Goat Scrotum Ale - Part 1

A porter from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
ABV: Unknown
IBU: Unknown

Ingredients:

• 5.0 pounds Monsons Dark Malt Extract
• 16 oz Medium Crystal Malt
• 4 oz Roasted Barley
• 4 oz Black Patent Malt
• 2 oz Saaz Czech Pellet Hops
• 1.5 oz for boiling
• 0.5 oz for finishing
• 1.0 cup Brown Sugar
• 1.0 cup Brer Rabbit Molasses
• 2.0 tsp gypsum
• 1.0 inch brewing licorice stick
• 2.0 tsp spruce essence, or new spruce growth
• Yeast: WYEAST 1098
• 0.75 cup corn sugar
• for bottling

Single-Stage Fermentation

The Primal fermenting in front of the Irish Red

Ramius and I were joined by our old friend Tegan for the brewing of this iconic porter. Based on Charlie's description of this porter, it seems to be a great unknown - that is, it is what you make it. Thus, we set out to create our own version of this primal beer. I must note here that Tegan hates dark beers... hopefully this Primal Porter helps her change her mind!

This batch went much more smoothly compared to the Irish Red. The boiling seemed to take less time to occur and we were able to use the wort chiller, which brought the temperature to below 75 degrees Fahrenheit within about 10 minutes. Further, we activated the yeast packet at the beginning of the brewing process, so there were no worries about the yeast being fully activated after heating, chilling, and placing the wort into our 5 gallon glass carboy. Setting up the fermentation cap and hose was initially no problem, but after fermentation activities really picked up on Day 2 I had to attach a rubber-band around the base of the fermentation cap so the liquid being ejected didn't escape the fermentation hose. On the Day 4, I replaced the fermentation cap 'n' hose with a stopper and 3-piece airlock.