Need some input on a recipe

I brewed up a vanilla porter a few months back in which I used a vanilla bean. I was very pleased with how it came out and is getting better by the day as it ages. I want to use the base recipe of this porter and build from there to make the ultimate porter for a house brew always on tap. The recipe is below

.63lb Chocolate Malt
.75lb UK Dark Crystal Malt
.50lb Flaked Barely
6.6lb Pale LME
1tsp Gypsum
1tsp Irish Moss
.33oz Galena (60min)
1oz Dasdade (30min)
1oz Tettnang (10min)

I would like to add some mouthfeel to the brew. For this I am going to add some Lactose. I also want the alchohol to jump up a bit so that it is around 6.5%. Any ideas on improvement or techniques. Also, where is a good source of info for different hops flavors and AA%. Also looking for info on the different flavors that all grains produce in the brews. I am going to be playing around with the recipator for now.

Thanks in advance,

Robert

anthrobe said:

Also, where is a good source of info for different hops flavors and AA%. Also looking for info on the different flavors that all grains produce in the brews. I am going to be playing around with the recipator for now.

Thanks in advance,

Robert

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instead of buying one or more of the numerous brewing books available a good way to get free info is by calling mail-order home brew shops and they well gladly send free catalogues. most of these like 'Midwest supply' and 'northern brewer supply' and 'the grape and granary' contain very good, detailed info about hops, grains, and yeast, and even procedures (steeping, partial mash, all grain, etc.)

Are you looking for the sweetness from the lactose? If not, you could try malto dextrine which would give you more body/mouthfeel without as much residual sweetness. Increasing the abv is easy...just add in as much light DME as necessary to get to where you want to be.

Sweet. I would like to keep the sweetness to a minimum. How much sweetness you think adding 2 lb brown sugar?

anthrobe said:

Sweet. I would like to keep the sweetness to a minimum. How much sweetness you think adding 2 lb brown sugar?

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What is the ABV now, cause adding 2 pounds of sugar is a lot! All that is going to do is ferment out and make your ABV higher anyway, not add sweetness. The only way to sweeten a beer is to add lactose. Start with about a 1/4 lb. and go from there.

ORRELSE said:

What is the ABV now, cause adding 2 pounds of sugar is a lot! All that is going to do is ferment out and make your ABV higher anyway, not add sweetness. The only way to sweeten a beer is to add lactose. Start with about a 1/4 lb. and go from there.

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ABV with the recipe above is 5.1%. By adding 2lb of Brown Sugar it will be around 6.2%. If I add 2lb more oet of DME then it will get to around 6.7%. Will this extra DME help out with the body of the beer? I would like it to be a little thicker in taste.

You'll definitely get more body with DME than with brown sugar.

mash in around 155-156 for a more dextrinous wort. that'll give it more body.

DeRoux's Broux said:

mash in around 155-156 for a more dextrinous wort. that'll give it more body.

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When I brewed this one up last time, I steeped my grains in a little different than before. I heated up 2 gallons of water to 162 degrees. I added the grain bag, took pot off the heat and let it soak until it reached 122 degrees. I think that I am probably going to go with 2 lb extra of DME.

DeRoux's Broux said:

mash in around 155-156 for a more dextrinous wort. that'll give it more body.

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Lay off El P's beer...he's not mashing!

BeeGee said:

Lay off El P's beer...he's not mashing!

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hehehehehe....

BeeGee said:

Lay off El P's beer...he's not mashing!

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oops....my bad

I have noticed that some Porter recipes have flaked wheat. What is that doing for the brew?

Head retention and body.

Here is what I have come up with so far....any opinions? Still don't know if I want to put in any Malto Dextrine yet.

Big Bob House Porter

Extract w/grain
.75 lb. American crystal 90L
.63 lb. American chocolate
.5 lb. Flaked barley
.25 lb. Flaked wheat
7lb Pale LME
.5lb Brown Sugar
.33 oz. Galena (13% AA, 60 min.)
1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 30 min.)
1 oz. Tettnanger (4.5% AA, 15 min.)
Color - 68 HCU (~27 SRM)

Bitterness - 27 IBU
OG - 1.061
FG - 1.010
ABV - 6.6%
ABW - 5.2%

if it where me, i'd cut the wheat and oats, and add about a 1/4 lb Special B and maybe a .5 lb carapils, and go with amber malt extract and White Labs British or English Ale yeast. just me :~)

Recipe looks good...keep the oats and barley, it'll add the mouthfeel you are craving.
Personally, me thinks you should up the IBUs a little bit. 30-35 in that recipe will go good.

anthrobe said:

I brewed up a vanilla porter a few months back in which I used a vanilla bean. I was very pleased with how it came out and is getting better by the day as it ages. I want to use the base recipe of this porter and build from there to make the ultimate porter for a house brew always on tap. The recipe is below

.63lb Chocolate Malt
.75lb UK Dark Crystal Malt
.50lb Flaked Barely
6.6lb Pale LME
1tsp Gypsum
1tsp Irish Moss
.33oz Galena (60min)
1oz Dasdade (30min)
1oz Tettnang (10min)
Robert

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I'm a newbie with 6 batches under my belt. I just picked up the makings for a "Viennese Spiced Porter" which calls for a vanilla bean and 2 tsp of almond extract. Here's the recipe:
6 2/3 #dark malt extract
1/2# chocolate malt
1/4# black patent malt
1# rolled oats
2 oz Mount Hood hops (bittering)60 min
1/2 oz Fuggles (aroma)5 min
1pkg American Ale yeast
1 vanilla bean
2tsp almond extract

Add the vanilla bean to the secondary and the almond extract to the bottling bucket. It was suggested in the HBS that I taste the secondary periodically and pull the bean out when vanilla is enough. Any other suggestions to make sure I have a drinkable beer?

2pugbrews said:

I'm a newbie with 6 batches under my belt. I just picked up the makings for a "Viennese Spiced Porter" which calls for a vanilla bean and 2 tsp of almond extract. Here's the recipe:
6 2/3 #dark malt extract
1/2# chocolate malt
1/4# black patent malt
1# rolled oats
2 oz Mount Hood hops (bittering)60 min
1/2 oz Fuggles (aroma)5 min
1pkg American Ale yeast
1 vanilla bean
2tsp almond extract

Add the vanilla bean to the secondary and the almond extract to the bottling bucket. It was suggested in the HBS that I taste the secondary periodically and pull the bean out when vanilla is enough. Any other suggestions to make sure I have a drinkable beer?

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I think that you will be fine. My last porter, I added a whole vanilla bean to the secondary. I let is sit there for 2.5 weeks. I was skeptical the first beer that I had. Now I cannot get enough of the porter. If you are bottling, it should have plenty of time to age.

ORRELSE said:

Recipe looks good...keep the oats and barley, it'll add the mouthfeel you are craving.
Personally, me thinks you should up the IBUs a little bit. 30-35 in that recipe will go good.

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I was thinking about that some. I had a porter the other night that was sooooo smooth and low bitterness. I think that I will leave it there for now and see what happens.

ORRELSE said:

...Personally, me thinks you should up the IBUs a little bit. 30-35 in that recipe will go good.

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I'd vote for that, too. Depending on what type of hops you're using (pellet, whole), it looks a bit low to me. Just my two centavos.

Rhoobarb said:

I'd vote for that, too. Depending on what type of hops you're using (pellet, whole), it looks a bit low to me. Just my two centavos.

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Good thing I have plenty of hops in the freezer