Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter

A couple summers ago, I had a chance to try DuClaw Brewing Company's Sweet Baby Jesus. It's not much of a summer beer, but it made for a great sipper one late night in a smoky, air-conditioned central Pennsylvania bar. I'm an admitted sucker for chocolate; coupled with a rich but not overbearing peanut butter presence, I was sold from the first taste. Of course there was nothing for it but to make one myself. When a deal on PB2 peanut butter powder came up last fall, I jumped on it; much of the oil has been removed, making it more suitable for use in beer than other forms of peanuts. I'd planned to make this beer this coming fall, but when I realized that the expiration date on the PB2 was approaching, it became clear its time had come.

Not necessarily looking to clone DuClaw's beer, I started my recipe from scratch. The plan was for a big base beer--an imperial porter--to lend a big malty backbone upon which I could layer the peanut butter and chocolate additions. Brown malt has had a very positive impact on my dark beers in the last few years, particularly in a brown porter from earlier this year that aimed at using the grain for forty percent of the grist. The oats went in to add their characteristically slick mouthfeel; the toasting was to add colour and a cookie/malt complexity. The lactose and English yeast conspired to keep the beer from finishing too thin; the low mash temp worked to keep it from finishing too high. By the numbers, the final gravity is just about where I'd like it; this isn't meant to be a light summer drinker.

I've messed with adding chocolate to beer before, usually with cacao nibs in secondary, but have found myself mostly unsatisfied with the results. Not having a lot of experience with baker's chocolate or cocoa powder, I went for broke and used both at separate points in the brewing process. Following some highly technical internet searching, the PB2 seemed the clear choice for adding the peanut butter element. However, it seemed as though it might take quite a bit to make a real impact on the final beer. Again, I went big, adding two full pounds of the powder over the course of the process.

The brewing process could best be summed up with the word "sludge." High-pressure sprayers and long, hot OxiClean soaks left the fermenters no worse for wear, thankfully. My friend Graham, fellow low brass player and sometimes homebrewer, helped out on brewday; it was nice to have assistance filtering out as much of the post-boil sediment as possible. I was surprised to find that the gravity increased following the secondary peanut butter and chocolate additions, which leaves the gravity reading following primary in some question. The sample at bottling had a pleasant peanut butter presence, though the chocolate could've been more substantial. I don't plan to consume much of this over the next few months of intense heat, but I do look forward to trying it once carbonation is complete, and hopefully enjoying it over the fall and winter.

Update: The peanut butter character pretty over the top, but the chocolate was lacking. The bottles spent the summer in a very warm (80F+) environment, and I kept worrying over the peanut oil going rancid. In the end, this batch really didn't end up being what I'd hoped it would be, and I dumped most of the bottles. May someday return to this concept, upping the chocolate, toning down the peanut butter, and brewing it on the cooler end of the year.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter

Batch size: 4 gallons
Projected OG: 1.085
Projected SRM: 34.4
Projected IBU: 29.4
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 67%

Grains/Fermentables
57.2% - 8 lb Malteurop 2-row
21.4% - 3 lb Crisp Brown malt
10.7% - 1.5 lb Toasted organic quick oats - roasted @ 350F for 15 min, 400F for 15 min
3.6% - 8 oz Crisp Chocolate malt
7.1% - 1 lb Lactose (10 min)

Hops
.6 oz Magnum (14.2%) (60 min)

Yeast
WY1469 West Yorkshire Ale - cake from Brown Malt Porter (w/ 1-liter starter)

Extras
16 oz PB2 peanut butter powder (5 min)
4 oz Unsweetened baker’s chocolate (5 min)
16 oz PB2 (secondary)
8 oz Organic cocoa powder (secondary)
2 Vanilla beans, chopped and scraped (secondary)

Water additions (mash)
8 qts RO water (w/ 8.5 qts filtered SLC water)
1 g Baking soda
1 g CaCl

Brewday: 14 May 2014
Mash: 147F for 90 minutes
Pre-boil volume: 5.8 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 14.6P (1.060)

Ferment in swamp cooler at 64-66F.

