Homebrew Review - Porter

Several of my friends were surprised when they found out I was brewing a porter. As a relatively new convert to proper beer, my preference had always been for the pale ales over the dark ones and if that's what I enjoy drinking, that's what I tended to brew.

But, over the last year or so, I've not had such an aversion to the dark malts. I've enjoyed the odd commercial porter here and there, not to mention a friend's Imperial Russian Stout which I've really taken a liking too. So, the time was definitely right for me to have a crack at a porter and this was brewed last November.

This wasn't a strong, historical, porter mind, but more like the Fuller's version. The original recipe is here and the original gravity came in at 1.048

Porter

So what was it like? Not bad. I've enjoyed drinking it and it was well received at my local homebrewing group and some of them know a thing or two about brewing dark beers.

With an inviting scent of coffee and chocolate, the aroma was good, the colour was maybe slightly lighter than expected, but the off-white head laced the glass and didn't dissipate until half-way through.

The dark malts didn't produce the intense acrid taste I tend to dislike, but formed a light mellow flavour, which made for an easy-drinking pint. In all honesty, it was probably a bit lightweight for the style, but as my first porter attempt I was happy enough. Next time, I might increase the brown malt go for something a bit more intense.

Once I've finished this post, I'm off to crush malt for another brew tomorrow.