Jordan and I decided it had been much to long since we had brewed a batch of beer. So we had our friend Taylor over (@theartofbeer on Twitter) and went to the hop shop (Home Brew Mart) to pick up some ingredients. We decided that we were going to try to make a high gravity beer and somewhere along the lines of a porter. We have brewed a few porters before and they have been good, but they weren’t quite what we were looking for. So this time, we added about 4lbs more malt extract to get the alcohol higher. We started this on Sunday 11/22. Most of our beers ferment for about 3-4 days solid, and then are very slow for the next week. This beer, has been going strong for a week now! Our little yeast friends in there are just having a grand old time shooting out the alcohol and eating sugar. We talked to a friend who has been a home brewer for quite a few years and has hopes of opening his own brewery soon and we told him our ingredient list and he told us not only have we created a porter, we made an imperial russian stout based on the OG (original gravity), malt extracts and yeast. Needless to say we are very excited about this beer and next weekend when we put it into the secondary fermenters, we are going to add vanilla beans soaked in whisky to add a nice vanilla to the beer. I will post some pictures of the beer soon and let you all know when it is done and how it tastes.

While enjoying our time brewing, Jordan, Taylor and myself all enjoyed a few delicious beers. We started with Victory at Sea,  from Ballast Point. This is a beautiful Vanilla Coffee Imperial Porter. It is black as night, has little head and the smell is just astounding. Very prominent vanilla with coffee and chocolate from the roasted malts. I start salivating at this point. As soon as this beer hits your lips, you know it loves you and you love it. All of the flavors blend together perfectly, the alcohol isn’t over -powering (even though this beauty packs a punch of 10%abv). This beer will definitely leave you satisfied, but we’re lusty and wanted more.

After the Victory, we moved onto Sculpin, also from Ballast Point. This limited release IPA is amazing. It has a great level of hoppieness that you expect from an IPA, and at 7% abv, it packs a punch. It is a clear gold/yellow color and has very citrusy notes. The taste is very citrusy, one of the most fruit flavorful IPA’s I have had. There is a lingering pine taste that you get from the hops, but it is not overpowering. Wonderful beer.

Because 2 great beers are never enough, we moved onto Carnevale from Lost Abbey. This farmhouse style/saison is a goldish color and cloudy when poured into the glass. This was the lightest beer we had for the day at 6.5% abv and did not have as much of a presence when smelled. It could be though that we moved onto it after having the Sculpin. The taste is very crisp like biting into an apple, but you really get a feel for the spices, the floral hops and definitely a taste of belgian yeast. Again, another amazing beer.

Enjoy and I’ll let you know how the beer turns out!