It has been a while since I tried brewing my black ale using the BIAB method due to the constant failure I have been experiencing: first it was totally undrinkable and went down the drain, and the second time I ended up with a mild. I took the plunge and tried again and I think I’m finally making some progress: a good porter that disguises itself as a black ale – not the best, but better.
The biggest problem I encountered, which all home brewers need to deal with with, is that on the evening of brewing, I realised that I didn’t have the ingredients I needed to make the black ale as I originally planned. But I wanted to brew, so I improvised. The mix of grains was pretty far from my original conversion of the extract-based recipe, and that led to a pretty different grain flavour but with a similar hop profile.
To experiment with the recipe, I made an extract-based batch a few days before the BIAB batch so they would ferment at the same time and I would be able to do a head-to-head tasting. That really helped in identifying the problems. The bottom line is that I ended making a porter that was over-hopped and too aromatic, disguising itself as a black ale until it warms up a little and then the hops aroma evaporates. I will be trying to make the black ale again with my original plan, but I will also try and use this grain base to make a porter, despite deciding not to try making porters anymore. The recipe:
Mash
1.25kg of Crushed Pale Malt (by Balliihoo)
5 litres of boiled Brita filtered London tap water, start temp before grains: 74°c, after grains addition: 68°c
The mash was kept in an insulated pot (covered my boiling pot with a towel)
60 minutes into the mash: temp was 68°c, and I added:
- 55g Chocolate malt
- 150g Roasted barley
- 150g Crystal malt
- 50g Carafa special 3
Grains taken out and drained (+ squeezed) after 90 minutes total, at 59°c.
Roughly 4l mash was left with 1074 gravity at 50°c, or 1076 adjusted.
Yeast
5g Safale US-05 dissolved in 500ml Brita filtered London water (23°c) and 5g dextrose
Left to activate from the beginning of the boil, about 2 hours.
Wort (boil)
4l mash water brought to an immediate boil on a very high flame
60 minutes: 80g dextrose
30 minutes: 15g Fuggles hops (5.68%), 5g Target hops (12.17%) and 1L boiled Brita water
15 minutes: 20g Fuggles hops (5.68%)
0 minutes: in the ice bath with 8g Fuggles hops (5.68%) and 7g Simcoe hops (12.3%)
Wort was a total of 3.5l with a gravity of 1074 at 92°c, 1077 adjusted
1L Brita water added to cool down
After 40 minutes the wort reached 26°c and was filtered into the fermenter, with 4.5 litres left after the boil.
Fermentation
4.5L of the cooled wort was added to 1L Brita filtered London tap water and the yeast mix
Total of 6L with OG=1044 at 24°c.
Drinking while making
Dry hop (a week after brewing)
Added 20g Simcoe hops
Bottling (2 weeks after brewing)
FG=1011, making it a 4.42% ABV beer.
Total of 6L, or 12x500ml bottles
30g dextrose added for priming to achieve a CO2 volumes of 1.9.
Tasting notes
Very dark colour, almost black with a brown foamy head. On closer inspection you can see it is not quite black, but more dark brown. Aroma is very similar to the black ale I’ve been making so far – earthy, a bit spicy and green.
Taste is round and malty, more like a porter than a black ale. Has notes of roast, sweetness and coffee – more than I planned or thought I’d get. Less metallic than the extract version, but at the end of the day it is not quite “it.”
Once the beer warmed up a bit and the hop aroma evaporated, it is clearly more of a porter with nice and smooth coffee and nutty notes. Though this is not the Black Ale I was trying to make, it makes for a great porter and I want to try it again but with less hoppy characteristics.