Its been a while since I last brewed, about a month now, so I decided it was time to do something for Halloween. Its an Imperial Porter with pumpkin and spices called It's the Great Pumpkin Porter, Charlie Brown!
Inspired by a recipe at BYO for a chocolate porter along with some advice from BeerAdvocate I brewed this up today:
| Amount | Item | Type | % or IBU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 lbs | Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) | Grain | 83.5 % |
| 1 lbs | Biscuit (Dingemans) (22.5 SRM) | Grain | 7.0 % |
| 1 lbs | Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM) | Grain | 7.0 % |
| 4.0 oz | Crystal Dark (80.0 SRM) | Grain | 1.7 % |
| 2.0 oz | Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) | Grain | 0.9 % |
| 1.00 oz | Chinook [11.90%] (60 min) | Hops | 45.9 IBU |
| 1.00 oz | Goldings, B.C. [5.50%] (0 min) | Hops | - |
| 0.11 oz | Cinnamon Stick (Boil 30.0 min) | Misc | |
| 0.55 gm | Cloves (Secondary) | Misc | |
| 1.10 oz | Ginger Root (Boil 15.0 min) | Misc | |
| 1.65 gm | Mace (Boil 15.0 min) | Misc | |
| 1.65 gm | Nutmeg (Ground) (Boil 15.0 min) | Misc | |
| 2.00 gm | Mace (Secondary) | Misc | |
| 3.00 gm | Ginger Root (Secondary) | Misc | |
| 3.00 gm | Nutmeg (Ground) (Secondary) | Misc | |
| 5.50 lb | Roasted Pumpkin (Mash) | Misc | |
| 6.00 gm | Cinnamon Stick (Secondary) | Misc | |
| 8.00 oz | Malto-Dextrine (Boil 5.0 min) | Misc | |
| 1 Pkgs | Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007) | Yeast-Ale |
So far it smeels and tastes great with a rich chocolatey body and a slight amount of spice and pumkin in the background. The color is black as night, perfect for a good Halloween party. I mixed up a starter 2 days ago and the yeast went into the carboy and started active fermentation within a few hours of picthing
Original Gravity is 1.075
Est. Final Gravity is 1.018
Est. ABV 7.3%
To celebrate the season, I whacked off the tip of my finger — well, most of the fingernail on my index finger of my left hand — while cutting up veggies for dinner. Blood everywhere. Yay.
Let me be the first to wish you a Happy Halloween.
