How to Home Brew a Porter

Porter is a type of beer named after the transportation workers it was said to have been popular with. It was developed in the 1700s and reports show it to be a blend of mild, new and old ales. The original porters were more than 7 percent alcohol by volume. The following steps explain how to home brew a porter.

Things You'll Need

• 6.6 lbs. Telford's Porter malt extract (2 cans)
• 12 oz. Wyeast #1056 (approximately)
• 1 oz. Styrian Goldings hops plugs (5.3 percent AA)
• 1 oz. Hallertauer hops plugs (2.9 percent AA)

Instructions

1. Bring 3 gallons of water to a boil and add the malt extract. Raise the mash back to a boil and add the Styrian Goldings plugs as a bittering hops. Use a hop bag, if desired. This will reduce the utililization, but these malts are already pre-hopped to some extent.

2. Boil the mash for 50 minutes, add the Hallertauer plugs as a finishing hops and boil for another 10 minutes. Top off to 5 gallons with tap water.

3. Cool the mash to 75 F and pitch about the yeast and starter. Fermentation should begin within 12 hours.

4. Allow the wort to ferment for several months to a year before bottling.

5. Expect the wort from this recipe to have an original gravity of 1.048 and a final gravity of 1.02. It should produce well-balanced porter that is not too dry or sweet.

Resources

• More About Porter