Opinion on Very Imperial Porter

Need some experinced opinions on a recipe I'm working on with a fellow home brewer. Trying for a very big porter style to age for about six months.

Will US-05 go to 12.8%? Looking for a great sipping beer with porter like notes of the roasted barley.

10 gallon batch
20# Pilsen DME
8# Dark DME
2# Crystal 120
1# 2 row base
1# Black Patent
.5# Chocolate

2oz Warrior (15.8%) @ 90
3oz NB (9.4) @ 60
2oz NB (9.4) @ 30
6oz Cascade (5.5%) @ 5
6oz Cascade Dry Hop
Maybe some Oak chips

Yeast US-05
81 Ibu
12.8% abv

What do you guys think?

I would go with light/pils DME instead of dark for some added control and fermentability. I’d up the chocolate malt to a pound+ to add some more color and “porter” flavor. You could also add some roasted barley if that is a flavor you are looking for.

I would skip the 1 lb of 2 row, you don't need the enzymes for any of your specialty malts.

I would skip the late boil hops and go with the dry hops a week or two before bottling. Any hop aroma from the boil will be pretty beat up after 6 months.

US-05 will get up close to 13% ABV, but you may have trouble bottle conditioning. Make sure to pitch ~4 packets for a beer this big, and give it plenty of oxygen before fermentation (a bit of yeast nutrient wouldn’t hurt either). Keep ferm temps down as well, if you get into the 70s you are going to have a very boozy beer. With that much DME you might be looking at an even stronger beer though especially with such an attenuative yeast strain (your OG looks ~1.135 by my math).

Sounds like a fun batch to me, good luck.

Thanks for the help. Maybe up to 12 gallons to make sure the yeast can handle it as well?

I once had US-05 go to 13.85% in an Imperial Stout. It had a strange bad taste for a couple months in the bottle, but then it conditioned out great. It's ok because you expect to have to bottle condition a beer this size for several months.

+1 pitch 4 packs.

Did you have to do anything special to get it that high? How long did it take to ferment?

3-4 lbs oats or flaked stuff.

Mouthfeel is something I am realizing is critical to some beers.

cheezydemon3 said:

3-4 lbs oats or flaked stuff.

Mouthfeel is something I am realizing is critical to some beers.

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Of course, but flaked oats will require a greater amount of basemalt to convert its starches to sugar, in a proper mini-mash. I tend to use more flaked grain in lower gravity beers, I tend to think high gravity beers have enough mouthfeel as a result of their natuarally higher FG.

Oldsock said:

Of course, but flaked oats will require a greater amount of basemalt to convert its starches to sugar, in a proper mini-mash. I tend to use more flaked grain in lower gravity beers, I tend to think high gravity beers have enough mouthfeel as a result of their natuarally higher FG.

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Hmmmm....Interesting!

How many lbs of 2 row per lb of oats are needed?

cheezydemon3 said:

Hmmmm....Interesting!

How many lbs of 2 row per lb of oats are needed?

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Say 1.5 lbs of pale per pound of oats, although depending on what sort of lauter system you are using even that may give you stuck sparge issues.

I think I've decided to pitch 2 packets 05 (half this batch is mine, the other half is a homebrew buddies), wait one day, then pitch a starter of Wlp-099 S.H.G. I'll start with a beer good for 8%, then add the rest of the malt over three days (enough to get to about 13%). I'll wait a week to ferment all that out (also out of town for four days) then 4 pounds dextrose over a week (8oz daily).

Also will aerate wort for 1 hour, and use yeast nutrient, and aerate before pitching 099.

This will sit for a few months before dry hopping.

I have been inspired by a Dogfish World Wide Stout to really try to push this.

Now, do I add all of the bittering hops during the initial boil only? I plan to cook all of the other malt additions, but I assume you don't add bittering hops with them. Or do you, boil 5 minutes, add 1/2oz hops as flavoring hops, to build some flavor?

Would I be getting more or less bittering from the bittering hops in a 8% beer, then add more malt, or a 15% beer with all the hops?

Thanks.

I'd skip the Dark DME and just use light. You should be able to get all the color you want from specialty grains. If you want roasted barley notes, I'd include roasted barley in the recipe. I personally find black patent to be a bit harsh, and prefer the flavor of roasted barley.