Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

I've mostly worn out the selection of micro and craft beers at State Liquors, so I drove the exra two miles down to Mass Liquors.  The week before Halloween a guy I know picked up a rather impressive collection of pumpkin beers at Mass, so I've been interested in seeing their selection for a while now.  I must say, viewing it was a little like having a religious experience.  I've tended so far to stick to State because they are near by and they don't give me any hassle about using my passport (MA state law prohibits buying alcohol with an out of state ID), like some other stores in Worcester do.  Now I regret not branching out earlier.  Mass Liquors has the largest selection of craft and microbrews that I've seen yet (granted, I've not been to too many stores).  I picked up a 4-pack of Flying Dog's limited run Gonzo Imperial Porter--made in honor of Hunter S. Thomson--and a 22oz bottle of Smuttynose's Scotch Ale.  I had a taste of Founder's Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale last week at the Armsby Abby and I am seriously considering making a scotch ale for my next project.  The 22oz bottle is more than this little lady is willing to tackle by herself, so it will have to wait until I have someone to drink it with.

The porter on the other hand, is the reason for this post.  First off, it's not really a porter.  Porters are the precursers to stouts, which were originally called 'stout porters.'  Stouts generally have more body and alcohol than porters, and this beer has got a fair amount of both.  The first thing I noticed when I poured this out, was the dark black color and the creamy, brown head.  The aroma is very hoppy, owing, as the website says, to it being "dry hopped with a shit load of cascade hops."  The beer has a complex malty flavor with bitter chocolate undertones and a nice bitter bite from the hops to finish it.  I love dark, bitter beers, so I am giving the Gonzo Imperial Porter two thumbs up.  However, if you are not a fan of dark, flavor-intense beers, this beer probably won't be the one to convert you.

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I have an oatmeal stout sitting in my secondary right now.  I'll probably try to bottle it this weekend, assuming I have the time and help from my friends.  I had a taste of it when I racked it from the primary bucket and the hops were way too sharp.  I plan to let it mellow in bottles for at least a month, if not longer.  Hopefully the hop taste will back down and let the chocolate malts come to the fore.  I can't wait to taste it, yum!

I also have a cranberry hefeweizen in my primary bucket.  The airlock didn't move for two days, which worried me.  When I fiddled with it, it started bubbling like crazy, so I guess the rubber ring around the airlock tube is letting air in.  That's pretty frustrating.  I like brewing in plastic, because it's light weight and easy to clean.  It does have major draw-backs, like being non-airtight and opaque so I can't see what's going on inside.  Maybe if I can grab a carboy or two from my parent's house, I'll start brewing in glass.  I just don't want to shell out the money for them right now.

Wicked Grin Pumpkin Ale

Beer number two in honor of Halloween.  It has a beautiful, clear amber color and a light, sparkling carbonation.  This time around I boiled the priming sugar with two cups of water before adding it to the bottling bucket.  Two weeks after bottling, it has carbonated right on schedule.  It has a flowery aroma and a spicy taste with a hint of vanilla.  It is a malty, mildly sweet beer that is very easy to drink (I've had two tonight already :).  The head dissappeared rather quickly, but it does leave a lacing pattern on the glass as I drink.  I have no idea how to get a good head to stay on my beers, but I suppose I will get this eventually.  

5 gallons, extract

4 pounds of pumpkin

1 pound of Vienna malt, 40L

½ pound crystal malt, 40L

½ pound malted wheat

6 pounds light or amber malt extract

½ cup brown suger

1 ounce Mt. Hood hops (boiling)

½ ounce Hallertauer hops (finishing)

½ teaspoon vanilla

3/4 teaspoon combined ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ginger

1/2 teaspoon Irish Moss

Wyeast 1056, American Ale

Baked pumpkin at 350 degrees for an hour and then cut it into chunks.  I steeped the pumpkin and grains at 155 for half an hour in 2 gallons of water.  I removed both from the pot and added the liquid malt and Mt. Hood hops.  These were boiled for 45 minutes and then the Hallertauer hops were added.  These boiled for 5 minutes.  Spices were added and boiled for 5 minutes.  Irish moss was added and boiled for a final 5 minutes.  I took the pot off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes.  

Two gallons plus a pint of water and a 7lb bag of ice were added to the fermentation bucket.  The wort was strained through two colanders into the bucket.  The lid was placed on and the wort allowed to sit for a few hours.  

The yeast was pitched at 65 degrees.

Starting gravity: 1.050

Finishing gravity: 1.011

I got the idea to add ice to the bucket from an episode of Good Eats, where Alton Brown homebrews.  I am a huge fan of the man, and I will admittedly trace my desire to homebrew to him and my copy of Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz.  I have since read articles online where the authors poo-poo the idea of adding ice to the wort for fear of contamination.  I agree that this is a risk, but so far, things have been fine.  I think it's a easy and inexpensive way to cool down the wort to a temperature that the yeast can survive at.  Until something goes wrong (knock on wood) I will continue to use ice in my wort.

The Asheville Porter

This was my first ever homebrew, and I must say it turned out nicely.  Oh, it was far from perfect, but given the number of things that can go wrong with homebrewing, it was a great first start.  It failed to carbonate properly, but I believe this is because I just dumped in the priming sugar to the bottling bucket without first boiling it with water.  I will assume that the sugar stayed where it started: at the bottom of the bucket.  I brewed this back in September and finished the last bottle of it last week.  I wasn't planning on blogging at the time, so I don't have any pictures of it.  Too bad, since it was a nice looking brew, dark brown with a small head.  The longer it sat in the bottle, the more the chocolate malt flaver became pronounced.  

The Asheville Porter is named in honor of the Asheville Brewers Supply where I embarked on my homebrew journey.

5 gallons, Extract

6lbs Northwestern Amber Liquid Malt

1lb Northwestern Dark Dry Malt Extract

.5lb British Chocolate Malt 

.5lb Dark Crystal Malt (200L)

1oz Kent Golding (bittering)

1oz Kent Golding (aroma)

White Labs London Ale liquid yeast

60 minute boil

Brewed grains at around 140 degrees, removed after 45 minutes.  Brought liquid to boil, removed from heat and stirred in malt.  Placed back on heat and brought to a gentle boil.  Added first round of hops and boiled for 50 minutes.  Added second hops and boiled another 10 minutes.  Strained wort into plastic fermenter and topped off to 5 gallons.

I wound up pitching the yeast at just under 85 degrees because I became impatient after a few hours.  I was really nervous the wort would become infected, etc. that I pitched it too early.  I'm kind of a nervous nelly about these things.  This was all compounded by the fact that I never saw a single bubble come out of the airlock.  I now know that this is because the lid had a leak in it, but I was quite upset at the time.  Three days after I pitched the yeast, I peeked under the lid and was greated with the sight of a krausen.  I like brewing in the plastic buckets, but it certainly has the drawback of not being able to see what's going on.  The brew turned out fine and 10 days later I bottled it.  Like I said at the beginning, I didn't do the priming sugar correctly and it never carbonated.  There are worse beers than porters to have low carbonation with, so all in all, not a bad first attempt.