1600's or early 1700's in London. The story goes that it was named after the customers who preferred this dark style of ale - the porters at London's Victoria Station. It was originally brewed using brown malt, which was kilned over wood, giving the resulting ale a smokey flavor. Porter is now brewed with a lot of different grains, adjuncts and flavorings, but it is still basically a dark ale. It is a top-fermented beer, so it's a true ale. There are 3 basic forms of Porter - Brown, Robust and Baltic.

Brown Porter is the lightest of the three varieties, and generally has an alcohol content of 4-6%. Brown Porter is still more popular in England than in the US. It is light brown to dark brown in color and has almost no hop character. It will be light to medium in body. It may have a very light roastiness to it, possibly accompanied by some biscuit or chocolate notes. Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter is a good example of this style.

Robust Porter is a later development, and is Brown Porter's bigger, stronger brother. It's more popular in the US than in England. American brewers are always pushing the limits, and their Robust Porter varieties are a good example. We use everything from Maple syrup to Vanilla to flavor our Robust Porters. A Robust Porter usually is stronger than the brown variety, with an alcohol level of 5-7%. It is also darker, and roastier than it's little brother, with more hop presence. It is usually dark brown to almost black. Black patent malt is one of the ingredients common in this version of Porter. Anchor Brewing makes a good example of a Robust Porter.

The final version of Porter that I will mention is Baltic Porter. A Baltic Porter generally comes from one of the countries bordering the Baltic sea, such as Poland, Latvia, or Lithuania. Of course, there are some American brewers who are copying this version of Porter as well. Baltic Porters seem to have been influenced by Imperial Stouts, since they are bigger and sweeter than Brown or Robust Porters. A Baltic Porter may have a wine-like character, due to its higher alcohol levels - up to 10%. It will have very little hop flavor, and may be heavy in chocolate and sweet malt character. Like the Robust Porter, it is also very dark in color, possibly black with ruby highlights. Zywiec Porter, from Poland, is one of the better known Baltic Porters. Utenos and Aldaris are two other Baltic Porters.

Finally, here is a gratuitous picture of my Dachshund, Porter who hasn't got a clue about the origin of his name.

Saranac Caramel Porter from F.X. Matt

I was very upset to learn that a fire had damaged the F.X. Matt Brewery in Utica, NY back in May of this year. I have a long history of going to the brewery, so it was like a childhood friend had been injured. Fortunately, the fire was in one of the external buildings, not in the main brewhouse itself. It didn't destroy any of the beer in the fermenting tanks. I'm sure it's put a crimp in their production, but it wasn't fatal.

Tonight, I had a bottle of Saranac Caramel Porter, one of the bottles that my sister brought me this past Christmas. It's part of their winter brew assortment. I love a good porter, so I was looking forward to enjoying this with my dinner. It poured a deep chocolate-brown and had a very respectable fluffy tan head. The name of this beer is very appropriate. There is a lot of caramel flavor in there, almost like they added caramel syrup before bottling. There was also some roasted malt flavor, and some chocolate too.

I'm looking forward to my sister's next trip to Florida, hopefully with the Saranac Summer beer assortment this time. Or maybe some of that Pomegranate wheat I've read about - or the Imperial Stout, or the Double IPA, or.....

Orlando Brewing Blackwater Dry Porter

Tonight, I tried another brew from Orlando Brewing Partners - their Blackwater Dry Porter. This beer is almost black, with a small tan colored head. The first thing I noticed about this beer was the rich creamy mouthfeel. This is a dry Porter, just as it's described. It has a lot of coffee flavor from the roasted malts. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Orlando Brewing follows the German Reinheitsgebot, so this beer is made from malt, water, hops and yeast only. I'm impressed with this Porter, much more so than the Pale Ale I tried a while back. Some day, I need to get downtown to the brewery, to see what it's all about. In the mean time, I may just need to sample this beer again.

My Dog "Porter"

As I mentioned in my last post, I named my dog "Porter" after the beer, and because he's black and tan. I know that a black and tan is made with stout, but I didn't think Stout was a very good name for a Dachshund. Porter is a beer-lover himself, but it's a very rare treat for him - usually reserved for when I'm bottling my latest creation, and he's cleaning up the drips on the floor (and only if he can beat our other Dachshund to it). Porter's a great dog, and his name is a pretty subtle beer reference, so we don't get any funny looks when we call him. And it's a lot better than calling him Stout.