Batch Five: Mild Porter

Style: Porter
Grains: 32 oz., 60 minute soak in 1.5 gal.
Malt: 3.5 lbs. Muntons light, 2.5 lbs. Muntons dark, 60 minute boil in 3.0 gal.
Hops: 1.0 oz. Northern Brewer @ 60 minutes, 1.0 oz. Fuggles @ 15 minutes
Fermentation: 5.0 gal. total liquid, Wyeast London, 8 days
Yield: 47 12 oz. bottles, 3/4 cups corn sugar as primer

Appearance: Dark brown, brown-colored head that subsided after a few minutes, light lacings
Aroma: Traces of malt, smoke
Mouthfeel: Medium
Taste: Some smoke, some malt
Verdict: A decent porter
Comments: At the first sampling of this batch after two weeks in bottles I was unimpressed. But after another week the flavor was much improved and I am now really enjoying this beer. The two flavor aspects are nicely balanced, which is what I was aiming for, instead of a beer dominated by smoke like my previous porter. It is a bit thin for the style, but that just makes it more drinkable now that the weather has warmed up. Next time I will try to make it stronger while keeping the balance.