Horton's Homebrew - Nectar of the Gods

I had wanted to try adding chocolate to a beer and with the ingredients I had left over from After Midnight Porter, I decided to try adding chocolate to the recipe.  I came up with the name from a recollection of chocolate being referred to as “nectar of the gods”.  Nectar of the Gods (5.63% ABV and 40 IBU) looks just like After Midnight and the chocolate addition added very little flavor to the beer.  Nectar of the Gods tastes almost exact like After Midnight.  Lori could not detect any chocolate influence in the beer.  I just bottled two amber ales and I think I will try a wheat beer next.  

The recipe is as follows:

Malts -

7# Briess Pale Liquid Malt Extract

8 oz. Briess Caramel 60 L

8 oz. Briess Chocolate Malt

4 oz. Black Patent Malt

8 oz. Unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate added at the start of the boil.

Hops -

.25 oz. Nugget – 60 Minutes

.25 oz. Nugget – 40 Minutes

.25 oz. Williamette – 40 Minutes

.25 oz. Williamette – 20 minutes

Yeast – Wyeast 1056 American Ale

American Porter - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/159 – BeerAdvocate

The Brew Hut - http://thebrewhut.com/

Horton’s Homebrew - After Midnight Porter

For my next batch, I decided to brew a porter and used a slightly modified recipe from John Palmer’s book How to Brew - just buy the book.  The recipe is called Port O’ Palmer in the book and is similar to Sierra Nevada’s Porter.  The changes I made were to hops and the hop schedule.  This is my best batch to date, it turned out really good and should only improve with a bit of age.  The name is in tribute to Eric Clatpton’s song After Midnight.  The ingredients were obtained from The Brew Hut in Aurora, CO and I have enough specialty grains remaining to brew another batch and I plan to add cocoa to the next batch. 

The grain bill all from Briess Malting is as follows:

7# Pale Liquid Malt Extract

0.5 # Briess Caramel 60 L

0.5# Briess Chocolate

0.25# Black Patent Malt

The hop additions were:

0.25 oz. Nugget (14.8% AA) at 60 minutes

0.25 oz. Nugget (14.8% AA) at 40 minutes

0.25 oz. Williamete (7.5% AA) at 40 minutes

0.25 oz. Williamete (7.5% AA) at 20 minutes

I made a 2L starter with Wyeast 1056 – American Ale yeast and 200 g of Munton’s Pale Dry Malt Extract.  The beer sat in the fermenter for 2 weeks at 68 degrees and then was bottle conditioned for 2 weeks at 74 degrees. 

Beer specifications:

Target OG – 1.053

Actual OG – 1.052

Target FG – 1.013

Actual FG – 1.012

ABV – 5.24%

IBU – 40 (using the Rager formula)

American Porter – http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/159 - Beeradvocate

Briess Malting – http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/

The Brew Hut – http://thebrewhut.com/

John Palmer – How to Brew - http://www.howtobrew.com/

Ska – Ten Pin Porter

I had tried Nefarious Ten Pin Porter a couple of weeks ago and thought I should sample the base for Nefarious – Ten Pin Porter (5.5% ABV and 46 IBU).  Ska is based in Durango, CO and the boys from Ska very much enjoy Ska music, and they make really tasty beer.

American Porter - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/159 – BeerAdvocate

Appearance – Pours a very deep dark brown with ruby highlights and a nice one-finger head. 

Aroma – Mild coffee a bit of chocolate and roast malt – maybe a bit of spice from the hops / yeast. 

Taste – Very nice, a solid porter and it tastes just like it smells.  Very easy to drink

Overall – B+ - A very drinkable porter this one is very good.  Nefarious is a step up and the Ten Pin Porter provides a solid base for Nefarious.

Website description – “Rich, Raw and Robust.  Dark like motor oil on a Minnesota night, it rolls down your gullet like a calming stream full of rich and tasty malt.  Six different malts are combined to create this robust porter.  Perle and Willamette hops are added to fashion the perfect balance for which the Ten Pin is renowned.”

Ska Brewing Co.  – http://www.skabrewing.com/main.html

An excellent Stout and an excellent Porter

I was in Arizona the last week of March for my son’s spring break and a visit with Lori’s parents. I always get in some biking and make a stop at Total Wine for some selections that I cannot find in Colorado. I made selections from local brewers and from items that I normally do not see in Colorado. The two listed below were excellent and I would rate both of them as “A” beers. I am partial to the darker beers and these two were very good. They had a lot of similarities (chocolate / cocoa and coffee / espresso) even though they were different styles. If you have the opportunity to try them, I easily recommend them.

Bell’s – Special Double Cream Stout

Bell’s is based in Kalamazoo, MI and they brew a number of different styles and I have tried a few of them. From my experience, you cannot go wrong with selecting anything they brew. Bell’s has also won a number of awards over the year and I think they would be warmly welcomed in Colorado. Special Double Cream Stout (6.1% ABV) is an American Stout.

Website description – “Special Double Cream Stout derives its name from its smooth, creamy texture, not the ingredients. Completely dairy-free, this stout blends eight different specialty malts to yield a remarkable depth of flavor. With only a touch of burnt notes, Special Double Cream Stout focuses on the softer, cocoa & espresso-like aspects of roasted malt.”

URL - http://www.bellsbeer.com/


Big Sky - Bobo’s Robust Porter

Big Sky Brewing is based in Missoula, MT and started brewing in 1995. Moose Drool has to be their biggest seller and I have enjoyed a number of their offerings. Bobo’s Robust Porter (6.2% ABV and 32 IBU) is a robust porter or an American Porter. Big Sky has a fairly wide distribution and if you are west of the Mississippi, you should be able to find it.

Website description – “A small bottle with Big Flavor! Brewed with 6 different malts and generously hopped, Robust doesn’t really begin to describe this beer. Smooth chocolate flavors with hints of coffee, caramel and vanilla. Hop presence is copious and is matched by rich Malt flavors. Malts – Pale, Crystal, Chocolate, Brown and Black, Roast. Hops – East Kent Goldings, Challenger.”

URL - http://www.bigskybrew.com/

Full Sail – Imperial Porter

Full Sail is based in Hood River, OR with a second location in Portland, OR.  They make several different styles and have won a number of awards over the years for their various beers.  Imperial Porter (7.5% ABV and 60 IBU) is now retired and a new version that is aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels is the replacement and is part of the 2012 Brewmaster Reserve Line-up.

American Porter – description - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/159 - Beeradvocate

Appearance – this one pours very dark brown / black and you cannot see through the glass.  There is a brown two-finger head.

Aroma – One can detect coffee / espresso, chocolate and roasted malt.  I detected little aroma from hops. 

Taste – Essentially, like it smells with chocolate and a light coffee note to the roasted malt with a slight bitterness on the finish that is also dry.

Overall – B –  Imperial Porter is not bad, but it is nothing special.  The newer version has a higher ABV and I bet it improves with the barrel aging. 

Description – N/A – this beer is now retired

URL - http://www.fullsailbrewing.com/