American Porter Imperial Honey Porter

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.
Yeah looking back through my notes I think 154*F is about right for US-05.

I hit it with an O2 stone, pitched two rehydrated packages and enjoyed a nice constant blowoff for three days. ;)

Sweet, this is what I am doing, thanks Sacc.
 
I plan on brewing this in the next month for my X-mas brew....Couple questions....

I've never done a decoction mash, don't really want this one to be my first attempt, so if I just do a single infusion, what temp and time should I mash at.

I have access to Wyeast, what would be a good one to use....I'm guessing a big starter also....

Thanks
 
It should be close.

I also just did a quick PM conversion and that one came up as follows:

5.5# Light DME (boil 15 minutes)
3.75# Munich
2.25# Maris Otter
1# C60
.5# Chocolate
.5# Special B
2# Honey (boil 10 minutes)

Same hop schedule. Assuming 70% efficiency yields 5.25-5.5 gallons ~1.092.

Nugget is closer to Horizon as far as the flavor you get from the hops. Horizon has a bit of an 'edge' to it. Magnum is also a fine bittering hop though it's a bit cleaner.

As this has aged the spices are pretty much gone now. It's more like a barleywine now whereas when it was younger it made a good Christmas ale. The citrus hop flavor of the Cascades is coming through now more than it was when it was young, too, which is nice. For next year I think I will dry hop it with a bit of Goldings for aroma.

When you say it's more like a barleywine, is that a good or bad thing? Has it lost it's Porter character?

I was thinking about adding a little Black Patent or Black Barley? Also what do you think about malto dextrin?
 
As this has aged the spices are pretty much gone now. It's more like a barleywine now whereas when it was younger it made a good Christmas ale. The citrus hop flavor of the Cascades is coming through now more than it was when it was young, too, which is nice. For next year I think I will dry hop it with a bit of Goldings for aroma.

Happy beer everybody :mug:

This is my 2nd post and I think this will be my 2nd all-grain.

Hope you can answer a few questions for me Saccharomyces:

You say it's more like a barleywine after aging. Has it lost some of its Porter character? Could you update us on the taste/enjoyability?

I'm considering upping the chocolate (as you discussed) to 0.75 lb and maybe throwing 0.25 lb of Black Patent or Black Barley.

What about mouthfeel? Do you think malto dextrin would add subtract anything?

Also, I'm planning to use some Cal V (WLP051) collected or washed from my IPA that is in primary right now. So I guess I should plan for slightly lower attenuation? Thanks for any advice!

Luke
 
When you say it's more like a barleywine, is that a good or bad thing? Has it lost it's Porter character?

As it aged, the roast character became subdued so the flavor profile got more like a barleywine (if you have had Flying Dog Horn Dog, it was very similar after about six months). To counteract that I'm going to double the chocolate to 1# and sub some special roast for some of the C60 when I brew it again this weekend.

I was thinking about adding a little Black Patent or Black Barley? Also what do you think about malto dextrin?

Malto dextrin you won't need, there is plenty of body already. The patent/black malt would work, just don't use too much or it'll turn into an imperial stout.

I'm considering upping the chocolate (as you discussed) to 0.75 lb and maybe throwing 0.25 lb of Black Patent or Black Barley.

That'd work great.

What about mouthfeel? Do you think malto dextrin would add subtract anything?

Mash a few degrees higher if you want it to be more dextrinous. It's already pretty full bodied though.

Also, I'm planning to use some Cal V (WLP051) collected or washed from my IPA that is in primary right now. So I guess I should plan for slightly lower attenuation? Thanks for any advice!

Cali Ale V and London Ale are my two go-to strains, Cal V I would mash at 152-154*F, as I mentioned I'll be using London Ale at 150*F to achieve a similar attenuation. Either yeast will produce a fine beer as long as fermentation temps are controlled.
 
As it aged, the roast character became subdued so the flavor profile got more like a barleywine (if you have had Flying Dog Horn Dog, it was very similar after about six months). To counteract that I'm going to double the chocolate to 1# and sub some special roast for some of the C60 when I brew it again this weekend.



Malto dextrin you won't need, there is plenty of body already. The patent/black malt would work, just don't use too much or it'll turn into an imperial stout.



That'd work great.



Mash a few degrees higher if you want it to be more dextrinous. It's already pretty full bodied though.



Cali Ale V and London Ale are my two go-to strains, Cal V I would mash at 152-154*F, as I mentioned I'll be using London Ale at 150*F to achieve a similar attenuation. Either yeast will produce a fine beer as long as fermentation temps are controlled.

Thanks for the tips, I went with 1# of chocolate and no other changes to grains. I used Nugget for bittering and I'm thinking of dryhopping with Willamette, but we'll see.