17 May 2014: Fermentation slowing; brought swamp cooler up to 68F. Agitated periodically.

Secondary: 30 May 2014
FG: 1.026
ABV: 7.7%

Sample was on the boozy side, but had decent chocolate notes and a slight hint of peanut butter in the background.

Bottled: 28 June 2014
FG: 1.030 - backsweetened by the peanut butter & chocolate?
Bottled with 2.8 oz table sugar (2.3 volumes C02).

Tasting notes: Lots of peanut, not a lot of chocolate, going rancid after being stored too warm too long? Sadly, a dumper.

Proserbräu

Steve, DeAunn's private teacher and a member of the orchestra here in SLC, has been a great friend to us in so many ways over the last three years. He's also one of the beer geekiest folks we know around here; we've enjoyed a number of get-togethers at his family's home where we shared new, interesting bottles with each other. Steve has a particular affinity for Belgians, so as we came to the end of our terminal degrees, nothing seemed so appropriate as brewing one for him.

Considering his favouring of beers such as Gulden Draak and Piraat, we aimed at crafting a Belgian strong. Vienna is my current go-to grain, as I'm working my way through a bag of Weyermann Organic Vienna; we augmented it with a bit of oats to add mouthfeel to what would be a fairly dry beer. A good dose of turbinado in primary increased dryness and colour, bringing it an amber hue. I've used the Duvel yeast strain on Belgian strongs in the past, but haven't cared as much for the "sharp" character it can bring. I was very happy, however, with the results I had with Belgian Abbey II in my Mad Elf clone a few years ago; in my aged quasi-side-by-side tasting, I actually preferred the rounded alcohol and more pronounced cherry presence of my version to Troeg's original.

My friend Brian came over to assist with part of brewday, including the ever-popular fermenter transfer/filtering out of hops. With his help, things went particularly smoothly. This was a small batch, and just about all of it went to its intended recipient; I only kept a six pack. I've had one so far; the yeast is even more muted than I'd intended, but it's still pleasant. Next time I'd probably push it to higher temps faster to try to increase ester production. So far it's hiding its alcohol very well; it's almost too easy drinking, and could cause some trouble if one weren't paying attention to consumption rate. Steve was really happy with our gift; DeAunn and I were pleased to be able to do something like this for someone who's done so much for us.

Proserbräu - Belgian Strong

Batch size: 3.7 gallons
Projected OG: 1.081
Projected SRM: 7.5
Projected IBU: 25.7
Boil time: 120 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 78%

Grains/Fermentables
79.0% - 8 lb Weyermann Organic Vienna
11.1% - 1 lb 2 oz Quick oats
9.9% - 1 lb Turbinado sugar (dissolved in water, added as primary activity slows)

Hops
.4 oz Magnum (14.4%) (60 min)

Yeast
WY1762 Belgian Abbey II - 1-liter stirplate starter

Extras
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (10 min)
1 tsp Irish moss (10 min)
1 vial Clarity Ferm (pre fermentation)

Water additions (mash)
10 qts Distilled water (w/ 2 qts filtered SLC water)
1 g Gypsum
2 g Baking soda
1 g CaCl

Brewday: 16 March 2014
Mash: 149F for 90 minutes
Pre-boil volume: 5 gallons         
Post-boil SG (w/o sugar): 16.7P (1.069)

Aerated with 5 micron stone for 45 minutes.
Begin fermentation at 60F ambient; raise 3F/day after 24 hours of active fermentation, topping out at 72F.

21 March 2014: Added turbinado.

Secondary: 1 May 2014
FG: 1.009
ABV: 9.8%

Added 1.7 oz bourbon-soaked oak cubes.

Bottled: 24 May 2014
Bottled with 3.4 oz table sugar.

Spring Pale Ale

 Given how busy the last year has been, it's a wonder I brewed at all. It had been since last summer that I brewed anything with an appreciable amount of hop character. Beckoning from the back of the brew freezer was the end of a mixed pound of American pellets that had been hanging out for better than a year, along with a bunch of whole cones I picked in our neighbourhood last summer. An American pale ale was in order.

The brewday went without incident, but the final product didn't end up very engaging or interesting. My bet is that the flaws in this beer come from oxidation, particularly in the secondary during dry hopping. Not having a lot of experience with whole hops, I made no attempt to break up the chunks of cones that came out of my vacuum-sealed bags. As a consequence, when I opened the bucket to bottle, I discovered floating hop glaciers that were still dry inside. For those that did soak up beer and break apart, I expect that they released a bit of trapped air in doing so. Live and learn.

This is further encouragement for me to work on simple recipes, perhaps even to begin a long-considered SMaSH series. This will help me learn what each ingredient I use contributes as well as hone my brewing and fermentation processes on a particular style. Not yet sure this will be my Year of Pale Ale, but anything's possible. Fortunately the IPA that followed this beer (posting soon) turned out more solid. Here's to warm-weather hoppy drinking.

Why Not Another APA?

Batch size: 5.5 gallons
Projected OG: 1.050
Projected SRM: 4.7
Projected IBU: 42.6
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 80%

Grains
84.2% - 8 lb Malteurop 2-row
15.8% - 1.5 lb Weyermann Organic Munich

Hops
.2 oz Warrior (16.7%) (60 min)
1 oz Galena (13.2%) (KO - caluculated as 5 min)
1 oz Willamette (4.7%) (KO - calculated as 5 min)
1.8 oz Warrior (KO - calculated as 5 min)
6.7 oz Neighbourhood-picked hops (Nugget?) (Dry hop 7 days)

Yeast
WY1450 Denny’s Favorite 50

Extras
1 tsp Irish moss (10 min)

Water additions (mash)
9 qts Distilled water (w/ 3 qts filtered tap water)
2 g Gypsum

Brewday: 16 March 2014
Mash: 152F for 60 minutes - dropped to 148F
Pre-boil volume: 6.75 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 10.2P (1.041)           

Following KO, chill to 180F, then whirlpool/hop stand for 30 minutes.  Finish chilling.
Ferment in swamp cooler at 65F.

Dry hop: 12 April 2014
FG: 1.012
ABV: 5.0%

Bottled: 23 April 2014
Bottled with 4.1 oz brown sugar.

Tasting Notes: Comes across weirdly fruity, but not in a hops-derived way; either yeast character, fermentation flaw, or oxidation. Darker than expected as well--though clarity is good--so I imagine it's one of the latter two reasons. Hop character lacking, though with this mix of hops I'm not sure what to expect. Not a complete failure, but far from the best it could be.

Brown Malt Porter

Brown malt has fascinated me since I learned of its prominent place in brewing historical porter. Originally comprising up to one hundred percent of porter grists, it was eventually replaced by black malt, coupled with a simple pale malt base. This type of brown malt has now disappeared, but the product now available under this name--and I'm unsure of exactly what separates it from the original--adds a wonderfully roasty, not-too-burnt character to dark beers. While I haven't geeked out on it as hard as I have on rye malt, brown malt has definitely captured my imagination.

About a year ago I started listening regularly to the Brewing Network, particularly the Session, picking and choosing my way through the archives. In the fall, I was taken by an interview they did with a pro brewer (from Round Guys, maybe?) who used forty percent brown malt in his brown porter. This sounded like nothing so much as a gauntlet thrown down, daring me to load up a sessionable porter with brown malt. I dutifully took up that challenge.

This beer pretty much topped out the original gravity of the BJCP guidelines for the smallest porter category (for those who are incredibly concerned about such metrics), but it included in a full four-tenths proportion of Crisp's brown malt. Aside from a bit of pale chocolate malt to round out the roast profile, the rest of the grist was pale malt. A simple low bittering addition of Phoenix, a newer British hop varietal, was all that went into (most of) this recipe. Wyeast's West Yorkshire Ale yeast gave it a particularly British character. This batch also received a dosing of Clarity-Ferm prior to fermentation to break down the gluten and make it suitable for DeAunn's gluten-intolerant consumption. While it seemed to help initially, eventually we found that this product still left too much gluten in the final beer for her to enjoy without experiencing gluten-related side effects. Back to messing around with cider, mead, and sorghum, then.

