Cregtoob's English Porter

[Smithy]

 

Looks interesting

[GrahamB8]

yeh I watched that one, my initial reaction was too much crystal but his reaction to the finished product had me wondering.

 

[Smithy]

Yeah I thought the exact same thing when I saw it too! I even said to the mrs that it was too much. But it worked so why not!

[Guest]

I don't dispute that what he ends up with is a nice beer. However, a few things I noted that I do differently and not to say that these are wrong, just saying I do differently and I think for the better:

 

1/ The LME should have been added before the hops and only about 2/3 of the tin. This way the wort can be brought to the boil and kept boiling for the hops addition and not a case of losing your boil after the hops have been added.

 

2/ He poured the whole brew into the FV without straining. Therefore, all the hotbreak and hop bebris would have went into the FV.

 

3/ He should have added all the remaining ingredients to the boil at flameout. Not the can of goo to the FV after.

 

4/ 1 tablet of Whirlfloc is too much to add to an 11 litre boil. I successfully use half a tablet to 23-27 liters and in this case too little is better than too much.

 

5/ Quoted, "I think we have achieved a little bit of sediment from opening the bottle". Well dur!!!.... everyone knows that when a bottle is handled like that then you are going to upset the sediment.

 

I loved the move he made turning up the sound effects for the big moment of popping open the bottle.

 

With regards to the amount of Crystal used, when taken his other ingredients into account, this should be fine. The choc malt tends to be a little bitter, in search for a better description, coupled with the added Fuggles at what was meant to be 10 minutes but ended up 15, should offset the sweetness extracted from the crystal.

 

Having said all this, his methods are ok, not the best but provided they work for him then who cares [cool]

 

I also want to give this guy credit for posting his method on Youtube in angst of scrutiny. Kudos to him!!

[Smithy]

Haha yeah I paused the vid when he popped in the whole tablet and said to the mrs that you should only use half a tab in a full boil, so that was overkill. And I was surprised about him pouring it all in with sediment and all!

 

I must say that his methods have improved from when he first started. Even though he forgot to pour the kit can in before cooling.

 

I kind of want to give it a go at some point and see how it turns out.

[Guest]

I reckon it would definitly be worth a go. It sounds, and looks, like a nice drop.

 

One other thing I should add is don't worry about the wirlfloc if you don't have any. I never use it in small boils anyway and I don't bother whirlpooling either.

[Smithy]

I do have a question in regards to that, though.

The brew I put down on the weekend used pellet hops for boil, and I had them in a bag, but a lot of mess got out into the pot.

When putting into FV, I strained the wort through a piece of fabric that took out all of the sediment. I think the fabric is voila?

 

Is this necessary? Would I have taken too much out of it?

 

Cheers

[Guest]

I strain through Swiss Voile material as well. I get heaps of gung.

 

At this point the only thing you need from straining is the wort. Everything else can be removed. The hops have already done their job so they are no longer needed and the rest is just crap that is not needed either.

 

[GrahamB8]

yeh Swiss Voile is the go, I get mine from Spotlight for about $5/m

 

Craig is a great introduction into brewing and his vids are great viewing but his practices can be a little sketchy, Im looking forward to his first all grain if he ever get around to it.