Newbie with a Brewer's Best kit question

Hi, all, just wanted to ask a simple question regarding a newly-purchased Smoked Porter recipe kit. If I just wanted to make it a simple porter, can I leave out the smoked grain and just include the rest of the ingredients? My plan was to make this a cherry and/or vanilla porter, and am wondering if the smoked flavor would interfere with that and if the brew would be adversely affected by omitting one of the grains. It should be noted that I'd be pitching White Labs English Ale yeast instead of the dry yeast included in the kit.

Thank you, in advance, and I look forward to many good discussions on this board.

How much smoked grain is in the recipe? It will drop your gravity depending on how much there is. That's all you really need to worry about. Post the recipe please.

I would think that it would depend on if your smoked grains are separated from the rest of the steeping grains. If not, find an extract porter recipe here and go back to the homebrew store and buy those grains (or ask them there). If they are separated, I would or would not replace with a similar colored grain, depending on how big a hassle it is to get there before I wanted to brew.

GroovePuppy said:

How much smoked grain is in the recipe? It will drop your gravity depending on how much there is. That's all you really need to worry about. Post the recipe please.

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Recipe:

1LB smoked malt
1LB Chocolate malt
12oz. Crystal malt
1.5oz bittering hops
.5 oz aroma hops
English Ale yeast from White Labs.

I was thinking of adding to secondary:
3 vanilla beans
1 can cherry puree, maybe 2.

I might just leave in the smoked malt, and add cherry only so there is not TOO much complexity.

I don't think a smoked vanilla cherry porter would taste good. OTOH, maybe you would create the greatest porter ever.

I definitely would find a substitute for the smoked malt to keep the gravity correct.

what I should substitute it with? Another pound of chocolate malt?

mighty_moe said:

what I should substitute it with? Another pound of chocolate malt?

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No, definitely not! You already have enough chocolate malt in there.

You could add 1/2 pound of dry extract to the extract you already have.

YooperBrew said:

No, definitely not! You already have enough chocolate malt in there.

You could add 1/2 pound of dry extract to the extract you already have.

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Would amber or dark be recommended?

mighty_moe said:

Would amber or dark be recommended?

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I'd use light. But it might not matter very much in a porter.