On March 16 I brewed the St. Paul’s Porter kit from Northern Brewer. At the last minute I decided to tweak the recipe by adding a pound of pure clover honey. This addition bumped the original gravity to 1.058 without altering the flavor much, save perhaps for some subtle floral notes in the nose. What the honey did accomplish is bring the ABV up to just about 6%. The brew spent three weeks in the fermenter before being bottled. I popped the top on one about a week ago, mostly for scientific purposes. The beer was still pretty young, the flavors separated and competing against each other. There was a soda like fizz to the carbonation that I’ve experienced in most young beers. Overall, not terrible impressive, but still an adolescent.
Tonight I decided to knock back another one (or two). All I can say is, wow! what a difference a week can make! The roasted flavors have asserted themselves and the chocolate flavors most porters are known for has established a firm base against which the sweeter malt flavors play against. The carbonation isn’t where it could be just yet, but still results in a good inch or better of toffee colored head. Despite being at its bare minimum of maturation, this is still a beer I’d order again at a bar. I’m looking forward to what next week and the week after have in store for me.
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