Taking the Mash Temperature
There are a lot of attractive reasons to brew a Porter. Besides the obvious ones like how cool it would be to brew a beer people might actually want to drink more than one of, Porter gives you the chance to work on your maltiness while staying within the comfort zone of Ales, giving a homebrewer the opportunity to branch out from more yeast and hop dominated flavor profiles. Porter is one of my favorite styles of beer, from the simple British Style Porter to the heavier Baltic versions. A gift from my wife of a 3lb can of Oregon Cherry Purree coupled with a desire to explore Porter brewing cemented the idea in my head — a Cherry Robust Porter — a beer that could mix the aroma and flavor of cherries with the chocolatey, somewhat roasty qualities of Porters that I love. Sounded like a good challenge.
I purchased a 55lb bag of Maris Otter for my base malt, and was able to locally source all of the other specialty malts (as in buy them locally, not find them in a locally produced form). The cherries I already had, and for a nice neutral ale yeast, I chose to culture from a bottle of Bell’s, which I plan to reuse if this batch goes well. I started a starter with the yeast from a bottle of Bell’s Pale Ale, and stirred it and shook it for about a week before I brewed. A nice thick layer of yeast sediment built up in the flask, and I knew I was ready to go.
Mash Tun, Hot Liquor Tank, Boil Kettle
I still haven’t been able to test my outdoor brewing setup because of windy days and extreme cold, so I was back to the stovetop. I started the day in a leisurely way, heating my mash water while I did some other cleaning. All told, this was my smoothest brew session yet, again mostly a solo mission, and I feel like I really know my setup and procedure.
Here’s the full recipe:
Cherry Robust Porter for 5 Gallons
12# Maris Otter Pale Malt / 2# Munich Malt / 1# Black Patent / 1# Chocolate Malt / 1# Honey Malt
1.75oz Sterling Hops @ 60 mins
Mashed at 151 f (was aiming for 154), sparged with 6 gallons of 170 f water for 45 minutes. 60 minute boil.
Cooled down to 90 f in about 20 minutes due to some weirdness with hoses (fix this!), then covered and pitched the next morning at 64 degrees after a lot of shaking for aeration. Moved back up to kitchen which is consistently 64 during the day (it’s cold) and vigiorous fermentation within 12 hours. Smells very roasty and looks very dark so far — very excited. Will move to secondary on the cherries when attenuation is about 65% or 70% complete.
OG 1.080, Target FG 1.015, Target ABV 8.5%
Historical British beer styles are among the greatest benefactors of the American Craft Beer scene, as they were the first and the most widely accepted of the various International cultures to be ressurected, redefined, and essentially kept alive by the tenacity (read: insanity) of American Brewers. While Belgian beers are more popular right now in terms of the vanguard of American Brewing, we still have the Brits to thank for our beloved session beers, our Milds, Bitters, Pale Ales, and for our first contributions to the “Ex****e Beer” movement like Double IPAs and Imperial Stouts. The foundation of American beer as it pertains to England, coupled with the depth and breadth of British beer styles that are documented has lead to a long, slow synthesis process where some British beers become thoroughly American. Other styles are so unique in their initial conception and so narrow in their historical context that while American versions may outnumber those produced in England by scores, they still struggle to remain thoroughly English. Old Ale, also known as Stock Ale, is one of these styles.
The frequency and awesomeness of Beer Events in Brooklyn is reaching a frightening crescendo. Almost nightly you can cruise to various parts of the five boroughs and drink several lines of fresh brew from one of any of the hundreds of breweries that make it to Gotham — and that’s just the events which focus on single breweries. Three days later I’ve just barely mustered up the courage to sit down and write about the massive explosions inside my skull that occurred throughout the last event at The Gate, celebrating Northern California’s Bear Republic.
One other way that Stone is exploring the possibilites of brewing and stretching the boundaries of commercial beer is to participate in collaborations with other breweries. Collaborations are all the rage right now, both in the US and in Europe, where “gypsy brewers” like 
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