I just finished a bit of a nightmare 12-hour brew session. Stuck sparge, low mash temp, low pre-boil gravity, clogged spigot on my brew kettle...

I had to add 1# of DME and adjust my hops schedule for a longer boil, but my O.G. of the 4.5 gallons remaining after boiling ended up at 1.110! :drunk:

I thought about letting it ride but ended up diluting a bit to meet your recipe.

Half way through I decided I didn't want to leave all of that sugar behind in my MLT, so I ended up making a 3 gallon Brown Ale as well.

I split some of the Cal V yeast I collected earlier in the day and the Imperial Honey Porter was already bubbling away before I finished cleaning!
 
I know its up to me , but i'm not to the point yet of formulating my own recipies....I'm going tomorrow to get the grains for this brew.

I'm gonna take your advise and make it 1 pound of chocolate....

and would you sub .5 # of the special roast for .5 # of the crysatl 60, or get rid of the c 60 alltogether and do 1 # of the special roast?????

Thanks
 
I brewed last weekend, here was the grainbill:

50% Maris Otter
20% Munich
5% Flaked Wheat
5% Chocolate (UK)
5% Special Roast
2.5% Crystal 60
2.5% Special B
10% Honey (flameout)

131*F 30, 150*F 75, pulled 1/3rd for a decoction mashout to hit ~164*F. I slowly fly sparged and managed to eek out about 83% efficiency which is typical for me on a beer this big. Pitched 2L of Wyeast 1028 from the plate around 66*F, the bubbling has already slowed down as of yesterday so I'll take a gravity reading soon to get an idea of the attenuation. My gravity was a bit low but I have six gallons in the fermenter so in three weeks I'll pull a couple of liters for flip tops and use some carb tabs in those before moving the remainder into a 5 gal carboy to finish settling out before kegging.
 
I use 5% flaked wheat in everything I brew these days to improve head retention. I use it in place of base malt when re-brewing recipes. It's a tip I learned from a local micro-brewer.
 
My modified re-brew finished at 1.021 with the London Ale yeast. It's resting in a secondary for a few days to drop the rest of the yeast before kegging.

The initial impression is that it is quite a bit roastier than last year's (ie, the original), and has substantial body since it didn't attenuate as much. We will have to see how it ages before I will know whether doubling the chocolate malt was too much, but I really REALLY like the addition of the special roast in place of some of the crystal 60. The special roast malt has a great character that comes through and screams PORTER! PORTER!
 
I think this is next up for me. Since I liked the original so much I plan to just make it like that. WLP001 is what was used originally?

What if I used s-05?
 
just wondering.. did you manage to scale your initial recipe down to a normal porter..circa 5-6.5%ABV? If so what did you alter?
I'm trying to get a porter (e.g. anchor porter) strength and flavour with a honey taste to it.. I'm new to this, but very excited..
cheers,
andre
 
I'm really wanting to bulk age this in a secondary for a couple months, but I also want to drink it as soon as I can.

Since I did 10g I think I might bottle 5g & secondary 5g.
 
This one's currently boiling away happily. I'm only making a 2.5 gallon batch... it'll be more than enough for Christmas. Speaking of which, gonna add some nutmeg and cinnamon to give it that xmas cheer and whatnot. Really should have made this weeks ago, to give it some proper aging, but finances didn't permit. Bugger.

First time I've used Special B, and my god, the smell of the crushed grains was fantastic. Looking forward to this one a whole lot.
 
This one's currently boiling away happily. I'm only making a 2.5 gallon batch... it'll be more than enough for Christmas. Speaking of which, gonna add some nutmeg and cinnamon to give it that xmas cheer and whatnot. Really should have made this weeks ago, to give it some proper aging, but finances didn't permit. Bugger.

First time I've used Special B, and my god, the smell of the crushed grains was fantastic. Looking forward to this one a whole lot.

I spiced the batch last year, it was fantastic although the spices wore off pretty quickly. As I recall I used a teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and fresh nutmeg at flameout. This year I left the spices out of this brew and did a spiced cider instead.

Special B is a wonderful dark malt for porters, imperial stout, and dark Belgian ales, I think it provides a nicer depth of flavor than Crystal 120.
 
Naturally, I forgot the spices. Thinking of adding them when I bottle. Just popping them into the sugar solution when boiling it up.

Pre-pitch hydro sample tasted amazing, which is nice, since it usually tastes like gunk. I have a good feeling about this one.
 
I'm going to try this recipe, though as a novice all-grain brewer. Could someone explain the mash schedule to me? I'm working with a 10 gal Rubbermaid with a false bottom, and have only done batch sparges.
 
