I recently brewed a Brown Porter. My wife had bought me some juniper berries figuring Icould make her some gin. I told her that wasn't going to happen but I thought the flavor would blend well with a porter.
I started out by adding 1 oz well crushed (mortar and pestle) berries at 10 minutes. I checked the flavor after a week in the fermentor and there wasn't much. I threw another ounce in a food processor (dropped the marble pestle and it broke). It didn't crush up all that well. I soaked in vodka until saturated and put it in a tea infuser making sure the liquid went into the fermentor.
After a week there still was not much flavor or aroma so I got a new mortar and pestle and crushed another ounce, soaked and added to the bucket for another 10 days. This time it worked, big flavor and good aroma.
I think if I crushed the 2nd ounce I would not have had to add the third or maybe just a half.
It is now going on two months and the juniper flavor has dropped some but that is good because it was a little overpowering.
As for the recipe.
13 oz Brown Malt
4 oz Black Patent Malt
3 oz Briess Chocolate Malt 350 L
All steeped at 155 for 1 hour
7 lb Briess DME Golden Light added late boil @15 minutes
1.5 oz US Halletau whole leaf @60 minutes
1 oz East Kent Goldings pellet @ 10 minutes
Wyeast 1028 London Ale 1 liter starter
I am very impressed with the results so far. It is a decent porter with good flavor and aroma from the berries. I do think as time passes the juniper flavor will fade though. I am going to try to keep a few to test long term but I am having a hard time not drinking them.
I started out by adding 1 oz well crushed (mortar and pestle) berries at 10 minutes. I checked the flavor after a week in the fermentor and there wasn't much. I threw another ounce in a food processor (dropped the marble pestle and it broke). It didn't crush up all that well. I soaked in vodka until saturated and put it in a tea infuser making sure the liquid went into the fermentor.
After a week there still was not much flavor or aroma so I got a new mortar and pestle and crushed another ounce, soaked and added to the bucket for another 10 days. This time it worked, big flavor and good aroma.
I think if I crushed the 2nd ounce I would not have had to add the third or maybe just a half.
It is now going on two months and the juniper flavor has dropped some but that is good because it was a little overpowering.
As for the recipe.
13 oz Brown Malt
4 oz Black Patent Malt
3 oz Briess Chocolate Malt 350 L
All steeped at 155 for 1 hour
7 lb Briess DME Golden Light added late boil @15 minutes
1.5 oz US Halletau whole leaf @60 minutes
1 oz East Kent Goldings pellet @ 10 minutes
Wyeast 1028 London Ale 1 liter starter
I am very impressed with the results so far. It is a decent porter with good flavor and aroma from the berries. I do think as time passes the juniper flavor will fade though. I am going to try to keep a few to test long term but I am having a hard time not drinking them.
