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Originally brewed as a stout but completely got grain bill wrong. Stout name would have been N'Black. OG 1059 29 may 00h30 Airlock bubbling within 8 hours. Too light in colour Tested 1 June. Light colour. Gravity at 1021. Gave FV an agitation as airlock not bubbling much. Temp constant at 20C Taste. Ok. Bit of roast but too much acidity and slight off taste? Chlorophenols? Think it comes from some old crystal malt. Have chucked the malt. As a stout need to redo with more choc malt and roasted barley. Can't tell what Bramling Cross is doing tho could smell blackcurrants coming out of FV. Fruit was too pronounced but after 4 weeks in primary it mellowed. Not a stout but a decent porter. Bottled with creme de cassis on 6 July 2014 What follows is exchange with Andy Parker @tabamatu on how i might improve it Here’s my gut feel on it: Lose the roasted barley. Add dark crystal to the same SRM, reduce pale if needed. Use a clean high AA hop to bitter to ~35 IBU at 60 mins. Add 25% of the BX at 5 mins and the rest at flameout and step/whirlpool for aroma. It’s a low AA so won’t add too much bitterness. 5 IBU say (could calculate utilisation). The rest looks good. Andy, On 16 Oct 2014, at 21:45, Hobbstacle <hobbstacle@gmail.com> wrote: Thks. Here's the recipe. http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/539517/london-kir-blackcurrant-porter-ag5 Sent from my iPhone On 16 Oct 2014, at 21:19, Andy Parker <andy_parker@mac.com> wrote: Hard to comment without looking at the recipe but if you’re removing the barley don’t reduce hops too much. I think a simple bittering addition+flameout approach would work. Something like 40 IBUs I’m guessing. Andy. On 16 Oct 2014, at 21:15, Hobbstacle <hobbstacle@gmail.com> wrote: Thanks again. How long would you steep for? And the same amount of hops? What sort of ibu should i be looking for? So many questions! :) A Sent from my iPhone On 16 Oct 2014, at 21:01, Andy Parker <andy_parker@mac.com> wrote: You’re welcome - thanks for the the bottle. I think it was the malts because I could smell the taste I was getting if that makes sense. For a fruity porter I reckon you want low malt and hop bitterness otherwise you won’t taste the fruit. The Bramling X was a good idea - just all in at flameout or steep I reckon. Andy. On 16 Oct 2014, at 20:59, Hobbstacle <hobbstacle@gmail.com> wrote: Thanks for taking the time Andy. Really appreciate it. So the too bitter was coming from just the malt? Do you think i should dial back the hops too? Best Andrew Sent from my iPhone On 16 Oct 2014, at 20:50, Andy Parker <andy_parker@mac.com> wrote: Hi Andrew, So I finally got round to trying this! I thing you’re right - it has the makings of a good beer. First, the malt bill. Personally I’d lose the roasted barley and sub in some dark crystal or something else for sweetness and body. I found it too harsh and roasty - perhaps a bit ’thin' and to a large extent that lost some of the fruit flavours. The aroma was as expected - nice roasty notes that lingered in the glass. Hints of the fruit there too. Flavour, other than being too roasty/bitter was good overall. Enjoyable! Cheers, Andy.