I'm going to try this recipe, though as a novice all-grain brewer. Could someone explain the mash schedule to me? I'm working with a 10 gal Rubbermaid with a false bottom, and have only done batch sparges.

You don't need to do a step mash if you aren't comfortable with it. It doesn't make much of a difference.
 
Soper used WLP007 and it came out great. Wyeast 1028 underattenuated this years for me, next year I will use the WLP007 when I brew it again.

Undecided on the grain bill since I haven't tapped the keg but I will be sure to add the 2009 and 2010 versions to the OP.
 
Bottling today. Added the cinnamon and nutmeg to the sugar solution.

Took a sample. Final gravity was 1.022, down from 1.082 (Efficiency was a little low) for around 7.9 percent ABV.

Sample again tasted awesome: smooth, velvety chocolate, hint of dried fruits. Slight bitterness from the choc malt, which is how I like it. This is sure to be a hit when I serve it up for christmas (Naturally, I'll be taking 'test' samples before then. No-one else is touching it before christmas eve, though. Scoundrels)
 
I brewed this up on 8/24. Its been sitting in secondary since 9/10. I usually keg beer, only bottled once, but I'm thinking of bottling this batch....Last time I had a high test beer on tap the night didn't go so well.....
So the SG started at 1.083 and ended at 1.020. Not having much experience with bottling, should I use priming sugar, or can I add a bit more yeast and use that to carb. it...

Thanks
 
Not having much experience with bottling, should I use priming sugar, or can I add a bit more yeast and use that to carb. it...

You'll want to add your corn sugar to prime and also add some bottling yeast. Sitting that long in secondary it may never carb, or would at the very least take forever, adding some bottling yeast it will be carbed in a couple of days.
 
Yesterday I bottled 5g that's been sitting on 2 sticks of cinnamon & 1 tsp. of nutmeg for about 3 weeks. I added a pack of rehydrated nottingham yeast to the priming sugar when I bottled it. This batch's FG was 1.013 and it tasted very hot at bottling.

I also had a non-spiced small experimental 1/2g batch that I fermented with belgian 3787 yeast that was bottled. This was extra wort from the brew day.

Hope these are drinkable by xmas.
 
After two weeks in primary and a week in secondary, there's still signs of activity (i.e bubble from airlock every 4 minutes), but otherwise the gravity seems to have settled around 1.021, I guess Scotch ale yeast doesn't want to attentuate to levels of 1.012 (O.G was 1.100, so ABV is somewhere around 10.5%.

Tried the sample, nice roasted/malt/coffee complexity with refreshing amount of bitterness. Clean finish with minimal alcohol, will probably minimally carbonate and list it under a Baltic Porter for any upcoming events.
 
Soper definitely outdid mine this year with the dark candi sugar. Mine with doubling the chocolate and dropping some of the C60 out came out wayyyy too roasty, yet I like roasty so I think I'll bump up the crystal next year to compensate. On the yeast, I think WLP007 (or S-04) may be the ideal yeast for this beer so that's what I'm going to use from now on when I re-brew, the esters it kicks off definitely work better than the London Ale which is more suited for an Imperial Stout since it's rather earthy.
 
Well I'm just now just getting around to bottling. Do you add the same amount of corn sugar, or scale it down since I'll also be adding the yeast?
 
Letting y'all know that this was a huge success. I feared that since I'd mashed a little high, that it'd be a bit sweet, but I got an allround thumbs up from friends and family. The Mother-In-Law™ especially was guzzling them down like nothing else.

Great recipe, Sacc!
 
Brewed this up in Janurary, opened the first test bottle today. Mine is definitely closer to a barley wine. I upped the honey on this one. It came in at 11.53%

Original Gravity: 1.120 (1.075 - 1.115)
Terminal Gravity: 1.033 (1.018 - 1.030)
Color: 27.09 (30.0 - 40.0)
Alcohol: 11.53% (8.0% - 12.0%)
Bitterness: 87.2 (50.0 - 90.0)

Ingredients:
10 lb Maris Otter
4 lb Munich Malt
.75 lb Crystal Malt 20°L
1 lb Special B - Caramel malt
.5 lb Chocolate Malt
88.0 oz Honey
1 oz Horizon (12.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 45 min
.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 20 min
1 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
2 ea Fermentis US-05 Safale US-05

Plan on letting this one sit for a while to see if it actually carbs up.
 
Anyone else brew this lately? I am thinking about brewing it again and adding less honey and throwing in some maple syrup.
 
Looks like i found the big beer i want to brew. not sure which version to follow though. also what kind of honey was used and what do you think sacc about adding 8oz of flaked wheat to your original recipe?
 
Back
Top