Does anyone have a recipe for a partial mash of Saranac's excellent Caramel
Porter? A friend would like to brew somethng similar if there is a recipe
floating around.

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:55:28 -0500, "\"Rev Dr\" Lenny Flank"
<lflank@ij.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 23:34:54 GMT, "Raider7" <petrin@snet.net> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>Does anyone have a recipe for a partial mash of Saranac's excellent Caramel
>>Porter? A friend would like to brew somethng similar if there is a recipe
>>floating around.[/color]
>
>
>I'm just a newbie, but I have been brewing the John Bull no-boil
>"Master Class" Porter kit, and it's pretty darn good.
>[/color]

What is the process for a "no boil" kit?

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:55:28 -0500, "\"Rev Dr\" Lenny Flank"
<lflank@ij.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 23:34:54 GMT, "Raider7" <petrin@snet.net> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>Does anyone have a recipe for a partial mash of Saranac's excellent Caramel
>>Porter? A friend would like to brew somethng similar if there is a recipe
>>floating around.[/color]
>
>
>I'm just a newbie, but I have been brewing the John Bull no-boil
>"Master Class" Porter kit, and it's pretty darn good.[/color]

"no boil" had me going - I was wondering how one gets the malt extract
dissolved and mixed. From what I read, the idea is to use boiling
water to dissolve the concentrated wort, or heat the mixture to 160 to
mix it.

So basically you just throw a couple of cans of hopped extract into a
large pot and mix it hot water and without grains, or hops?

I read one of your earlier posts saying the beer was great. How was
the body, head, color? What commercial beer did it taste like?

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 10:14:00 -0500, default <none@defaulter.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:55:28 -0500, "\"Rev Dr\" Lenny Flank"
><lflank@ij.net> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 23:34:54 GMT, "Raider7" <petrin@snet.net> wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>>Does anyone have a recipe for a partial mash of Saranac's excellent Caramel
>>>Porter? A friend would like to brew somethng similar if there is a recipe
>>>floating around.[/color]
>>
>>
>>I'm just a newbie, but I have been brewing the John Bull no-boil
>>"Master Class" Porter kit, and it's pretty darn good.[/color]
>
>"no boil" had me going - I was wondering how one gets the malt extract
>dissolved and mixed. From what I read, the idea is to use boiling
>water to dissolve the concentrated wort, or heat the mixture to 160 to
>mix it.
>
>So basically you just throw a couple of cans of hopped extract into a
>large pot and mix it hot water and without grains, or hops?[/color]



Yep, that's the process. Everything (malt, hops, grain, adjuncts,
whatever) is already mixed into a sticky goo that looks like syrup,
and comes in a big metal can. They've already boiled it at the
factory, so the idea is that it's already bacteria-free, and has
already had the bittering hops extracted, the grain steeped, and the
finishing hops added. So there's no need to boil it any further or
add anything else.

To brew, I put the can into a pan of hot water to warm it (makes the
goo runnier and easier to pour), pour it into a pot with two gallons
of hot water (stirring so it all dissolves), pour that into the
fermentor, and add enough cold water to fill the fermentor and cool
the wort. During this time, the yeast has been poured into a cup of
warm water, and gets pitched -- gee, I feel like an expert, using all
this jargon ;> -- as soon as the wort has cooled enough.
I've been told not to trust the yeast that comes with it, so I had a
few fresh packets handy just in case, but I didn't have any trouble
with the supplied yeast. Put on the fermentor lid, insert the
bubbler, and let the little yeasties do their thing. :>

I chose it for my first batch because it was the simplest process to
follow (I'm, uh, not much of a cook -- if it weren't for my microwave
I'd have starved long ago. My girlfriend basically refuses to eat
anything that I've cooked beyond instant rice.)

It's kind of cheating, I guess --- sort of like "instant beer -- just
add water !!!". But hey, like I said, I think it's pretty darn good.

But then, perhaps if I tried an extract or all-grain porter, the
no-boil stuff wouldn't seem so darn good after all . . . . ;>


[color=blue]
>I read one of your earlier posts saying the beer was great. How was
>the body, head, color? What commercial beer did it taste like?[/color]


The body and color were just fine. A little lighter than Guinness,
but not as much body. The head was a little weak, but that was
because I added a bit less priming sugar than I should have -- I'll
correct that error next time. But then, it's a British ale and is
supposed to be a bit less carbonated than American beer anyway.

