Thursday, December 8, 2016

December 8 - Breckenridge Nitro Vanilla Porter

Look at that beautiful yeast in the background...and the Christmas cup I tried to dress the photo up with!

Tonight was my first experience attempting to harvest yeast from a batch of homebrew.  I'm hoping to save some cash (even just a little) and use a pretty kickin' yeast strain again in the future for free.  I'm getting it after transferring my homebrewed IPA to my secondary carboy to condition and clarify.  



The YouTube how-to video I watched recommended to have a beer while I waited for things to settle out before capping the 2 mason jars of sludgy goodness.  Well, if you say so!

Tonight we are trying for the first time on nitrogen Breckridge Brewery's Nitrogen Vanilla Porter.  The regular version of this beer is a pretty decent choice for this time of year if you've never had it.  I first had it a few years back in their 12-pack sampler along with some other staples from this brewery.  Last year, around this time, these guys were bought out by Anheuser-Busch InBev, who has made a push in recent months to acquire a few craft beer companies.  Some folks shy away from anything the beer conglomerate owns, but I say, if they made good beer before, hopefully they'll do the same afterwards.  I'll keep drinking them until the QC goes downhill.



You can do the science on your own, but with a few canned beers like Guinness, for example, there is a widget added to release some nitrogen which makes for a creamier and smoother beer experience. 



Pretty quick synopsis here before I get back to yeast harvesting...ahem...

The beer poured a light, mahogany brown color with lots of clarity and a creamy head on the top.  The aroma was full of roasted malt, vanilla, and some hints of coffee while the flavor was pretty much the same.  The nitrogen made this for a really smooth, enjoyable beer tonight.  Having the original version before, I knew that this would definitely be a safe choice and a middle of the road choice for tonight since I have other stuff to focus on.  

A solid 3 out of 5 tonight!

Sometime the nitrogen messes with the flavor of the original beer, but not here tonight!  This went down pretty quick tonight at 5.4% ABV.  I may need another!


Cheers!!! :)

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