Suggested adjustments to this recipe

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bonzombiekitty

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Messages
530
Reaction score
7
Location
Philadelphia
I'm gonna start making a porter tonight as my third batch, and just grabbed a simple looking recipe from brewmonkey. The taste rating on the recipe isn't too high, but it's easy enough to make and I figure I can make some adjustments.

Recipe is this:

6.00 lb Dark Liquid Extract (17.5 SRM)
0.25 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.13 lb Black Barley (500.0 SRM)
1.20 oz Perle [7.40%] (60 min)
0.40 oz Williamette [5.50%] (0 min)

Est Original Gravity: 1.044 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG

all my grains I was able to get are rated close to the SRM in the recipe, except the black barley, which is more like 750 and I have a pound of each. I have an ounce of Williamette, 2 ounces of Perle, and about a third of an ounce of a hop that's about a 2% left over from my last brew (don't recall the specific type offhand).

I'm considering adding some coffee or espresso during the 2nd fermentation to add to the flavor some, but I'll figure that out when the 1st stage is done.

Given those available ingredients, how would you adjust this recipe and why? The "why" is the important part of this, as I'm trying to learn how the different ingredients will affect each other, hence why this is in the beginners forum, not the recipe.
 
If you really want a Porter, you should leave out the black barley altogether. Roasted barley is what gives a Stout that sharp/roasted flavor. It's not a hard-and-fast distinction, and if that's the profile you're looking for, go with it. If you're looking for something more porterly, skip the black barley and double up on the chocolate malt.

Adding the coffee to the secondary works well. Half a pot of strong coffee, or somewhat less espresso (I never used that) is in the right ballpark, unless you want it to dominate.
 
Yeah, I was thinking of upping the chocolate malt based on the grains chart in the wiki, but I don't think I wanna get rid of the black barley all together. I want a little hint of a roasted flavor, would probably match well with a hint of coffee. But I'll wait to give a taste at the end of primary to see if I actually think the coffee would work well.
 
Agreed on the chocolate malt. I wouldn't recommend the black barley, but go for it if you want to give it a shot.

Also, be aware that adding coffee will KILL the head retention on this beer (due to the oils), so you may want to balance that out by adding some flaked oats or barley, particularly if you go for a dark roast (which is seems like you might.)

If you do add the coffee, you might want to look into cold-brewing it or adding the beans outright.
 
Agreed on the chocolate malt. I wouldn't recommend the black barley, but go for it if you want to give it a shot.

Also, be aware that adding coffee will KILL the head retention on this beer (due to the oils), so you may want to balance that out by adding some flaked oats or barley, particularly if you go for a dark roast (which is seems like you might.)

Unfortunately, I don't have those ingredients. I'm brewing tonight because it's the only time I have to do it in the next couple weeks and I want it to be conditioned enough to have it for xmas.
 
Change the black barley to like 2oz if you want it. I'd actually consider adding Carafa, though I can't really suggest which SRM would work best. Anyone know what srm works well for porters in carafa?
 
Unfortunately, I don't have those ingredients. I'm brewing tonight because it's the only time I have to do it in the next couple weeks and I want it to be conditioned enough to have it for xmas.

Alright, well then I would say to keep the black barley and use a light roast for the coffee. That will add less oils, have the coffee flavor, and hopefully the black barley would add the roasty taste to it.
 
I doubled up on the Chocolate malt, and took a bit off the Black barley. I accidentally put in extra carapils too (was thinking it was chocolate malt, my mind likes to get ahead of itself).

Unfortunately my scale broke, so i ended up approximating by sight, so I ended up with something like:

6.00 lb Dark Liquid Extract (17.5 SRM)
0.3 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)
0.5 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.10 lb Black Barley (500.0 SRM)
1.25 oz Perle [7.40%] (60 min)
0.30 oz Williamette [5.50%] (3 min)

Boil volume: 5 gal
Original Gravity: 1.050 SG

Looking over the original recipe I used, I think the guy who made it messed it up some. His OG came nowhere near the expected gravity and ended up having less than 1% ABV.
 
Back
Top