Further experimenting with this batch, one gallon went into a cubitainer with dry hops for cask conditioning (with which I've experimented before) and another gallon into a 5-liter mini keg, for which my father constructed a tap system, based on this design. Unfortunately, these innovations didn't work out quite as planned, either. I never have quite the luck I'd like with the cubitainers; this time, it began to leak when the internal pressure exceeded what the container would take. In addition, all the dry hops seemed to add--loose in the cubitainer as they were--was a bit of plant material that got stuck in one's teeth while taking a drink. The kegging setup had me a bit flummoxed, as I have little experience with force carbonation. I tried
to use high pressure (30 psi) carb method for a short period, combined with shaking, to get CO2 into solution, as one would do with a corny keg. The tap setup for the mini keg did not allow for as tight a seal as a corny, so attempting this carbonation method ended up with me hosed down with porter and emptying both

disposable CO2 cartridges I had without reaching proper carbonation. Next time, I'll use a lower pressure for a longer time. After letting the keg sit for better than a month in the fridge, figuring I'd oxidized the hell out of it with all the shaking, I dumped it; upon sampling what came out of the bung, not only was it partially carbonated--and kind of at a perfect cask carb--but it was still in great shape. Live and learn.

Fortunately, I had a number of bottles of this porter that were naturally carbonated. They're all gone now, but the best descriptor for this beer was "luscious." It was an easy drinking, sturdy porter with great chocolate and roast notes. This fall I'll probably brew this one again just as the recipe stands; especially now that I have a better handle on how the mini keg functions, this will be a great beer to have around once the weather turns cold again.

Brown Malt Porter

Batch size: 6 gallons
Projected OG: 1.052
Projected SRM: 25.3
Projected IBU: 21.4
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 89%

Grains
55.0% - 5.5 lbs Malteurop 2-row
40.0% - 4 lbs Crisp Brown malt
5.0% - 8 oz Crisp Pale chocolate

Hops
.7 oz Phoenix (10.2%) (60 min)
.3 oz Phoenix (10.2%) (dry hop in 1-gal cubitainer - 5 days)

Yeast
WY1469 - harvested from Wet Hop ‘13, 1.2 qt starter

Extras
1 vial Clarity Ferm (post chilling, pre yeast)

Water additions (mash)
9 qts distilled water
1 g Epsom salts
1 g Baking soda
1 g CaCl

Brewday: 4 January 2014
Mash: 154F for 60 minutes

Pre-boil volume: 7 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 10.8P (1.044)

Fermented at 60F ambient for 4 days, then moved to 70F ambient to free rise.  Active fermentation mostly finished by that point.

Bottled: 1 February 2014
FG: 1.019
ABV: 4.3%

Bottled 5l in mini keg, 1 gallon in cubitainer with .5 oz table sugar and dry hops; and remainder with 2.8 oz table sugar.

RIS III

As of last week, I am now a Doctor of Musical Arts. What does this have to do with homebrewing and/or blogging? It means I've now finished my terminal degree, so

1) I now have time to brew again.

2) I now have time to catch up on writing about what I've managed to brew in the last few months.

This first post back brings us to a special beer in my brewing calendar: Russian imperial stout. I designated every quarter-century brew as a gargantuan dark beer; while the "even-numbered" ones (#50 and #100, so far) have been imperial porters, this batch (#125) marks my third foray into the biggest entries of the stout family. The previous two iterations (the first predating this blog) have been immensely satisfying, and I'm down to my last bottle of each; after giving this latest batch a few months to age, I'll plan a vertical tasting.

This time around, the aim was for an even bigger, roastier stout. I eliminated all crystal malt, limiting non-base grains to roasted malts. Using a reiterated mash boosted efficiency well above what I expected based on the previous batches; I'd planned to add a pound of turbinado to raise the gravity and drive down the final gravity, but found it entirely unnecessary given the high

OG. It finished out higher than intended, but the high percentage of roasted grains really helped balance this beer. Next time around, I'll work toward an even lower FG and increase the bittering hops to help maintain balance over an even longer term.

