Fretless Porter

[steveh]

At last I'm pretty sure it was one of Fret's in a trade...

Home-brewed, 12 oz. brown bottle.

Opaque black color with vague orange/amber highlights. Thick, firm, tan head.

Earthy, roasty, chocolate nose with hints of dark fruit.

Caramel and roasted malt flavors, subtle vanilla and coffee finish, mellow dark fruits back. Some vinous tartness with warming, but not at all distracting.

Medium body with a smooth, creamy mouth-feel.

While having a little extract character, the balance of malt flavors and smoothness of this brew are what make this an enjoyable glassfull. Fret can be proud of this one.

S.

[ray m]

Good job, Fret!

[chazwicke]

Fret can you tell us the ABV on this one?

[fretlessman71]

I think it was about 5.5%. There's a sharpness in the character that I attributed to failing to use a starter and letting some of those wild yeastybeasties get a little tiny foothold, but other than that it turned out pretty good. If I can figure out a viable way to make 1 or 2 gallon batches I just may start brewing again soon! :)

[fretlessman71]

Drinking one of these as we speak (I gotta tell ya, this batch started as a stout, but I added a fair amount of lactose to it, and by gosh it turned into a porter!). The sharpness I spoke of before has disappeared, and it's REALLY smooooooooth all of a sudden. Glad I gave up trying them and just let them age for a few more months. Hey - I think today is the 1 year bottling anniversary of this particular brew! Great timing! :D

[kevin]

Fret if you wanted to make a one gallon batch I have seen one gallon buckets with a hole in the lid at Leeners.com they usually use them for small batches of wine, but I imagine in a pinch it'd be ok for beer. Then you would also need a one gallon jug for secondary.

[S.F.B.]

Originally posted by steveh
At last I'm pretty sure it was one of Fret's in a trade...

Home-brewed, 12 oz. brown bottle.

Opaque black color with vague orange/amber highlights. Thick, firm, tan head.

Earthy, roasty, chocolate nose with hints of dark fruit.

Caramel and roasted malt flavors, subtle vanilla and coffee finish, mellow dark fruits back. Some vinous tartness with warming, but not at all distracting.

Medium body with a smooth, creamy mouth-feel.

While having a little extract character, the balance of malt flavors and smoothness of this brew are what make this an enjoyable glassfull. Fret can be proud of this one.

S.

Way to go Fret! :rolleyes:

[fretlessman71]

You know, now that these and my IPA have finally mellowed and are drinkable, I think there's a certain guy who sent me a homebrewing book that I need to send some beer to.... :)
I was honestly going to wait until I had something I was proud of to send, and at the time everything was getting infected. The IPA has been 10 months in the bottle, and is severely overcarbonated; so much so that sending it just isn't an option (ask steveh what happened to his bottle!) Maybe I'll try to recap them, but more experimentation is necessary (with very few bottles left) before I'm comfortable sending those away. But start looking in your mailbox; I just might have some time next week to get this all going! (Gunnut76 too; he's next in line!)

Fret