It was like I remember Yeungling Porter being, but a little less
"sweet" (your caramel porter might also be a bit sweeter). But that
may (or may not) have something to do with the fact that I shorted the
priming sugar by about a quarter-cup.

I'm happy with it and will stick with it, at least until the urge to
mess around with hops and roasted grain becomes too overpowering. :>

My next batch will probably be a no-boil John Bull "American Beer",
for all my friends who don't like dark beers.




============================================
Lenny Flank
"There are no loose threads in the web of life"

Creation "Science" Debunked
[url]http://www.geocities.com/lflank[/url]

My Reptile Page
[url]http://www.geocities.com/lflank/herp.html[/url]

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On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 19:16:00 -0500, "\"Rev Dr\" Lenny Flank"
<lflank@ij.net> wrote:

snip[color=blue][color=green]
>>
>>So basically you just throw a couple of cans of hopped extract into a
>>large pot and mix it hot water and without grains, or hops?[/color]
>
>
>
>Yep, that's the process. Everything (malt, hops, grain, adjuncts,
>whatever) is already mixed into a sticky goo that looks like syrup,
>and comes in a big metal can. They've already boiled it at the
>factory, so the idea is that it's already bacteria-free, and has
>already had the bittering hops extracted, the grain steeped, and the
>finishing hops added. So there's no need to boil it any further or
>add anything else.
>
>To brew, I put the can into a pan of hot water to warm it (makes the
>goo runnier and easier to pour), pour it into a pot with two gallons
>of hot water (stirring so it all dissolves), pour that into the
>fermentor, and add enough cold water to fill the fermentor and cool
>the wort. During this time, the yeast has been poured into a cup of
>warm water, and gets pitched -- gee, I feel like an expert, using all
>this jargon ;> -- as soon as the wort has cooled enough.
>I've been told not to trust the yeast that comes with it, so I had a
>few fresh packets handy just in case, but I didn't have any trouble
>with the supplied yeast. Put on the fermentor lid, insert the
>bubbler, and let the little yeasties do their thing. :>
>
>I chose it for my first batch because it was the simplest process to
>follow (I'm, uh, not much of a cook -- if it weren't for my microwave
>I'd have starved long ago. My girlfriend basically refuses to eat
>anything that I've cooked beyond instant rice.)
>
>It's kind of cheating, I guess --- sort of like "instant beer -- just
>add water !!!". But hey, like I said, I think it's pretty darn good.
>
>But then, perhaps if I tried an extract or all-grain porter, the
>no-boil stuff wouldn't seem so darn good after all . . . . ;>
>[/color]
Back when I started brewing, it was either cans or nothing. We bought
the 3.3 or 4 pound cans and added sugar or doubled up on cans for a 5
gallon batch. The stuff we got was hopped and I don't think there was
much in the way of hops available at the local shop.

I do know the cans that stayed on my shelf for a year or so, did bulge
a bit - still used the syrup with good results, but it couldn't have
been sterile. We always boiled the canned mixes.

Head formation, body, and retention was always poor in my early brews.
Adding grain changed that, and I've been doing it ever since . . .
ditto adding bittering, flavor, aroma hops.

From there it was a short move to buying malt syrup in 60 pound "head
packs" and then DME in 40-50 pound boxes.

The upside of no-boil would be energy savings, no loss of hop aroma
(assuming John Bull got it right), maybe no chill haze, quick and
easy.

Downside: can't call it your own, can't tweak it, can't get too
emotionally involved with it.

I'm definitely going to give it a try. Truth be told, I miss the old
colorful can labels.

May have to wait for next year. 30 cases in storage, two batches in
the pipe, ingredients for 3 batches on hand, and running low on empty
glass.

