Batch #2

Yesterday I decided to brew Batch #2 before I even was able to taste my first batch. Taking a risk but I need to keep plowing through so I can become a pro at this thing. So I went to brew shop and decided on a British Pub Porter. I had gone to a Home Brew 101 class in December and they gave us samples of that and I liked it a lot. On a little tangent, I told the clerk that the jugs I had bought last week didn't come with lids. He was being a douche bag and saying that since he wasn't there last week he doesn't know that I didn't get them. Are you fucking serious? I'm going to go in there and try to rip off the shop of four 25 cent lids? Whatever man. So I broke the bank and bought one dollar worth of lids.


Things went much better this brew than they did for Batch #1. I steeped the grains in three quarts of 160 degree water, then sparged the grains with another three quarts. From there I added enough water to the boil pot to bring it to about 3.5 gallons and set it to boil. Once it reached the boil I added the salts. The salts are added to give the water in the beer similar makeup of the water from where the recipe was conceived. In this instance, it was the Thames River that we are trying to duplicate. I also added the first addition of hops.

After 40 minutes I added the second and last set of hops. Many beers have another hops addition. However, Porter style beer is known for its malt flavor. So only adding two additions of hops helps keep that maltiness that you're looking for in a Porter.

At 60 minutes on boil, I cut the gas and set about cooling the wort down. Luckily I did it much faster than my first batch. The first time I think it took around an hour and it wasn't even fully cooled. This time I had the sink set up properly with an ice bath and I even added ice to the wort to cool it down even faster. I've been told by home brewers that adding ice to the wort may not be a good idea because you can't guarantee pure ice and any bacteria in it may ruin your beer. I believe the ice maker who says it's filtered ice, so I'm taking a gamble. It only took me 10 minutes this time.


I added the wort to the Ale Pale, which is a plastic bucket. I added enough water to bring it to the 5 gallon mark. Then I added the yeast, closed the lid and put on the air lock. Now it's just sit and wait time.