First recipe- Peated Porter.

I wanted to brew up a peated porter, but I couldn't find a kit I liked, so I decided to build my own. The only thing I haven't figured out is the yeast, so any suggestions are welcome.
8 lb maris Vienna malt
4 lb vienna malt
2 lb Simpson peated malt
3 lb DME
2 oz choc malt
.5 lb Carmel 120
.25 lb Carmel 80

2 oz Willamette
2 oz cascade

Thanks for the once over guys-

I would seriously reconsider the 2lbs of peated malt. Unless you are looking for a strong peat-reek character, I would go no more than 0.25lb in a 5 gallon batch. The stuff is potent!

Yea, I just did the math... 11% I may cut down to 1 lb, that will be 6%. I am looking for a nice Laphroig like peat flavor. I know it is alot, but I think it will go well... Time will tell.

Peated malt is strong. REAL strong. I did 2oz of peat in a dry stout and it was there, very noticeable. A stronger beer like a porter can take 3 or 4 oz. Definitely not 2lbs though...

Will you be doing all grain, partial mash or intended to make an extract beer? If AG or PM, I take it you mean Maris Otter. 2oz of Chocolate is very very little in a porter. 1lb would be perfect in a porter. Caramel/Crystal malts look good.

Hopping... Let the malt take the spotlight. A simple bittering addition would be good and let the peat take the flavor.

I love Scottish Ale yeast in a porter. It leaves just enough sweetness but ferments well and fast. No D and no funky flavors. Otherwise, London Ale III and Thames Valley works great.

PM. Sorry, I have fat fingers.
As for hops, I agree. I was going to throw an oz of each @ 60 min and then .5 oz every 15 min. too much?
I really want to showcase the peat.... I read that 5% of the grain bill was a solid peating....
I will definately up the chocolate though.

1oz of each is arbitrary.... what are the alpha acids? how many ibus are you shooting for and what is the gravity? all very important factors when figuring out bitterness.

why not skip any flavor addition? my favorite porters use a good resiny hop for bittering and nothing else. It all depends what you want to go for in your interpretation...

Others have posted on the peated malt already, so I won't chime in on that.

For the yeast, I'd go with Wyeast 1028. I've made many-a-porter with that strain and that is my go-to yeast for that style.

I just did a take on a northern English brown recipe and added a half pound of peat smoked malt. After only a month in the keg it's fabulous and not overbearing peat in my opinion. I really like the peat smoke flavor though. I have considered going a bit higher with it but I'm very happy with how it turned out. One thing I do notice is that at fridge temps you get a very faint hint of smoke and the more it warms up the more it is definitely there but still pleasant. Good luck with the recipe!

The grains came in the other day. Holy carp, there is a beautiful peat smell coming from a nice unassuming bag. I see why alot of you warned me about over peating... 2lbs is way too much. 1 lb it is.

Fortune favors the bold.

I brewed this up last night, with a few changes (mainly because I didnt read my recipe before I tossed grains into my kettle) I ended up using 1# of Beth carmels, 1# of chocolate and 1# of peat.
OG is 1.079 or so. Definitely the biggest beer I have ever used, I hope my little safeale 05 can handle it.
There wasn't much peat flavor or smell, but it is still young.
Thanks for all the help guys.

I racked into the secondary today, FG 1.02. There was alot more chocolate flavor than I had hoped, but then again I did add 1# of chocolate. the peat didnt come through as much as I had hoped. It is there though, more in the finish than up front. All in all I am pretty happy with the way this ended up. Maybe next time less chocolate and more peat, but I will save that judgment until after it has been in the bottle for a while.

After 2.5 weeks in the secondary, I bottled this yesterday. My how the flavor has evolved. If you have ever had Left Hand Breweries peppered porter, it tastes something like that. I love it.
Lesson learned though, If I ever make this again (which is likely) I will need a bigger kettle. A much bigger kettle.
Also, I might go for the scottish yeast, just to see what happens, but all in all I am really excited about how this turned out. I will let you guys know in a week or 2 how it tastes after conditioning for a bit.

I had a bottle of this last night. delicious. A smooth chocolate flavor up front followed by a deep rich briney peat flavor. The peat mellows after a second or two and you are left with a hard to place taste on your tongue.

That is, if you like that sort of thing.

Glad to see you went with your gut and still used 1lbs of peat!

Thanks! Nothing against the guys who said go low, but I am just starting out in the brewing world. I want to push the envelope a bit and see what I am capable of. No one ever hit the moon by playing it safe.

Either way im just glad it doesn't suck. Im even more excited that it turned out awesome.

Thanks for all the valuable input guys, it really helped.

There's a recipe in the smoked database for an all-peat beer. I'm not brave (foolhardy?) enough to brew that, but I have gone as high as a pound of peat per gallon, and loved the results.

Holy cow! A lb per gallon! You sir are MAD.
Glad it turned out good. Not sure I'm that ballsy yet.

As I drink my way through the bottles I am noticing the peat flavor is mellowing substantially. It is still a great beer, but I wonder what the bottles I set aside will taste like in a few years. I guess I will wait and see.