In rummaging around amongst the glass, I found a full bottle of porter
with a '95 date on it. One quart green Welch's sparkling grape juice
bottle. It is chilling now . . .[color=blue]
>
>[color=green]
>>I read one of your earlier posts saying the beer was great. How was
>>the body, head, color? What commercial beer did it taste like?[/color]
>
>
>The body and color were just fine. A little lighter than Guinness,
>but not as much body. The head was a little weak, but that was
>because I added a bit less priming sugar than I should have -- I'll
>correct that error next time. But then, it's a British ale and is
>supposed to be a bit less carbonated than American beer anyway.
>
>It was like I remember Yeungling Porter being, but a little less
>"sweet" (your caramel porter might also be a bit sweeter). But that
>may (or may not) have something to do with the fact that I shorted the
>priming sugar by about a quarter-cup.
>
>I'm happy with it and will stick with it, at least until the urge to
>mess around with hops and roasted grain becomes too overpowering. :>
>
>My next batch will probably be a no-boil John Bull "American Beer",
>for all my friends who don't like dark beers.
>[/color]

I didn't know Yeungling made a porter. I've had one of their dark
beers and their lager.

Typically porter is carbonated a less than lighter beers.

On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 09:20:15 -0500, default <none@defaulter.net>
wrote:

[color=blue]
>From there it was a short move to buying malt syrup in 60 pound "head
>packs" and then DME in 40-50 pound boxes.[/color]


Sounds like too much work for me . . . I'm basically lazy. :>

[color=blue]
>The upside of no-boil would be energy savings, no loss of hop aroma
>(assuming John Bull got it right), maybe no chill haze, quick and
>easy.
>
>Downside: can't call it your own, can't tweak it, can't get too
>emotionally involved with it.[/color]


Ah, but I do anyway. I printed out my own bottle labels (I call it
"Viking Piss Porter") and, uh, neglect to mention to all my friends
that it's basically instant beer. :>

If I wanted to, I suppose I could tweak it a little bit by dry-hopping
in the fermentor. . . .

[color=blue]
>I didn't know Yeungling made a porter.[/color]


It was my mainstay back when I lived in Pennsylvania. Here in
Florida, I've never seen it. That's why I began brewing my own. I
refuse to drink the dishwater that Bud and Miller and such try to pass
off as "beer".





============================================
Lenny Flank
"There are no loose threads in the web of life"

Creation "Science" Debunked
[url]http://www.geocities.com/lflank[/url]

My Reptile Page
[url]http://www.geocities.com/lflank/herp.html[/url]

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On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 15:11:30 -0500, "\"Rev Dr\" Lenny Flank"
<lflank@ij.net> wrote:

[color=blue]
>
>Sounds like too much work for me . . . I'm basically lazy. :>
>[/color]

Ah . . . style versus substance. In 15 years of brewing, I've yet to
print a bottle label and probably never will.

The work really isn't much considering the reward, great beer and
satisfaction. Too easy isn't as much fun as a challenge. Same with
cooking, there's satisfaction in mastering all the variables. Science
and art.

I will probably never do full mash brewing, because of cost
(equipment/consumables) and space requirements, but I would like to.

"Anything worth doing, is worth overdoing" Robert Heinlein

On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 08:41:27 -0500, default <none@defaulter.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 15:11:30 -0500, "\"Rev Dr\" Lenny Flank"
><lflank@ij.net> wrote:
>
>[color=green]
>>
>>Sounds like too much work for me . . . I'm basically lazy. :>
>>[/color]
>
>Ah . . . style versus substance. In 15 years of brewing, I've yet to
>print a bottle label and probably never will.[/color]



Well, now that I'm making more than one type of beer, it helps tell
what's inside the bottle. :>

And it was fun designing the labels.


[color=blue]
>The work really isn't much considering the reward, great beer and
>satisfaction. Too easy isn't as much fun as a challenge. Same with
>cooking, there's satisfaction in mastering all the variables. Science
>and art.[/color]



Well, as I said, I'm a terrible cook.

I'm just looking for a steady supply of porter. ;>





============================================
Lenny Flank
"There are no loose threads in the web of life"

Creation "Science" Debunked
[url]http://www.geocities.com/lflank[/url]

My Reptile Page
[url]http://www.geocities.com/lflank/herp.html[/url]

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----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 10:44:37 -0500, "\"Rev Dr\" Lenny Flank"
<lflank@ij.net> wrote:

snip[color=blue]
>Well, now that I'm making more than one type of beer, it helps tell
>what's inside the bottle. :>[/color]

I used to do ingredient/process cards and slip them into the cases as
I finished. Now my only concession to paperwork is to jot down the
date, type of beer, and anything out of the ordinary I'm experimenting
with.[color=blue]
>
>And it was fun designing the labels.
>
>[/color]
Do you glue the labels to the bottles? Then remove them before
sanitizing? I guess you're on batch 2 so you may not have worked out
a protocol.

