It’s getting to that time of year again — the leaves are starting to yellow, pears and apples are nearly ready, and spiders are everywhere. The perfect excuse to brew a porter.
Porter is a dark ale with roots going back to 18th-century London. It’s brewed with roasted malts that give it a characteristic deep colour and a flavour profile built around dark chocolate, coffee, caramel, and sometimes a hint of liquorice. It’s the perfect autumn and winter beer — warming, complex, and deeply satisfying.
I’ve brewed a batch of porter that should last until Christmas — though I might get another brew in before then. I also made some tepache alongside this (and I’ll be making some mead for Christmas too). The brew day went smoothly and the wort looked dark and rich going into the fermenter.
After two weeks fermenting it’s time to bottle. The gravity had dropped nicely, confirming fermentation was complete. Bottling day is always satisfying — seeing a batch of clear, dark beer going into bottles with just a touch of priming sugar to create natural carbonation.
Looking good! Just have to wait a week or so for it to condition in the bottles and build up natural carbonation. The anticipation is always the hardest part of homebrewing.
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