bier4me

Recipes 

Seems like Porters are popular round these parts. I'm brewing this tomorrow, any thoughts?

3 lbs Amber DME
3 lbs Light DME
1 lb Brown Sugar 30 mins

.5 lbs American Chocolate
.5 lbs Belgian Biscuit
1 lb American Caramel 20L
1 lb British Black Patent

1 oz Northern Brewer 60 mins
1 oz Willamette 60 mins
1 oz Fuggles 15 mins

I'm thinking about maybe adding an oz of wintergreen at flame out, any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, rude comments? I'm still new to creating recipes. Thanks!

lowtones84

Recipes 

I'm not great at formulating recipes, but are you just steeping thee grains or mashing them? Even if just steeping, a full pound of black patent seems like an awful lot to me. Perhaps darken up your crystal malt if you're worried about color? Other than that it looks pretty reasonable to me. As for the wintergreen, I have no clue.

Yooper

Recipes 

The amber DME is weird, as you have crystal malt already in the grainbill, so you're effectively doubling up on the crystal malt. I'd use light DME and forget the amber.

I dislike fermented brown sugar, and it thins the body of the beer, so I would leave that out completely and replace it with extract. I can't think of anything good that brown sugar would bring to a robust porter. It should be a complex, roasty beer. Brown sugar is a simple sugar with a hint of molasses flavor that will ferment out completely, leaving a thinner drier mouthfeel behind.

I'd probably go with 1/2 pound of black patent (it's very acrid and astringent), leave out the biscuit malt (very dry in the finish), and cut out one of the 60 minute hops.

__________________
Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

bier4me

Recipes 

Thanks for the feedback, I'm just steeping the grains. (Haven't gradutated to AG yet...) Yooper, I'd like to sub something for the biscuit, would a victory malt work? Definitely glad I got the feedback on the Black Patent.

Calder

Recipes 

Neither Victory or Biscuit will add much since you are only steeping. These grains need to be mashed.

I'd drop the black altogether, and increase the Chocolate to a pound or more.

I prefer dryer beers, so I would leave the sugar in, but as Yooper says, it doesn't add anything to the flavor. If you like beer dryer, leave it in, if you prefer it sweeter, replace it with extract.

I'd reduce the crystal to half pound, and use the chocolate for flavoring.

Wintergreen ?????????? Maybe some licorice, or star annis.