Make three beers from one

I'm on a quest to make the perfect Porter.  As you may recall, I won a brewing competition not to long ago.  If you forgot about it, it's OK.  I will remember though!  I'm still excited about it.  For a refresher, click here.  (You know you want to.)  Long story short, it was a Porter which won.

This winner was an extract with specialty grains brew.  My most recent was a similar recipe, only all grain.  My batches are a bit smaller than the norm, yielding about 4 gallons.  This way, I can rack to secondary into a 3 gallon carboy and into a 1 gallon carboy.

Two Beers From One:  When I rack to secondary, it effectively splits it into two.  With two batches, I can dry hop one or add oak chips, or just about anything as an experiment, without risking the ruination of the whole batch. (Not that it's a real risk).  This also helps to identify the difference the additives made to the beer.

Three Beers From One: Upon bottling, there is the opportunity for an additional additive to the second half of the three gallon batch.  For example, adding coffee or a flavoring, or even spices can be done at the time of bottling.  Simply bottle 1.5-2 gallons, and then add the adjunct straight to the bottling bucket and swirl.

It's important to keep track of which bottle belongs to which version of this new beer.

Check back tomorrow with the story of what I did with my three from one beers.