I guess this is a porter recipe?

Hey all,
I have actually never posted on this site, I have been lurking for quite some time. I have concluded this site rules. Please check out my first attempt at an oatmeal porter. It was going to be a stout, but I did not have any roasted barley or black patent handy. I'm not sure I could call this a stout anyways with the lack of roastiness. I ended up using chocolate and Carafa II malt; all I had at the moment. I will try a bit before bottling to see how roasty and sweet it turned out and post it.Going to bottle next couple days. Let me know what you guys think. I should add this is only my seventh brew. I was also experimenting with only using Cascade hops; trying to get a taste for how it influences as a bittering and aroma hop.

Cheers



7 gal 61 IBU
OG target: 1.068 Actual OG: 1.061

Recipe
13 lbs 2 Row
1.5 lbs Chocolate Malt
1.5 lbs Oats
1.25 Crystal 55L
5 oz Carafa II
15min Irish moss 1.25 ts
15min Yeast Nutrient heaping ¼ ts

Mash(BIAB): 135 30 min, 148 60 min

Cascade(7.2): FWH 1 oz, 60min 1.5 oz, 15min 1.0 oz, 5min 0.5oz

1272 2 stage starter

Anybody? I was hoping someone would at least tell me I added to much crystal and chocolate.

Seems fine, might be a tad sweet. I've seen stout recipes without dark malts before. I'd consider replacing all the crystal (who needs that stuff??) for half a pound of brown malt for a fuller profile.

I'd probably call it an american stout

I dont agree that its going to be sweet. Dark malt adds bitterness/astringency and thats already high IBUs, plus add in the low mash (and in theory, lower FG), and that sounds pretty bitter/dry to me. why such a low mash temp btw?

Classic porters were pale and brown malt, with optional black and amber malts. Pretty dry, specially if stale, although yeast attenuation varies wildly.

I went with the low mash temp to offset the amount of crystal and balance the oat silkiness. Really, just an experiment to see what I can do. I guess I will call it a stout, maybe not the most robust, but more a stout then a porter. I probably shouldn't jump to conclusions to quick as it's been in primary for three weeks today. I have been busy in school/work, forgot to transfer to secondary.
I figure it will be fine for a month on the yeast cake until bottling. I plan on using roast barley (no Carafa), less chocolate (5% or less), less crystal (5%), maybe some Munich, a higher mash temp, and coffee at boil & secondary for the next round. What do you think? I will use Pac-man as well for yeast.

Thanks for the replies so far, muchos gracias.

You won't be able to test much the Munich so I'd consider just replacing with pale. That said a mix of pale malts works well in these: Maris Otter, US 2row, 6row, Mild malt, etc. A small amount of 6row is good for helping to convert all those malts without enzymes. Consider getting brown or amber malt, they have toast and roast flavours that complement porter and stout grists. Only country and Irish porter/stout dropped them from the grist.

You can call it a Porter, but the amount of Cascade hops you have in there gets you "out of style" according to the BJCP guidelines.

I think its great to try new combinations. I make porters, they're one of my favorites and next time I think I'll try your idea of american hops. I will probably use a combination though, not all cascade.

I don't think almost a single porter brewed either at the height or decline of porters would pass BJCP standards. They are modern guidelines that judge beers in retrospect and without much historical or factual basis.

OK, so I bottled this yesterday (I have no way of kegging at this point) and the FG was 1.015, I did not expect 1272 to do this but that ok. I did pitch a bit more than needed as the starter was made from an older saved yeast.
The sample I took was a bit on the sweet side with a nice mellow bitterness from the Cascades. It was not at all robust or roasty; I would not call this a stout. The oats did give a nice silkiness and body despite the 1.015 gravity.
I can tell its going to be pleasant to drink, look forward to tasting with carbonation (went with around 2.5 volumes of CO2.)
I guess I would call it an out-of style sweet oat porter. Next time will be a closer to style roasty stout. I need to be patient and build my skills.

I have been drinking this "porter" for a week now. It keeps on getting better with age. At first it was bordering on cloying and too much chocolate. The flavors have calmed down and it's quite drinkable. I would chill out with the crystal and chocolate in the future. Maybe use a more interesting yeast strain? I would also add some roast qualities to it. Black patent, black barley, coffee, etc. I'm sure most of you are saying no s*%t but I learned from this brew. :beard: