Gonna brew a big, mean porter tommorow

I decided I can't brew my hobbit ale for a couple more weeks because I have to age my home toasted malts. I have a big starter of british 005 ale yeast going right now, so I'm gonna make a porter. Here's a quick idea followed by my current stock. I think I should mash high (158) because that WLP005 is pretty dang attenuating. Any suggestions? I haven't brewed a porter in ages. I think my first AG was the only porter I've done.


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Proud Honey Porter
Brewer: Christopher John Flannagan
Asst Brewer:
Style: Robust Porter
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Estimated OG: 1.065 SG
Estimated Color: 40.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 31.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 66.67 %
1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 12.50 %
0.75 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 6.25 %
0.75 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 6.25 %
0.50 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.17 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.17 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.10 %] (60 min) Hops 13.4 IBU
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 14.7 IBU
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.10 %] (1 min) Hops 0.3 IBU
1 Pkgs British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) [Starter Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 12.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Full Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
45 min Mash In Add 15.00 qt of water at 170.5 F 158.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 6.00 qt of water at 196.6 F 168.0 F


Current Stock:

marris otter malt
munich
cara vienne
cara munich
special b
black patent
chocolate malt
roasted barley (that's out of the question)
crystal 40 and 120
a little carared
a little biscuit
honey malt

fuggles
EKG
styrian
Galena
Chinook
Cascade
saaz
brewer's gold
challenger
summit
simcoe
vanguard
marynka

You' re making me hungry.

That looks like a nice big chewy porter.

Aye that it does. Does anyone else find it difficult to brew you want before you want it. For instance in winter a good stout or porter is what you are craving so you make one, and you won't be enjoying it until spring. Unfortunately in the spring you will be wanting a something lighter, so you brew it, ok that doesn't work since it will be ready for winter. But you see what I mean. The temps can make it difficult at best to have your winter brew ready in winter. Guess I need a basement or some place similar to store my brews in the hot months.

GaryA said:

Aye that it does. Does anyone else find it difficult to brew you want before you want it. For instance in winter a good stout or porter is what you are craving so you make one, and you won't be enjoying it until spring. Unfortunately in the spring you will be wanting a something lighter, so you brew it, ok that doesn't work since it will be ready for winter. But you see what I mean. The temps can make it difficult at best to have your winter brew ready in winter. Guess I need a basement or some place similar to store my brews in the hot months.

Click to expand...

My stout is ready to drink in less than 21 days! Same with my hefeweizen, and those are my staple, seasonal beers. So, I'm pretty happy with that system. If one runs out, I can have another ready to drink in less than a month.

That looks killer!

Are you shooting for a honey-dominant taste like SA's Honey Porter? Or are you focusing more on the raisin-y notes from the C120? Or even the roasty notes from the BP/Roast Barley?

Looks tasty.

If it were me I'd back off the 120 a bit and throw in some Victory or Biscuit...but that's just me. I like caramel flavor, but not toasted caramel.

chriso said:

Are you shooting for a honey-dominant taste like SA's Honey Porter? Or are you focusing more on the raisin-y notes from the C120? Or even the roasty notes from the BP/Roast Barley?

Click to expand...

I want the honey to be there, but I don't want it to dominate. I like the sound of raisen-y notes. I want the c120 to dominate I guess, but I want the burnt flavor of the patent to be strong as well, but I want it to be second to the 120. I guess in order of strongest flavors I want 120 > patent > honey

That's a big dadgum beer, alright, to call it a porter. It sounds mighty good, though. I would back off the patent malt, just because I'm not a big fan of it, but I bet I would drink that recipe up without complaint.


TL

Ó Flannagáin said:

I want the honey to be there, but I don't want it to dominate. I like the sound of raisen-y notes. I want the c120 to dominate I guess, but I want the burnt flavor of the patent to be strong as well, but I want it to be second to the 120. I guess in order of strongest flavors I want 120 > patent > honey

Click to expand...

Oops, I was wrong - you have Flaked Barley, not Roasted, in there... My bad.

The only change I might suggest is that I would be tempted to back off on the Black Patent to about .5 lbs - that stuff tends to dominate pretty heavily.

I like the thought of 1.5 lb C120. The C40 and the Honey Malt can both still peek through all the darkness, too. Sounds good to me!

ok then, definitely gonna back off the patent a little then. .. I remember hearing that most porters have some chocolate in it. My grain bill is already huge though. SHould I take off the c40 and add a little chocolate?

If you're gonna add chocolate, I would be tempted to scale the BP back to .25 lbs, and add .25 or .5 lbs of chocolate. I think the C40 would help the Honey malt's flavor to be a little more noticable - without the C40, I am afraid the Honey malt would "disappear" entirely.

I have a hard time tasting Honey Malt to begin with though. I love it, but I can never taste it over the rest of the ingredients.

chriso said:

If you're gonna add chocolate, I would be tempted to scale the BP back to .25 lbs, and add .25 or .5 lbs of chocolate. I think the C40 would help the Honey malt's flavor to be a little more noticable - without the C40, I am afraid the Honey malt would "disappear" entirely.

I have a hard time tasting Honey Malt to begin with though. I love it, but I can never taste it over the rest of the ingredients.

Click to expand...

I've only used it once, but I used a whole pound and it was huuuuuge. Big honey aroma, big honey flavor. I fell in love with the stuff. I also used 1.5 crystal 40 and .5 crystal 120 in that recipe though... hmm I guess I'll keep both crystals.

Ó Flannagáin said:

I've only used it once, but I used a whole pound and it was huuuuuge. Big honey aroma, big honey flavor. I fell in love with the stuff. I also used 1.5 crystal 40 and .5 crystal 120 in that recipe though... hmm I guess I'll keep both crystals.

Click to expand...

I used 1.5 Lb in a Brown Ale and couldn't taste it. Conservatively hopped, too, at about 15.5 IBU. Then again, maybe I just THINK I can't taste it.

I used 1.0 lb in my Honey Wheat from 2 weeks ago, but it's still too hoppy to taste test.

Ó Flannagáin said:

ok then, definitely gonna back off the patent a little then. .. I remember hearing that most porters have some chocolate in it. My grain bill is already huge though. SHould I take off the c40 and add a little chocolate?

Click to expand...

But most porters don't have your quantity of C-120. I'd lower the Black to .5# no less and leave the chocolate out of this one. I like chocolate malt but I think this beer will work well without it. Plus I think the slight caramel flavors from the C-40 would go well with the strong roast and plum flavors of the C-120.

Craig