With fall approaching I have decided to do some more experimenting with my kit. Up next will be a bacon-flavored smokey porter. As a base I will be using the smokey porter kit from a local shop (Pints O’ Plenty).
Goals:
5 gallon batch
8-9% Alcohol content
Slightly salty/sweet upfront taste followed by a smooth smokey finish.
Additional ingredients:
Extra pound of smokey malts
2 lbs maple syrup
1 lb brown sugar
salt ???
Helpful suggestions:
How much salt should be added?
What additional hops/types of hops could be used to achieve the taste of bacon’s deliciousness
What is the general consensus of bacon flavor that I should aim for.
I remember that BYO had an article a few years back about breakfast themed beer. A brewery (now closed, I think) in the San Juan Islands in WA was brewing a bacon beer. I believe they cooked the bacon very done so most fat was out, then soaked it in vodka, then poured the vodka into the secondary.
Olive Nation extracts from Silver Cloud Estates produce a bacon flavored extract. You should google search them. Their extracts are the real deal, potent, and not like the ones in the LHBS.
I like the idea for this beer! Sounds tasty to me.
If you want bacon flavor, 100% Bamburg smoked malt is perfect for this. A pound or 1.5 lb of crystal malt would probably be a good idea, maybe some Crystal 80 and Crystal 120. I wouldn’t use a lot more specialty malts beyond that, as the more you use, it will dilute the smoked malt flavor. Personally I would never use actual bacon in a beer. It is unnecessary. You’ll get all of that hickory-smoked bacon flavor that you want directly from smoked malt! If you can smoke the malt yourself with hickory, so much the better!
If you want maple flavor, you don’t really need to use maple syrup or brown sugar. Rather, add a spice known as fenugreek. This is the same thing used to make artificial maple syrup just like Mrs. Butterworth and Aunt Jemima. Just a very small amount is all that’s needed. Figure out how much you think you should use, and then use about 1/4 as much, as fenugreek is very strong. You can add it to the end of your boil. You can find this at any spice shop and many homebrew shops. Or use both maple syrup AND fenugreek if you like. Real maple syrup does not taste very mapley at all after it ferments, that’s why you need both.
Salt… maybe try 1 tablespoon for 5 gallons to start, and if that’s not enough then add another tablespoon. It’s somewhere in that ballpark.
Hops don’t matter too much. Just don’t use any citrusy hops that start with C. I think Northern Brewer hops would be a good addition to this style, with their herbal, slightly minty and peppery spiciness.
I am also wondering if a small addition of black pepper might be a good idea for this beer. How much? I am not certain… as much as you think you would like! Or none at all. Again, you could boil this, or you could make a small vodka infusion and add just before kegging/bottling.
I’ve done an Imperial Bacon Smoked Porter before. I used bacon-infused vodka. The bacon flavor comes through, but it isn’t that great. You still get a little of the oiliness and salt from the bacon, but the smokey flavor of the porter is enough to suggest bacon anyway. The smoked imperial porter was really good, and adding the bacon was a fun novelty, but not really necessary for the beer.
I have made a bacon Beer before. I called it “Kevin Bacon Porter”. Why? because after one drink of this, you’ll be saying “thank you sir, may I have another?” The way I made was I first made bacon infused vodka. I would infuse the vodka over a period of about 8 months with real, crisp bacon. Before I put in the secondary, I would boil it to sterilize it and get rid of most of the vodka alcohol. I usually added a couple of cups of it. I was definitely a hit! Why was it a hit? Let’s break this down. Bacon great, beer great. Putting the two together, probably one of the greatest moves for the advancement of mankind ever!!!
I think the reason bacon tastes so good is because it contains the big three of flavor: salt, sugar, and fat. No matter how much bacon taste you get in your beer it will never be anything better than fat-free bacon. FAT-FREE BACON!
I had a brown ale on cask with bacon added to the cask. I have long eschewed the idea of bacon beer but there it was and I figured I should try it at least once. It was pretty good. Not the kind of beer I would drink pint after pint. Very assertive bacon flavor.
