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Official Community Brew - Maple Porter
Hello - New to the forums here after this recipe piqued my interest. I brewed this recipe on Sunday, March 25. It was in the primary for 7 days and in the secondary for 12 days. I bottled this past Thursday, April 12 and was surprised to taste, after reading your comments, a very noticeable maple flavor. Unfortunately, I really couldn't taste the cinnamon, perhaps this will come out some after sitting in the bottle for a while. Here are the things that were slightly different from the recipe you all posted:
- 7# of John Bull dark extract
- cara/mucich II instead of the caramel/crystal 60L
- White Labs Irish Ale yeast WLP004
- grains were left in after 30' steep until boil
- syrup used was SpringTree Pure Maple Syrup Grade A dark amber 6 oz added during boil and 8 oz added to secondary
- bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar
S.G. = 1.049
F.G. = 1.014
%abv = 4.6
I can't wait for this brew to age a few weeks in the bottle. Should taste great; cool, carbonated, and with a nice thick head! Looking forward to brewing more of the forums seasonal community brews.
well i'm having my first glass now:
not getting the maple i was hoping or the cinnamon, smokiness is nicer than expected, good tan head, body was kinda of light, overall still not bad to drink just wish the maple and cinnamon was noticable
About to get on brewing this one. Looking for some input ,my local shop is spotty at times, they were without the smoked malt, but I was able to pickup some toasted oak chips. Without the Irish yeast, but picked up the London #1028. Was thinking of using the oak to impart that cask flavor over the smoke, any ideas on this, it would be my first chipping attempt. What is the usual ratio of chips to a 5gal batch to impart some flavoring? Anyone see a problem with the yeast?
Well, I cracked open the first bottle of this beer tonight. I was very pleasantly surprised!
The beer actually did have a hint of sweetness, yet it was very light. Its probably the lightest porter I've ever had.
As I mentioned earlier, I diverted from the original recipe a bit (by accident). I put a full 12.5 fluid oz in the primary and an additional 6 oz in the secondary. I let it sit in the secondary for about three weeks and in bottles for just under three weeks.
I do think it could use more cinnamon. Next time around (and there probably will be a next time) I'll add 2 or even 3 sticks of cinnamon to the boil and possibly one to the secondary.
Tasted mine for the first time yesterday. I deviated a bit and used maple syrup to prime, and that may have been a mistake. I tried one of the last bottles that I filled and I could use use it on my pancakes. It tasted like pure maple syrup! I tried another that i bottled first was flat. I'm thinking of putting them all in a keg and force carbonating. Will that work?
I keep a running list of things I am going to brew, and I try to do them in order... (seasonal brews get precident during the appropriate season) so I finally got to this one.
Cooked - Sept 28 - SG 0.060
Deviation from recipe - 1/2 c. dark brown sugar
Recovered cinnamon stick from boil and tossed it in the primary
Primary - Sept 28 - Oct 6 @ 70 degrees F
Secondary - Added 8.5 oz maple syrup & new cinnamon stick to secondary Oct 6- Oct 22
Bottled Oct 22 - FG 0.12
Preliminary taste - Nice red/black color, clear but difficult to see through without a flashlight! Distinct maple on start w/initial sweet impression, Nice bitterness throughout. Cinnamon is extremely faint through out, but more noticeable on the finish. After taste faint and pleasant.
I have 6 nips bottled so that I can taste it perodically to see how it's coming along.
Hey guys. In the recipe when the ingredients say 60 min or 20 minutes next to them is that how much time is left in the boil when I should add them? Im really looking foreward to brewing this one. Any suggestions on how much and when to add the maple syrup to get a good maple flavor? Any input is appreciated. Thanks
yes that is what time is left of the boil, add the maple to the secondary, i did a little of both and i could hardly notice the flavor
Thanks brew luva Im still pretty new with only acouple batches under my belt. Aside from the hops should I add everything else at the beginning. Do you think I should add more maple syrup than the recipe calls for?
Thanks again.
I might have to give this one a shot.....
I love maple, but I can already see by everything you guys said, that more Cinny is gonna be the key.