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| As tasty as it looks! |
Background:
Many brewers love their coffee too - I often find a phenotypic consistency across personalities (aside from the obsessional attention to detail). Among the coffee varieties, I find great pleasure in home-roasting the Sumatran Mandheling beans. These little things are traditionally wet-processed, and I buy the green beans in bulk (I really mean BULK. I buy 25 pounds at a time.) Roasted to a dark Vienna, these are earthy, dark and rich but yet mild on acidity. They are the perfect partner to a porter, provided the blending is done delicately without overshadowing the beer.
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| Yes I know .. I usually use a frying pan to roast beans because I'm too lazy to bring the rotary roaster out |
This porter was originally brewed as an American Porter (BJCP Category 20A) for the 2018 IBC Judging. It was therefore force-carbonated and several bottles filled with a counter-pressure bottler. The rest of the keg continued an extended lagering period (4 months at 2C) and later infused with cold-brewed Sumatra Mandheling coffee beans 2 weeks before serving. Hop additions were mostly late in the boil to maintain their volatile aromatics, in line with an American porter.
For the yeast, I originally did a forced ferment test using the Lithuanian Simonaitis. After tasting the wort though, I changed my mind and switched to using the Voss strain instead, as I had a hunch that the slight burnt orange phenolics produced by Voss would meld nicely with the style. Not disappointed!
Grain Bill:
77% US Pale Ale (2 Row)
7% Chocolate malt
4% White wheat
4% Carapils
4% Crystal 120
4% Flaked oats
4% White wheat
4% Carapils
4% Crystal 120
4% Flaked oats
Hops:
15g Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus @ 15 mins
28g Tettnang @ hopstand
28g Cascade @ hopstand
Water Profile:
52ppm Ca2+
15g Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus @ 15 mins
28g Tettnang @ hopstand
28g Cascade @ hopstand
Water Profile:
52ppm Ca2+
4ppm Mg2+
8ppm Na+
82ppm SO4-
60ppm Cl-
30ppm HCO3-
Mash:
67C for 60 mins
Mashout 75C for 10 mins
Mash:
67C for 60 mins
Mashout 75C for 10 mins
Fermentation:
Voss (Kveik) yeast
Pitched and fermented at 30C
Tasting notes:
Appearance - The beer pours with a solid tan head. It appears dark chocolate in colour but when held to the light, reveals its true color - a deep, clear ruby.
Aroma - prominent but not overpowering coffee notes, complemented by a fragrant, fruity aroma.
Taste - early initial samples had a light, though perceptible, alcoholic presence and earthy phenolic notes which faded out on extended lagering. Bittering is smooth and complements the underlying chocolatey, roast character. There is the character of plum-like notes in the background. The coffee is barely perceptible during tasting, only coming out if you look hard enough.
Mouthfeel - medium body with low-medium carbonation
Appearance - The beer pours with a solid tan head. It appears dark chocolate in colour but when held to the light, reveals its true color - a deep, clear ruby.
Aroma - prominent but not overpowering coffee notes, complemented by a fragrant, fruity aroma.
Taste - early initial samples had a light, though perceptible, alcoholic presence and earthy phenolic notes which faded out on extended lagering. Bittering is smooth and complements the underlying chocolatey, roast character. There is the character of plum-like notes in the background. The coffee is barely perceptible during tasting, only coming out if you look hard enough.
Mouthfeel - medium body with low-medium carbonation
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