Is it just me, or is genuine camaraderie hard to find these days?  The virtual world may seem a viable avenue for fellowship, but it is generally fleeting.  Don’t believe me?  Ask your Xanga account…  Of all the social networking venues I’ve been a part of, none have afforded such a real sense of camaraderie as this site and I value the interaction of readers and  fellow bloggers.

Thus said, when Peter from SimplyBeer suggested a beer bloggers brew off, I didn’t think twice about committing my participation.  The participating bloggers were:

Aaron – Captain’s Chair(@captainschair)
Derek – Luther Public House(@LutherHaus)
Erik – Top Fermented(@topfermented)
Ethan – Geek Beer (@geekbeer)
Joseph – Hopfentreader (@hopfentreader)
Michael – Thank Heaven For Beer (@heavenlybrew)
Nate – Thank Heaven For Beer (@THFBeer_nate)
Peter – Simply Beer (@simplybeer)
Thomas – Beer Genome Progect (@TomBGP)

I’ll be honest…when Peter published sent the participants the base recipe, I was a tad deflated, as Porters (yes, I am aware it is a broad style) aren’t necessarily my favorite style.  In fact, the only “porter” I’ve brewed was more like a dark Roggenbier.  But, the recipe was solid and I was in it for the community brewing, and besides, each brewer was allowed to alter the recipe in one way, by either adding, subtracting, or changing an ingredient.

The problem with this brew is that I just couldn’t figure out what to do?  I rarely follow recipes, so choosing one thing to tweak was like offering 20 varieties of candy to my 3 year old and telling her to choose just one.  I though about adding lactose, but I saw that Aaron from Captains Chair had snagged that idea.  So I settled upon, Mayonnaise.

Just kidding.  To be honest, I never made up my mind, and out of frustration I landed on Maple Syrup, hoping for some minerally and woody qualities.  Here’s the recipe:
9 lbs. Domestic 2-Row barley
16 oz. Chocolate Malt
16 oz. Roasted Barley
4 oz. Flaked Barley
4 oz. Caramel 60°L

1/2 target hops (60min)
1oz tettnang (2 minutes)

60 min mash @ 152
~75 min sparge @170
60 minute boil.

American Ale Yeast (wyeast 1056)

base recipe has estimated gravity of ~1.046 and finish around 1.014.

The brewday went smoothly until the end.  I hit my target mash temp dead on.  The sparge was magnificently simple, and the wort ran quite clear and tasted great.  My problems hit after the boil.  First, as I was chilling my wort, I had the water pressure on too high and a tube blasted off spilling a tiny amount of unboiled water in my wort, and adding 3 minutes to the cool down as I had to get a screwdriver and repair the leak.  Then, as my wort hit 73 degrees (3 degrees to go!) the infant started screaming.  I ran in the living room and he had pooed through his diaper and pajamas.  I settled for 72 degrees and pitched my yeast, needless to say, since my wife wasn’t home.

The beer is finishing up primary fermentation, and so far tastes great.  It appears the little water spill had no adverse effects.

Overall, this was a fantastic brew day, knowing that I was brewing with other like minded friends whom I have yet to meet in person!  Despite my mild aversion to porters, I can’t wait for this one to fill my glass!