Holiday Cheer IV Review

A review of the Holiday Porter I brewed back in July. It’s the first one I’ve brewed in three years. I guess I needed a break to refocus my creative energies. In the end, it may not have ended up exactly as planned, but it sure helped getting through the holiday season.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
John Bull dark malt extract	3.5 lbs
John Bull light malt extract	3.5 lbs
Black patent malt	1/4 lb
Crushed crystal malt	1/2 lb
Crystal Malt	1/4 lb
Cascade hop pellets	2.0 oz
Saaz hop pellets (finishing)	1/2 oz
Crosby's molasses	1 cup
Ground cinnamon	1 tsp
Dried chile peppers	3
Unsweetened baker's chocolate	6 oz
Gypsum	2 tsp
Irish moss	1 tsp
Priming sugar	4 tbsp (1 tsp in each keg)
European liquid ale yeast	1 pkg (1 pt of water to 1/2 cup of light malt extract 8 hrs)
Corn sugar	1 lb (before pitched)

brewed:7/19/03

specific gravities:

Date	Specific Gravity	Temp	Specific Gravity @ 60
Start: 7/19/03	1.053	84 Farenheit	1.056
1st: 7/29/03	1.012	80 Farenheit	1.015
2nd: 8/3/03	1.012	78 Farenheit	1.014

Number Bottled: 2 - 5 litre kegs, 11 - 22oz bottles, 1 - 12oz bottle
Alcohol by Volume: approx. 5.5%

Directions:

Add the crushed crystal, black patent, and chocolate malts to 1 1/2 gallons of cold water

and bring to a boil. When the boiling commences remove the grains. Then combine all of the

ingredients (except the yeast, finishing hops, Irish moss, and corn sugar) and continue to boil

for 45 minutes. Add the Irish moss during the final 10 minutes and the finishing hops and corn sugar

during the final 2 minutes of boiling. Sparge the wort into your fermenter and cold water. Pitch the

yeast when cool. Bottle when fermentation is complete.

Review:

Fairly happy with the way this came out. The molasses and chocolate malt gave the beer a sweet and chocolate flavor. Unfortunately, the flavor was strong enough to overrun the cinnamon I put in it. Head retention was also sub par so licorice may be a good addition in the future. Despite these few items, it is an enjoyable porter-style ale that is helping me (and my friends) get through this unseasonably cold New England winter.

NEXT MONTH: I will brew up a golden lager. I haven’t had a lot of success with lagers, but I figured I would give it another try.