I'm sampling my first bottle now; unfortunately it hasn't yet carbonated, but I'll happily reyeast these bottles if the need arises. I'm still working through technical issues with some of my other recipes (more on that soon), but in terms of this series, thing are going well. This beer almost makes me look forward to next winter already.

RIS III

Batch size: 5 gallons
Projected OG: 1.118
Projected SRM: 65.2
Projected IBU: 68.0
Boil time: 120 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 70.5%

Grains/Fermentables
79.2% - 19 lb Malteurop 2-row
12.5% - 3 lb Crisp Brown malt
8.3% - 2 lb Crisp Roasted Barley
1 lb Turbinado sugar (5 days into primary)

Hops
1 oz Phoenix (10.2%) (120 min)
1 oz Columbus (14.5%) (120 min)
1 oz Sterling (7.0%) (15 min)

Yeast
2 pkg US-05, rehydrated

Extras
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (10 min)
1 vial Clarity Ferm (post chilling, pre yeast)

Water additions
15 qts distilled water (mash #1)
1 g Epsom salts (mash #2)
1 g Salt (mash #2)
1 g Baking soda (mash #2)
1 g Chalk (mash #2)

Brewday: 30 November 2013

Reiterated mash
Mash #1 (12 lb 2-row): 150F for 20 minutes
Volume: 7.5 gallons
Run off to secondary pots; hold at 150F
Mash #2 (remainder of grist): Mash #1 liquor @ 145F for 90 minutes - dropped to 141F
pH: 5.0
Draw off & boil 1 gallon, add back to raise mash temp to 154F for 15 minutes
    Only raised it to 145F; drew off 2 more gallons & boiled, reaching 156F
Mashout - draw off & boil 2.5 gallons, add back to raise mash temp to 168F for 5 minutes
Pre-boil volume: 7.5 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 19.8P (1.083)

Aerated for 1 hour prior to pitching yeast, then again 6 hours after pitching.
Fermented in swamp cooler at 61F.
SNA: added additional 1 tsp yeast nutrient (boiled & cooled) at 24 hours, then 48 hours  into active fermentation.

After active fermentation slowed, pulled from swamp cooler & brought to 65F ambient to continue working. Agitated daily to keep yeast in suspension.

Secondary: 31 December 2013
SG: 1.032
Bulk age for at least 2 months.

Dry hop: 12 April 2014
Accidentally used the 2 oz EKG intended for the Burton ale. Will give it a week or so, then bottle.

Bottled: 23 April 2014
FG: 1.032
ABV: 11.3%
Bottled with 3.5 oz table sugar and rehydrated champagne yeast.

State of the Brew 2014

To say it's been a while would be a gross understatement. I'd always resolved to skip posts lamenting lack of updates, as they almost inevitably seem to sound the death knell for that blog. The last few months have been some of the busiest of my life; finishing this doctoral degree will be a real accomplishment, and it will happen this spring. Of course, to guarantee that, other aspects of life have gone by the wayside. Things like, oh, brewing and blogging. I'm very much looking forward to having time to come back to both more strongly, though once school's out the job search gains further momentum (it never stopped).

For now, I'll make a few quick notes on the past year of brewing, based only on my current recollection:

- I would've loved to have brewed more. The class/homework/project/dissertation schedule kept the kettles in the closet, mostly.

- Beers tended to sit much longer than intended before bottling. E.g., the Burton ale is now the best part of two years old, and I'm only now considering the dry hop. Still haven't even tasted it. Guess we'll see what kind of havoc the massive amount of oak cubes--probably 5 oz total?!--have wrought.

- More tasting notes are in order. Still working on that one.

- Utah low-point beer isn't terrible, and the brewers here work their asses off to pack as much flavour as possible into that small amount of alcohol. That being said, I won't be sad if our next home is somewhere outside the state, where full-strength beer is a bit easier to come by.

Right now, I have the Burton ale, a Belgian "amber" strong, and a pale ale in the fermenters. The APA will get the end of last year's locally-picked hops for dry hop in the next couple days, and the Burton will finally get its final dosing of Goldings soon. I look forward to writing all about each of these beers as soon as possible. Til then, prosit.

