Baltic Porter

Its been a LONG time since i've done a porter, and i can't find my original recipe. So, doing some research looking at difference recipes, i developed my own. I tend to like porters are the darker side, with some good hop notes to them. How does this look for a 5 gallon recipe?

11 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 71.9 %
1 lbs Brown Malt (65.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.3 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.3 %
1 lbs Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 5 6.3 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.3 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 6 3.1 %
1.00 oz Target [11.00 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 7 32.2 IBUs
0.50 oz Northdown [8.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 2.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg Octoberfest/Marzen Lager (White Labs #WLP820) [35.49 ml] Yeast 9 -



Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.086 SG Measured Original Gravity: 0.000 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.024 SG Measured Final Gravity: 0.000 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.3 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.0 %
Bitterness: 34.8 IBUs Calories: 0.0 kCal/12 oz
Est Color: 23.8 SRM


*NOTE* I was planning on doing 4 versions of this

1) Basic
2) Substitude 2 lbs base malt, for 2 lbs smoked malt (not peat malt)
3) Basic + Vanilla (I have home made vanilla extract being made)
4) Basic + Vanilla, oak and bourbon


What do you think? Would this recipe do ok with all the versions I'm thinking of doing?

Cheers!

So how did it go? Did it fit into the Baltic style?

This beer turned out amazing! I ended up doing a 10 galling batch, doubled the entire grain bill and substituted 4 lbs base malt with 4 lbs smoked malt. I used 3 vanilla beans per 5 gallon keg and just tossed them in. Took this to Dark Lord day and had people asking which brewery I got this from because they wanted more. I would say the 4 lbs of smoke malt as perfect because the vanilla beans helped smooth it out just enough.

I had this in primary for 3 weeks, 2 days of dyacital rest and then laggered for 7 weeks. I am going to brew this exact same recipe again this winter and 1 5 gallon keg is going to get 1 oz of cocoa nibs as well as the 3 vanilla beans.

This is probably a great base beer if you want to oak age it as well

Oh, and to answer your question...yes, it fit the baltic porter style really well

I'm updating my original post with the 10 gallon recipe

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Smoked Vanilla Baltic Porter
Brewer: Jason Sharp
Asst Brewer:
Style: Baltic Porter
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 13.32 gal
Post Boil Volume: 11.32 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 10.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 10.35 gal
Estimated OG: 1.085 SG
Estimated Color: 26.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 82.9 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
16 lbs Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 1 53.3 %
5 lbs Munich I (Weyermann) (7.1 SRM) Grain 2 16.7 %
4 lbs Smoked Malt (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 13.3 %
2 lbs Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4 6.7 %
2 lbs Caramunich I (Weyermann) (51.0 SRM) Grain 5 6.7 %
1 lbs Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 6 3.3 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [10.60 %] - Boil 60.0 mi Hop 7 15.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [9.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 13.8 IBUs
2.0 pkg Octoberfest Lager Blend (Wyeast Labs #26 Yeast 9 -
6.00 Items Vanilla Bean (Secondary 30.0 days) Flavor 10 -
Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 30 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Protien Rest Add 45.79 qt of water and heat to 122.0 122.0 F 20 min
Beta Rest Add -0.01 qt of water and heat to 154.0 154.0 F 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 15 min 168.0 F 10 min

This recipe, sounds right up my alley.

Couple of questions:

- Of the two, which recipe turned out the best?
- Do you see a downside to using Carafa Special III instead of Carafa III?

Cheers for the recipe.

Cheers

Dave

I absolutely LOVED the 2nd recipe. Adding the smoke malt was fantastic. I'm still tweaking it but its about 95% done. It wasn't overly smokey, but I think that happened because the vanilla smoothed everything out. If you want more of the vanilla to shine I would cut the smoke malt by 1 lbs (.5 lbs for a 5 gallon batch).

The only real difference between Carafa Special and regular Carafa is that Special has been de-husked. A lot of tanic flavors come from the husk and with special adds a smooth dark flavor as opposed to the rough tanic flavor. Baltic porters are meant to be smooth, and you hit the nail on the head when you asked about Carafa. That's the one thing I want to change. I would use Carafa Special or Black Pearl malt because they have been de-husked.

If you do end up brewing this let me know how you like it!

Big thanks for the reply.

Definitely brewing your recipe on Saturday. Just tweaking a few things as a result of grain availability in Australia and we will be using the Carafa Special III.

Thanks again.

Cheers

Dave

How did the brew day go??

Brew day went well, no hiccups.

Still waiting to ferment this bad boy. We did the "no chill" method for this brew as I am waiting for a pale ale to finish fermenting.

Should be starting to the build up a yeast starter next week. My calculations are that I will need a 3 step starter to get the yeast needed for this gravity and a double batch.

Can't wait to taste.

Cheers

So this bad boy is almost finished in primary and I am about to rack to secondary and add the vanilla beans.

Tasting great so far.

Jason, how did you prepare your vanilla beans? I've heard a couple of different methods and I am still deciding which way to go.

Cheers

Dave