Sunday, February 5, 2012

Snowed In Smoked Porter


 All week it seemed like I couldn't have a conversation with someone without the possibility of a big snowfall this weekend coming up.  Coworkers, customers, passersby, even people on the phone.  So Friday we prepared the car lot (I work at Anderson Auto Group) by grouping all the cars together so we could scoop around them easier.  It was wet and cold and everyone was soaked by almost freezing rain.  I made it back home before it really started coming down.

I still had to go into work Saturday morning, but we decided it wasn't going to be a great day to buy cars so we shut it down at about 10:45.  We received about 14" of snow and it's never been colder than 29 degrees.  So since I had the day off, I decided it'd be a good day to make a smoked porter.

I started with a clone of the Cut Throat Porter Recipe from Odell's Brewing Co. and changed it to my tastes.  I like a little smokey flavor in my porters, I made a smoked porter two years ago and I'm not big on dark beers, but this was my favorite by far.

9 lbs. 2-Row Barley
2 lbs. Smoked 2-Row Barley
8 oz. Caramalt
8 oz. Chocolate Malt
4 oz. Crystal 40L
2 oz. Roasted Barley

2.5 oz. Willamette for 60 mins.
.75 oz. Kent Goldings 2 mins.
.25 oz. Northern Brewer 2 mins.
Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast

Here's a picture of all that wonderful Willamette hops in the bag just before I put it in the boiling wort

The mash had a great smokey smell and had a great bitter smell to it as well.  I pitched the yeast and the airlock is nice an bubbly today so I should have a nice smokey beer to keep me warm the last few nights of winter.  Also, since the Groundhog saw his shadow, it'll be nice for the extra 6 weeks of winter.

 Here's my dog, Izzy, having fun in the snow

This beer has been very popular.  I shared it with some of my coworkers and friends and they have all really enjoyed this one.  It's not a thick porter, it almost has more of a brown flavor.  The smoke flavor is also very subtle.  The next time I brew this, I will add more roasted barley and and one more pound of smoked malt.  It will be just a bit more robust and smokey.  I'm looking forward to it.