Local Cider '13

In the fall of 2012, DeAunn and I managed quite a haul from harvesting fruit, mostly apples along with some pears, and produced a few mini-batches of cider and perry.  The straight cider turned out decently; the other batches picked up infections and were dumped.  While we exerted a lot of energy grinding and pressing the fruit on our own for a very small yield, it was an experience that brought a connection to the ingredients that's hard to get otherwise.

This fall, a friend pointed me toward a different source from which to gather fruit straight from the trees.  They were all culinary apples, but in several varieties; the diversity was definitely welcome.  In addition, I was also able to gather some crabapples from the same plot.  After last year I did a little bit of cider homework, looking to enhance the flavour of what had turned out to be, after fermentation removed the simple sugars, a dry, somewhat bland beverage.  Adding crabapples to the mix seemed like a good way to introduce the acidic and tannic characters culinary apples lack.  Before getting down to juicing, the apples were also allowed to sit for the better part of three weeks to "sweat"; the natural yeast begins to ferment the fruit sugars, breaking down the cell structure and making the apples easier to process.

And so, one November weekend when DeAunn was out of town, I pulled a solo all-nighter preparing and juicing the apples...with our small consumer-grade juicer.  Yes, it took all night and into the early morning, but the juicer actually did a pretty good job.  My hands were a wreck by the end from being constantly wet for hours on end; gloves would've been a good move.  In the end, I had almost three gallons of cider ready for fermentation.  Since it had sat out in the open air all night, I gently heat pasteurized the batch before pitching.  After about three weeks in the fermenter, it was ready for bottling.

I cannot say enough nice things about how this cider turned out.  The crabapples were definitely a good idea; their acidity and tannins gave the cider real heft and character, and balanced well with the touch of residual sweetness left after fermentation.  While it was much more work than ciders I've made from store- (or orchard-) bought juice, the final quality was much greater, and my enmeshment in the process was much deeper.

As homebrewers, we have to really work to connect with our ingredients; while we can grow our own hops, isolating suitable yeast cultures on our own requires a substantial amount of work (which a number of folks admirably put in), and growing and malting enough of our own grain to sustain this as a year-round habit is pretty much out of the question for anyone living in an urban or suburban setting.  Working on the fruit for this cider allowed me to really get in on the ground level of the ingredients in a way that I probably will never be able to do with barley malt and saccharomyces.  It made the final product that much more enjoyable.  My next cider will undoubtedly come from store-bought juice, and I'd still encourage anyone looking to try cider making to go this route.  If one day the opportunity to pick your own apples and choose the balance of fruit going into the cider presents itself, though, go for it; it takes the "easy" out of making cider, but we're not really doing this because it's easy, are we?

NB: After making this cider, I came across a couple very recent resources that may interest those looking to take their own steps into fermenting pomme fruit.  The first is an article in the Nov/Dec issue of Zymurgy that covered a side-by-side comparison of different brewing yeasts for making cider.  The results suggested using British strains for suitable ester character and favourable residual sweetness; WLP002 or 004 may be what I try next.  The second resource is Drew Beechum's recent book, The Everything Hard Cider Book, about which I learned from an interview with the author on the Brewing Network's The Session podcast.  Drew's book focuses on how to make good cider with readily available juices and other materials, as well as how to use this type of cider as a basis for experimentation.  It's one I'm planning to pick up before too long.  Hope these help.

Local Cider ‘13 - From apples & crabapples picked in residential SLC

Batch size: 2.8 gallons
OG: 13.2P (1.052)

3 ½ buckets various varieties of apples & crabapples
WLP775 English Cider yeast

Brewday: 2 November 2013
Let apples sit for 2 ½ weeks after picking.
Processed apples with home juicer; VERY labour-intensive process.
Strained, pasteurized at 160F for ~10 minutes, chilled, pitched.
Fermented at ~65F ambient.

Bottled: 22 November 2013
FG: 1.005
ABV: 6.4%
Bottled with 2.7 oz table sugar and rehydrated champagne yeast.