Don't Fear the Foam, Don't Fling the Foam

I bottled the Polar Bear Porter last night (AKA Northern Brewer's St. Paul Porter), a beer I first brewed in fall 2007. At the time I considered it my best batch, and from the tasting last night I think this version will be just as good. Looking back at my old notes, my OG this time around was higher, but the FG was only off by 1. I was surprised that this beer is only 4.3% ABV because the flavor profile is such a bold mixture of malt and hops, but we'll need something a little easier to drink with all of the other big beers we're going to have ready soon.

Ready to Bottle

Here is what the beer looked like back in 2007. I used corn sugar to carbonate then and used dry malt extract last night.

Polar Bear Porter, 2007

The Star San was extra foamy last night. I think I have not been using the proper concentration when filling my sink with water to sanitize the equipment, so I used a little more last night and ended up with lots of foam. The foam from the bottles was getting stuck on the end of the bottle filler, so I was trying to fling it off every once in while. I don't recommend this, because I got so involved with trying to fling off the foam that the bottle filler came right out of the hose and beer started to spray all over the floor! Once I realized what was happening I quickly turned off the spigot, but not before I had lost about 12-16 ounces of beer. Ouch! The lesson: DON'T FLING THE FOAM!

Bottled

This beer tasted great flat, it's just really bold and tasty, and I can't wait until it's ready. It's going to be perfect on the cool autumn nights that should be here soon. Cheers!

Polar Bear Porter, 2011