The Homebrew Company Extract Porter

[Pearlfisher]

This is the fourth HBC extract kit I've made , but the first Porter I've ever attempted, who by the way now have 1.5kg tins LME on sale @ £4.
The first 3 have all been excellent ,much better than any 2 can kit I've tried.

I brewed it last Monday using 3.18kg of Suma LME ( from Amazon ) , 250g of malted wheat and added 35g of EKG at flameout , brewed it short to 22L .
I also used the yeast trub taken off my last brew which was an Amarillo/Summit pale ale with S-04 yeast.
It fermented well and I'm aiming to barrel it next Wednesday and enjoy drinking as the weather turns colder.

 

[Pearlfisher]

It's now been barrelled for just over 2 months and It's the best dark beer I've ever tasted. :drink:

 

[PD]

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[clibit]

Question - did you steep brown malt? Seems to be the case with that extract kit, and I thought brown malt had to be mashed. Maybe you get some colour but not much flavour from a steep?

 

[Pearlfisher]

Just 30 minutes at 65C as per kit instructions.

 

[Sandimas]

It's now been barrelled for just over 2 months and It's the best dark beer I've ever tasted. :drink:

+1

Brewed this short 18L for a bit more flavour (OG 1050). I did this a bit close to Xmas, when I dropped the hydrometer in it was still going (1018) but impatience got the better of me, so I syphoned 8L off into a keg for Xmas drinking and left the remaining 10L in the FV to finish off before bottling. I didn't prime the keg but force carbed with a CO2 cylinder so that it was ready for immediate drinking.

For some reason this kit came with a MJ Californian yeast, guess that was just what they had lying around, so I swapped it for an S04.

This has been the beer of Christmas 2016. Everyone who has visited has loved it, even the wife can't get enough of it. Rich, dark, full of flavour all for 18 quid which is a bargain. My only slight criticism is that the HBC ingredients cans be a bit hit 'n miss e.g. the odd yeast that came with this, the LME is now MJ pouches rather than tins seen in previous reviews, sometimes the hops aren't vacuum packed. But can't fault the resultant beer. :)

 

[Sandimas]

Update: the remaining half of the batch that I bottled has been conditioning 3 months now and is without doubt one of the best beers I've ever made in 111 brews. I'd be really happy with this at a winter ales festival.

Note that this was the "Full Extract Porter" kit that came with everything in it, including the LME (Mangrove Jacks).
http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/hbc-full-extract-porter-23lt-p-2364.html

 

[dps51]

now that do look good nice head dark body yum yum why wait till winter get it down your neck

 

[MyQul]

Dark beer turn into something truly awesome with a minimum of 6 weeks conditioning. I'm making my way through some smoked porter that has had nearly two months conditioning and I'm really enjoying it

 

[terrym]

@darrellm
I have found that all my extract beers don't come good until about 3 months on from bottling (including your Mild recipe :thumb:). That seems to be your experience with your Porter. Is that the same with other extract beers you do?

 

[Sandimas]

I have found that all my extract beers don't come good until about 3 months on from bottling ... Is that the same with other extract beers you do?

Yes - if I can be patient enough, they're all generally better after 3 months. Same with AG, I thought that would be better earlier but it still seems to improve with age.

As everyone says, patience is the friend of the homebrewer :) Although I am surprised just how much this one has improved - some of my recent ones have been a bit average.

 

[MyQul]

Yes - if I can be patient enough, they're all generally better after 3 months. Same with AG, I thought that would be better earlier but it still seems to improve with age.

As everyone says, patience is the friend of the homebrewer :) Although I am surprised just how much this one has improved - some of my recent ones have been a bit average.

I have a hallertau mittlefauh pale ale that has gone a bit odd (tastes like alcohlic pineapple juice and has a very thick mouth feel despite haveing a good attenuation), so I'm hoping a good long conditioning will sort it out