The day after bottling my first batch of beer, I cooked up another. This time, I decided to make a chocolate maple porter from the Brooklyn Brew Shop Beer Making Book. While you can buy the mixes from the Brooklyn Brew Shop directly, I visited my local brewing supply shop, Brewcraft, to get the ingredients.
I walked in with my list, told the man what I needed. He measured everything for me, and then milled the grains.
“What percentage of alcohol are you shooting for?” he asked.
“6.5% I think,” I said.
“How much beer are you making?”
“One gallon.”
A look of confusion. Then understanding. “I guess that makes sense. Typically people make five gallons. And with what you’ve got here, you’d end up with a 1% beer.”
One thing he recommended with the amount of grains I had was to use a cheesecloth. As this would eliminate the need to separate the grains from the wert, I decided to give it a shot.
The cheesecloth worked just fine. The only issue was squeezing the 150 degree wert from the ball.
Overall, it did make things a bit easier, and I was left with a beautifully colored wert. But I felt somewhat unsatisfied with the cheesecloth compared to a full pot of unadulterated mash. So I might forego it next time.
Other than the cheesecloth, the process was the same as my first batch, with a couple changes to supplies. First, I bought a larger measuring cup and larger funnel. Second, I bought One Step to replace the C Brite that comes with the Brooklyn Brew Shop kit. I felt a lot more comfortable with the One Step, as it didn’t have all the warning that C Brite comes with, and it was no rinse. Also, the Brewcraft clerk assured me it was fine to stick my hands in it.
After four hours of brewing, I had another batch. My porter will hang out in a cabinet till it’s ready for bottling in two weeks.
Go yeast!
Comments
16 responses to “Brewing Chocolate Maple Porter”
So how did it come out? How did you replicate the recipe from the kit? I thought mine turned out great but wanted to do a five gallon batch. I would recommend getting a nylon mesh “hop sack” from your homebrew store to use instead of the cheesecloth. Also, don’t squeeze the bag, you will be more likely to extract bitter tannin flavors-just sparge and let it drain.
It turned out great! One of my favorites. For the recipe, I used the Brooklyn Brew Recipe book and just got the ingredients at my local beer supply shop.
Thanks for the recommendation on the hop sack. I will look into it.
Thanks for the response!
I read about the recipe book- it looks good, I think I will order it. FYI looking at your photos, I see you stretched the cheesecloth over the pot. The nylon hop sack does not stretch, but it has a lot of extra material that you could dunk it up and down like a tea bag and not get your hands burnt. Happy Brewing!
Jamin,
I have brewed two batches using the Brooklyn Brew shop ‘system’. I have come up short on wort (post boil) after both batches. I also seem to be losing a ton of water during sparging. And yes, I did add much more water to the second batch but still came up snake-eyes.
I am curious how much total water you use (mashing and sparging)? The amount of water in the instructions seems very low for my batches. Also, have you calculated how much water you lose during the boil?
Love the brewing play by play with photos, BTW!
Rob,
I use the exact amount specified in the instructions. Typically about 2 quarts for the mash, one gallon for sparging. I’ve brewed about 15 batches. I sometimes have a little more than can fit in the fermenter. I’ve come up a little short a couple times, but I added water to the fermenter to make up the difference, per the instructions. And it all worked out.
Thanks for your response – perhaps I am over-boiling my wort. Oh, another big thank you for your tip about using a bucket to sparge with, it works like a charm.
I just bottled my first batch of the Everyday IPA yesterday. In two weeks I will toast the beer section of your blog for its assistance…..and Pamela Anderson, just for being Pamela Anderson.
Did using the cheesecloth reduce your need for extra pots? I’ve read your other posts and you mentioned in your first attempt that you used more pots than they said you’d need. I’m gearing up to take my first run at home brewing using one of the Brooklyn Brew Shop kits and looking for tips.
You need two pots. One for the wort. One to heat one gallon of water for sparging. I use a plastic bucket as well, which, for me, makes sparging easier.
I brewed up my first batch yesterday using the pre-made kit from Brooklyn. Everything went according to the instructions, or at least I hope it did. At what point did you start to see activity in your fermenter? I’m not really sure what I am supposed to be looking for here anyway, so it may be doing what it’s supposed to be doing.
You’ll know it when the yeast acts up. It looks like a wicked storm inside the fermenter and air will bubble out of your blow off tube. After more than a year of making brews, the time it takes visibly see the yeast do its thing varies. Sometimes it’s only a few hours. Others it’s been more than 24 hours. Give it time.
Mine woke up about an hour ago. Your blog really helped out during the whole process. I’m going to buy an autosiphon and larger strainer tomorrow to make things a little easier. Really wish I would have noticed the bucket idea for sparging. Did you sanitize it really well before the first use? Thanks again for all the tips man, greatly appreciated.
Bottled this today. I was happy to get 10 12 oz bottles. I can’t imagine bottling without an autosiphon.
Would have been nice to see the recipe for a 1 gallon batch – for those who can’t afford yet another brewing book ;0
I second the post above, Where’s the recipe? lol My wife may threaten me if I buy more brewing books!
The Brooklyn Beer Making Book is a must buy if you want to make one-gallon batches! And it’s only $15 on Amazon (see link above). I’ve been making recipes from the book for more than two years, and I still haven’t made them all.
I tackeled The Chocolate Maple Porter on my second attempt at brewing, Chestnut Brown Ale was the first batch. Like Jamin, I came up short on the sparage but I just added water and it came out fine. In the end, the brew came out delicious. I love the darker, heavier brews and this is one of my favorites. The Brooklyn Brew Shop Beer Making Book was a great help. I recommend it.