HomebrewandBeer.com forum

Wassa wrote:Sorry Jacko, I only just saw your post.

Yellowbox is a type of tree over here in Oz and therefore Yellowbox honey is made from the the Yellowbox flowers.

Manuka honey or any type of honey that is not from a Eucalypt tree will make this brew. Eucalypts (ie most gum trees) leave you with a brew that tastes like eucalyptus.

Interestingly, Yellow Box is a type of Eucalypt.. along with Stringybark, Ironbark, Red Gum, Blue Gum...

I've wondered for a while about more specific types of Eucalypt honey - for example, whether some are good for beer while others aren't. Does anyone have any further knowledge, or personal findings, on the topic? Perhaps this warrants a new thread...

Made this recipe using Blue Gum honey.

All you could taste was Eucalyptus. Was undrinkable.

I love this one so much I'm planning to make it again later this week.

I do have some Ironbark honey in the cupboard but based on Wassa's last post I'd better get down the shops and pick up some Yellowbox.

Thanks for the heads up.

Throsby,

Yeah get some yellow box or if you can get any some clover honey.

I have the makings to put one down this weekend.

Going to use:

Cascade Mahogany Porter
1.5kg LDME
600gm Yellowbox Honey and up the Cascade hops to 20gm to offset the extra honey
make up to 20 litres

Wait 3 months and then start drinking and enjoying.

I have 30 bottles been maturing for 1 month now, so need to brew some more so I have a goos stock for winter.

I'm also putting it down this weekend or so but shall be sticking fairly close to the original recipe.

I am however replacing the dry malt with liquid malt, as I have a tin lying around.


The first one I made it to 23L and just can't find any fault in the beer. It's spectacular.

Should I make a smaller batch this time to see the difference or stick with what I love? 20L you say you're doing??

Yeah Throsby, I'm only making 20 litres.

I alternate, 23 litres makes a nice easy drinking porter, but 20 litres increases the flavour bases and gives a richer tasting more heavily boied brew. I am making my one out of liquid malt this time as well, only because I have a can of malt yet to be used.

Regards,

Wassa

Guy's, what colour is your beer coming out at?! Just took a reading and it is down to 1016 after 2 weeks, think it's done. Was quite surprised to see it come out brownish in colour rather than darker black. I thought porter was getting close to a stout? Anyway I also have a faint aroma of banana, is this also normal, from the hops maybe? I was expecting grapefruit aroma rather than banana but never used these hops before so unsure.

By the way I tasted the sample and almost gulped the lot down, tasted great, I can tell that this is going to probably be my best beer yet already. It has bitterness, hop flavour, complexity, great stuff.

Cheers

Jacko,

It comes out a darkish browwn. It depends a lot on the malt you use as well. This kit is not a dark kit to start with, it is a reddish brown. Keeping in mind that a porter can be anything from a darkish ale to rivalling a stout and you have a lot to work with.

I just find it to be a great beer, it has good taste, nice bitterness and if you concentrate you can taste the honey overtones on your back palate.

Regards,

Wassa

Thanks Wassa. I used Dark Dry Malt in the recipe. Bottled it last night and it was dark brown as you described, I always thought porter was black like stout so learnt something there. How much sugar do you prime your bottles with? I made 29 bottles, first 15 were a full prime (1 teaspoon) and the other 14, 3/4 teaspoon of sugar. I quite like a porter without too much gas so have to see how both batches come out. Can't wait to start drinking it.

Cheers

I always use a full teaspoon. The only time I bulk primed my then brewing mate overestimated the amount of sugar and it was terrible.

Using a teaspoon gives you a good carbonation and I find that with the honey there is a better head retention and a creamier tighter head.

Regards,

Wassa

I just picked up a Cascade Mahogany Porter kit on special @ Coles $10.00 I thought too good a deal to miss.

So I'll be putting this one on soon, just a couple questions please,
Recipe :
1 can Cascade Mahognay Porter
1 kg Dark dry malt extract
500gm Yellowbox Honey
20gm Cascade Hops
Safale Yeast

Can I substitue the DDME with 1.5kg Dark Liquid Malt Extract(Coopers) is there much of a difference between the two ?
20gm Cascade Hops, Do I do a 15min boil for all the 20gm hops the teabag style then just chuck the liquid and the hopsbag in the fermenter altogether ?
What would the ideal temps for this one to ferment at as well ?

Thanks.

Slayer,

The dark malt will be fine. 1.5kg of liquid malt equals 1kg of dry malt.

I don't tend to use a hop teabag or do a boil. I dry hop prior to pitching yeast. If you have a teabag just add boiling water and let stand for 10 minutes and then add liquid and teabag to the wort in the fermenter.

I would recommend using Safale S04 as the yeast in place of the kit yeast.

Regards,

Wassa

Cheers Wassa, thanks for the help.

I'll probably go with the 1.5kg Dark liquid malt as I have some here already and I'll go with the Safale yeast as well.

Sorry to be a bit of a thread grave digger!

I put down a porter last week.

1 Can Cascade Chocolate Mahogany Porter
1kg of Coopers Light Dry Malt
500g of Honey
Cascade Yeast.

Can I expect some thing similar to above, the only things I did was used LDM instead of DDM and didnt use any hops, this is mainly due to the supply of these where I live is pretty dismal.

I also did'nt boil the ingredients, I just put it together as the can instructed (kettle), this ended up leaving a lot of the LDM Lumpy! Put it down to inexperience, I'm going to start boiling everything on the stove from now on! Should I worry about the lumpy LDM or will the yeast be fine getting through it all?

Don't worry about the LDME lumps. The yeasties will get those, no worries.

As for the dismal LHBS situation, check this guy out: http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/ His service and range is pretty great. Dunno where you are but if you have a mailbox then he is worth using.

The only difference is it will be lighter in colour and won't have the richer flavour that DDME gives.

With the hops, I use hop pellets and just dry hop. If you don't have the pellets then use the tea bag. I don't bother with a 15 minute boil. This is a simple, easy recipe that turns out extraordinarily well.

Well, I think I've stuffed it!

Until last night, I've never had a beer that tasted like Oyster Sauce.......

It's only been bottled for 2 weeks but what I do is bottle one 330ml bottle to use as a "taster" to see if the beer will atleast be drinkable in the 30 other longnecks.

I dont know if it's infected as it actually has an underlying beer taste. It may be the unknown "Generic" Honey I used?

I will try one of the long necks in a few days, if it tastes the same then I'll tip the lot out. I really couldnt see this one improving over time.

Original Post and recipe is two posts above.

Just a quick question, as I'm making this recipe today, would this be OK kegged? I don't think I'll be able to wait 3 months to try it and I keg most of my beer as I hate washing bottles. I ussully get a keg and about half a dozen 500ml bottles per brew just to compare the different tastes after letting the bottles age.

I have mine in keg at the moment and its tasting great. Best left for a few weeks though imo.

Many thanks to Wassa for this recipe, sounds great, I've just put one down, except I only had 375gm of Yellow Box available, and kept the cascade hops at 15gm. Hopefully should turn out very similar even though it has less honey.