Young's American Mocha Porter

[wfr42]

My fermented down to 1.012. This kit is only a 30 pint kit so if you're stretching it to 20litres the sg may be a bit higher.

 

[Barnsey]

Thanks for that...stirred earlier. Ordered bottling bucket, so will do that stage as soon as it arrives! It's a 20 litre kit, but brewing vessel is just 15 litres...I naively assumed all were the same! 😁 Anyway, will "decant" to bottling bucket Wednesday/Thursday, add brewer's sugar, follow kit instructions and see what happens.

Next question, which I had no idea of last two times either...how do you work out the abv?!?!

 

[Racinsnake]

To work your ABV out you'll need a gravity reading taken by hydrometer before you pitch (add) yeast, with liquid temperature of 20' ish. Then take a gravity reading when your brew has finished, 3 days consecutive with readings the same. I can't remember the formula but there are lots of online calculators just put the two readings in and they calculate it for you. :)

 

[Godsdog]

Og-fg ÷ 7.46= abv

 

[Barnsey]

In theory, I think it's 5.89%....1.06-1.016÷7.46??? Is that right?
Just added sugar, bottled it, tasted a bit. Coffee hints, but seemed a bit weak...is that normal when making HB?

 

[Barnsey]

Tasted weak, I meant...leaky spigot on new bottling barrel a tad annoying, too!!!

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

made this in november for x mas
thoughts.

1. the smell when mix it up for fermentation is realy sweet and chocolate
2. takes 4 weeks to properly carbonate.
3. I found all the chocolate coffee taste was very very subtle
4. If you like porters you will probably like this
5. Chunky wee beer, fairly strong. I would struggle to drink 6 pints of this in an evening.

So
If you are looking for an out of the box beer with overtones of chocolate and coffee, close but no cigar
If you like porters, result.

All in all a nice wee beer.
My hunt for the components of black chocolate lager continues

later

 

[jamesrock]

I've just bought this kit and only looked what it contains. There doesn't seem to be too much priming sugar. Does the porter end up well carbonated with the sugar provided?

 

[wfr42]

Was fine for me, it's only a 30 pint kit so that might be why the bag seems smaller.

Pic below was back on the 9th of October, just under a month in the bottle. As usual the last few bottles have been the best, 2 left.

 

[jamesrock]

Thanks for the reply. I'll get this one on the go soon as it sounds interesting.

 

[wfr42]

Definitely better (more flavours)drinking it at room temperature.
I'm trying a coopers stout for the first time so will let you know how they compare.

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

had a bottle last night.
Carbonated well enough, this is not a fizzy beer, it's a heavy-ish comfort beer, perfect for this weather.

I just wonder where the coffee and chocolate went.

 

[Sandimas]

I'm not sure about this one - I reckon there's a lot of coffee / caffeine in it, if I drink one in the evening I can't sleep at night (I never drink coffee after 2pm because of that). Plus your pee stinks of coffee :-o Nice idea, but I don't think I'll be brewing this one again.

 

[jamesrock]

Definitely better (more flavours)drinking it at room temperature.
I'm trying a coopers stout for the first time so will let you know how they compare.

I'm going to try a Coopers Stout soon as well and I see that a lot of people put treacle in it as well as the Coopers brew enhancer. Are you doing it straight or are you using any addtions.

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

I'm not sure about this one - I reckon there's a lot of coffee / caffeine in it, if I drink one in the evening I can't sleep at night (I never drink coffee after 2pm because of that). Plus your pee stinks of coffee :-o Nice idea, but I don't think I'll be brewing this one again.

I'm not too sure about the caffeine coffee content. I don't smell coffee off the beer and don't taste coffee while supping. Sure when making it, it was over whelming but it seems to have vanished in my brew.
Personally I drink a lot of coffee, 4 mugs already this morning, so the coffee scented piss I wouldn't notice, still there are worse things your piss could smell of :grin:

I find it odd it keeps you awake, after a bottle of this (I use litre bottles) Im ready for a nap!! Different folks I suppose.

I will make it again...next winter.
More important fish to fry now the temps have dropped LAGER!!!!! have brewed 10 gallon in the last two weeks another 5 on last night get another batch on at the weekend. Got to stockpile for summer.

 

[wfr42]

The flavours definitely are most distinct when mixing, and fade when chilled.

I did my coopers stout with 1kg of dark dme, mainly to get an idea of the base flavour.

 

[wfr42]

Had my penultimate bottle while bottling at the weekend, 5 months after bottling, and it was amazing. Lots of flavour, a good head retained down the glass and highly enjoyable.

I'm wondering if the flavours in my batch didn't mix as well as they could have. Some bottles were definitely better than others all the way through drinking this kit. (Hoping the last bottle isn't lacking in flavour).

I'm pretty certain I'll do this one again.

In other news...

Had to reprime my coopers original stout as I chose to put it in a pressure barrel and over tightened the lid

My samples to check carbonation have been tasty and I can see why others tweak it to personalise it. Will be a case of weighing up the cost of additions for me to do it again. I'm contemplating using it as a base for a maple bourbon stout....

 

[jamesrock]

Maple Bourbon Stout?? Tell me how that goes and then please tell me how you do it.

 

[phildo79]

Had my penultimate bottle while bottling at the weekend, 5 months after bottling, and it was amazing. Lots of flavour, a good head retained down the glass and highly enjoyable.

I'm wondering if the flavours in my batch didn't mix as well as they could have. Some bottles were definitely better than others all the way through drinking this kit. (Hoping the last bottle isn't lacking in flavour).

I'm pretty certain I'll do this one again.

In other news...

Had to reprime my coopers original stout as I chose to put it in a pressure barrel and over tightened the lid

My samples to check carbonation have been tasty and I can see why others tweak it to personalise it. Will be a case of weighing up the cost of additions for me to do it again. I'm contemplating using it as a base for a maple bourbon stout....

I have this kit carbonating at the moment. Bottled up 5 weeks ago so thought I'd give one a go last night, after reading your thread. It was VERY bitter. Couldn't really get past it to taste any of the choc or coffee notes. Now, it was the last bottle out of the FV so I'm hoping that has something to do with it and that I haven't fooked it up somehow.

I'll try another in a couple of weeks. One of the first bottle out of the FV me thinks. It is strange how some bottles taste considerably different to others from the same batch. Or how some can be more carbonated than others.

 

[wfr42]

I've found the mocha notes to be in the head. The best tasting bottles for me have been the heavy handed pours with a big frothy head. Maybe something to try with your next (and my last bottle...)