The Power of Yeast

Well, after a little over two months in secondary, we finally got around to bottling my latest homebrew, a porter. When I transferred to the secondary fermenter, I added a whole vanilla bean that was soaked in Jack Daniels for a couple of weeks. I also added the Jack Daniels. Unfortunately, there’s not much vanilla flavor; next time I’ll add another bean and cut them open, but there is a nice caramel flavor to the uncarbonated beer.

The big lesson with this batch is the effects of yeast on the beer. I used a Burton Ale yeast from White Labs. I should’ve known better (he says now), as I don’t really care for the “twang” of Bass Ale. Well, in my porter, you certainly get that Bass-like yeastiness. It was certainly interesting to see just how much of an effect the yeast has on the beer.

It’s not my best work, but it is still drinkable. It’s actually a bit lighter in color than I’d like. Maybe with some carbonation and time it will improve. I hope so, because I was planning on using some as gifts!

Labour Day Porter 2.0

12-C Baltic Porter

8.0 lb Dry Light Extract

1 lb American Chocolate Malt

.5 lb Caramunich® TYPE III

.5 lb British Crystal 55°L

1.0 oz Fuggle (4.0%) – added during boil, boiled 7 min

1.5 oz Super Styrian (7.0%) – added during boil, boiled 20 min

1 oz Super Styrian (7.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60 min

8.00 fl oz White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale

1.0 ea Vanilla (whole bean) – added dry to secondary fermenter

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