I have Word Perfect and Corel Draw, excellent vector drawing programs.
I could enjoy designing labels. Using the labels would seem like
work to me.[color=blue]
>
>Well, as I said, I'm a terrible cook.
>[/color]
So's my wife, but she wants to be a good cook so there's hope.
[color=blue]
>I'm just looking for a steady supply of porter. ;>
>[/color]
As indicated, you are looking for a steady supply of "good" porter.

Had any Taddy's Porter (Sam Smith, England)? That's some exceptional
stuff, in my opinion. All their beers are excellent, but the porter
and imperial stout are exceptional.

I slip 8 ounces of molasses into my porters. I like the flavor it
adds. I used to dissolve some licorice into the wort, but my supply
of the type I used dried up and the stuff in the supermarket has
little flavor. The licorice added some body/head retention as well.

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 11:13:20 -0500, default <none@defaulter.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 10:44:37 -0500, "\"Rev Dr\" Lenny Flank"
><lflank@ij.net> wrote:
>
>snip[color=green]
>>Well, now that I'm making more than one type of beer, it helps tell
>>what's inside the bottle. :>[/color]
>
>I used to do ingredient/process cards and slip them into the cases as
>I finished. Now my only concession to paperwork is to jot down the
>date, type of beer, and anything out of the ordinary I'm experimenting
>with.[/color]



I haven't even been writing the bottling date on the cases --- I just
remember when I bottled it. ;> Hmmm, I should probably not do that
any more . . . .


[color=blue][color=green]
>>
>>And it was fun designing the labels.
>>
>>[/color]
>Do you glue the labels to the bottles? Then remove them before
>sanitizing? I guess you're on batch 2 so you may not have worked out
>a protocol.[/color]



I used waterproof inkjet labels. I can soak the bottles in sanitizer,
labels and all, and they don't run or peel off. So I can re-use them
ad infinitum.


[color=blue]
>
>I have Word Perfect and Corel Draw, excellent vector drawing programs.
>I could enjoy designing labels. Using the labels would seem like
>work to me.[/color]



Well, the only work involved was to design them, print them out, then
sit down with a sixpack and cut them out and stick them on (they
started out going on reasonably straight and even, but alas they got
more and more crooked and uneven as the sixpack got more and more
empty).

I wanted to exercise my artistic bent, so I wanted to make my own
labels. Actually I'm not all that artistic, so I used clip art from
the Web. My "Viking Piss Porter" labels have a shield and crossed
swords on front, a Valkyrie figure on back. My "Ninkasi Ale" labels
(for the 'American' ale I'm bottling today) have a picture of Ninkasi
on front, and a prayer to Ninkasi on back. (Ninkasi, for those who
might not know, is the Sumerian goddess of brewing.)


[color=blue][color=green]
>>Well, as I said, I'm a terrible cook.
>>[/color]
>So's my wife, but she wants to be a good cook so there's hope.
>[color=green]
>>I'm just looking for a steady supply of porter. ;>
>>[/color]
>As indicated, you are looking for a steady supply of "good" porter.
>
>Had any Taddy's Porter (Sam Smith, England)? That's some exceptional
>stuff, in my opinion. All their beers are excellent, but the porter
>and imperial stout are exceptional.[/color]



Alas, I've not been able to find porter of any sort here in Florida.
The closest I can come is Michelob's Amber Bock, which is, I suspect,
nothing but Michelob Light with some caramel coloring added. :<


[color=blue]
>I slip 8 ounces of molasses into my porters. I like the flavor it
>adds. I used to dissolve some licorice into the wort, but my supply
>of the type I used dried up and the stuff in the supermarket has
>little flavor. The licorice added some body/head retention as well.[/color]


Hmm, I'm not so sure about the licorice idea, but I could indeed
experiment a bit with the molasses. Did you put that in post-boil, or
stir it in along with the hops and grains?




============================================
Lenny Flank
"There are no loose threads in the web of life"

Creation "Science" Debunked
[url]http://www.geocities.com/lflank[/url]

My Reptile Page
[url]http://www.geocities.com/lflank/herp.html[/url]

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