Walker's Holy Grail

Walker · Nov 25, 2009

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1028 - London Ale
Yeast Starter: nope
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: I don't bother checking
IBU: 38
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 38 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 days @ 70*F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 3 weeks @ 70*F
Tasting Notes: took me forever to get this right. the molasses is the key!

See notes at the bottom for an extract version

Grain Bill

9.00 lb 2-row
1.00 lb Crystal 60L
0.75 lb Carafa II (or Chocolate)
0.25 lb Black Patent

head retention isn't that great on this one. add one of the following if you want:
0.5# Carapils or Wheat

Misc Ingredients

1/2 to 2/3 cup Black Strap Molasses - this is the secret ingredient that makes or breaks this beer, IMO

Hop Schedule

1.50 oz EK Goldings @ 60 minutes
0.75 oz Fuggles @ 20 minutes
0.50 oz EK Goldings @ 5 minutes

Mash/Sparge

60 minute mash @ 154*F to 156*F w/ 3.5 gallons of water
mash-out @ 200*F w/ 1.5 gallons of water
batch sparge @ 170*F w/ 3.25 gallons of water

Yeast

1 large smack-pack of Wyeast 1028 - London Ale

Notes

Boil for 1 hour, cool to below 80*F rapidly, transfer into fermenter, shake it like mad to aerate, and pitch yeast.

I end up with 5.5 gallons of cooled wort in the kettle at roughly 1.055OG. Only 5 gallons makes it into the fermenter due to hop absorption and kettle deadspace.

Ferment in primary until done, rack to secondary for 2 or 3 weeks, transfer to keg and force carbonate at about 12psi.

Extract Version

Replace the 9lbs of 2-row with 6lbs of light DME.
Steep the other grains for 45 minutes in 150*F water, then rinse into kettle before bringing to a boil and adding DME.
Yeast and fermentation schedule are the same.

History

It took me a loooooong time to get this recipe dialed in to where I wanted it. The missing key was the molasses. Once that was put into the recipe, I was finally satisfied.

This really doesn't nicely fit into the "Brown" or "Robust" Porter categories. It's right about in the middle.

:mug:

Netflyer · Nov 25, 2009

Looks good, is molassas a late wort addition or at the start of the boil? When you use smack packs do you make a starter also? I haven't been and I get fermentation usually in about 11-20 hours depending on temp. What temp do you ferment this at?

Walker · Nov 25, 2009

I put the molasses in right away (if I remember). Else, it gets added near the end when I notice the bottle sitting on the table still.

I used to make starters with the smack packs back when they were smaller. With the large smack packs, I've found that it isn't necessary for most beers.

This one can ferment at room temp. I have a temp controlled fridge and set it around 65*F.

Walker · Nov 25, 2009

One more thing... I've done this with "regular" (not black strap) mollasses, too. The current batch used regular. Results are better with the black strap because less of it is fermentable, so it leaves more flavor behind.

Walker · Jan 11, 2010

latest batch had the following tweaks:

Grain Bill

8.00 lb 2-row
1.00 lb Crystal 60L
0.75 lb Carafa (or Chocolate)
0.25 lb Black Patent
0.50 lb Red Wheat Malt (want some head retention)
0.50 lb DME (added this unnecessarily because I thought my gravity was too low - I goofed my reading)

I also had much greater efficiency than normal (81% rather than 74%). That combined with the DME I didn't really need to put in gave me an OG of 1.064 (slightly overshooting the 1.055 target.)

mikro2nd · Mar 13, 2010

Walker said:
latest batch had the following tweaks:

Grain Bill

8.00 lb 2-row

1.00 lb Crystal 60L

0.75 lb Carafa (or Chocolate)

0.25 lb Black Patent

0.50 lb Red Wheat Malt (want some head retention)

0.50 lb DME

Just enjoyed a bottle of this at lunch. Followed your recipe, with some slight substitutions for ingredients I had on hand: I did not have sufficient Crystal so used half-Crystal, half Munich-3, and added 250g raw Wheat (40litre batch).

Head is great, but most of all the flavour is a winner! Thanks for sharing this recipe - I'm going to have to brew it again tomorrow.

Walker · Mar 13, 2010

Thanks! I've been working on this recipe for a long time, so I'm glad you like it. I finally like it, too.

elkdog · Sep 13, 2010

After you mentioned this recipe, I looked it up, as my next batch will be a porter. So dumb question- which carafa do you use, and do you prefer it to chocolate? I assume it's a bit smoother with the carafa, but probably a bit less flavorful.

Walker · Sep 13, 2010

elkdog said:
After you mentioned this recipe, I looked it up, as my next batch will be a porter. So dumb question- which carafa do you use, and do you prefer it to chocolate? I assume it's a bit smoother with the carafa, but probably a bit less flavorful.

As this recipe evolved, I switched from using chocolate to carafa because I felt that I could taste some harshness from the chocolate (I think I had 0.5# of chocolate in it the last time I actually used choclolate). I did bump up to 0.75# with the carafa.

As for WHICH carafa. I prefer Carafa II, but will use whatever I can find. Sometimes the shop in Raleigh has carafa, sometimes carafa II. Brewmasterswarehouse.com has all three roasts. If you can get the III, you can pretyt much omit the patent.

elkdog · Sep 13, 2010

Thanks! I made a porter with molasses once before and loved it- this recipe looks great, especially with that hefty shot of crystal and the London Ale yeast. I plan to brew it in a couple of weeks here.

Walker · Sep 13, 2010

Yeah... I'll be making it sometime in the next month or two as well. I only have it around during the colder months. Julie doesn't drink much dark beer and I've already got 5 gallons of scottish on deck. Between that batch and the porter, I think it'll stave off my dark beer cravings for most of the colder months. I'll have to keep pales and other hoppier stuff on tap for her.

loapathy · Dec 9, 2010

I'm drinking this right now. Delicious.

I only made two changes. I added 6 or 7oz of aromatic malt, and since I bottle I used brown sugar instead of corn sugar.

Of the 4 Porters I've made this is by far my favorite. And SWMBO likes it, as well. And she normally HATES Porters and stouts.
:mug:

Walker · Dec 9, 2010

Glad you like it!

I've got my own batch carbing up right now. Should be tapping into it in about a week or so.

elkdog · Dec 10, 2010

Yeah, this is a nice recipe- smooth flavor, nice character with the WLP013 (smack packs annoy me for reasons that have nothing to do with their quality, so I use White Labs and make starters), and a nice complexity with the molasses. I used Maris Otter because I love it in porters (and stouts, and pale ales, and ambers...), and Willamette because I had it on hand and it's in the ballpark, but did everything else, IBUS and all, according to Walker's recipe. Great beer. Will certainly brew it again.

Blackhawkbrew · Dec 11, 2010

Walker, did you add anything for a better head on your last batch?

Walker · Dec 11, 2010

i didn't have the red wheat this time like I did last January, so I just put in 0.5# carapils.

Blackhawkbrew · Dec 11, 2010

0.5# carapils it is then. Thanks

Blackhawkbrew · Dec 11, 2010

How would this be oaked? No bourbon, just oak chips.

elkdog · Dec 12, 2010

Blackhawkbrew said:
How would this be oaked? No bourbon, just oak chips.

The London Ale yeast in Walker's recipe already gives it a nice oaky ester profile, so you may not need to to oak it. Beyond that, an oaked porter can be a nice thing. I like to oak lightly, as it can get overpowering if you're not careful.

Walker's Holy Grail

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