Hat Trick Porter

Looking for some input on a proposed recipe for this weekend...here it goes:

Batch Size: 11 gal
Boil Size: 14 gal @ 90 min
Mash @ 152 for 60 min
Grain:
20# Am. 2-row Pale
1# Am. Crystal 90L
1# Chocolate Wheat
1# Dehusked Carafa III
1# Black Patent
1# Dextrine

Hops:
2oz Columbus 12.3% @ 60 min

Yeast:
White Labs Burton Ale

I doubled the grain bill of a previous 5.5 gal batch...chocolately with some sharpness to it.

The hops are a different story. I have Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Galena, and Chinook from which to choose, Columbus being the most abundant in my freezer. I'm very open to suggestions regarding the hop schedule.

My thoughts were not adding any late additions could avoid overhopping the malt profile. Maybe a higher mash temp as well.

Thoughts, suggestions, advise...fire away, please.

Looks tasty to me, although I am not a huge fan of Burton Ale yeast (too minerally for me). I think the columbus will be fine. Your mash temp should be fine, the dark malts and crystal/dextrin will add to the residual gravity as well.

Thanks for the input Oldsock. This will be my first time trying a yeast other than WLP001 so we'll see.

Wow. That's out the other side of Porter, IMO, and into some weird Stout territory. According to ProMash, you've exceeded the limits on two out of three Robust Porter parameters: IBU and SRM.

I like a more traditional grist for Porter: Pale, Crystal, Chocolate and Black Patent. I don't like much more than OG 1.050, as I like to drink more than a couple at one sitting. I like to break down to nice percentages, then run it through a "how fiddly do I want to measure things" filter.

For simplicity's sake, if you say 75% Pale, 10% Crystal, 10% Chocolate 5% Black Patent you're on to a winner. Now I run it through my "fiddly weights" filter to get things close to 8, 12 or 16-ounce increments. In this case, for an OG of 1.052 and SRM ~43 (still outside the Robust Porter range, but only just), I get:

16 lbs Pale
2 lbs Crystal 55-60L
2 lbs Chocolate malt
0.75 lb Black Patent malt

I'd get rid of the Carafa entirely, as it doesn't really add anything other than color. Same with the Dextrine malt; you certainly don't need it for body, and the Chocolate Wheat should make for excellent foam. Chocolate Wheat is an excellent substitute for basic Chocolate Malt for the mashing brewer: It's basically the same color as US Chocolate malt and the flavors are very similar.

I don't like to exceed a certain IBU in Porter, because I don't want the luscious Crystal notes and broad spectrum of roasted-malt flavors to be overwhelmed by simple bitterness. Besides, Chocolate and Black Patent malts both lend bitterness; not as assertive as Roasted Barley, but still pretty potent. I don't like to exceed a BU:GU ratio of 0.75:1 - that means no more than 39 IBU for OG 1.052.

Good luck!

Bob

Yeah, I tend to push the limits a bit...most of my investment capital goes towards ingredients and equipment, not brewing software...maybe Santa will pick that up.

Bob, this is the kind of insight I need. Something to say "WHOA NOW!" I'm not so particular about style requirements, just something to get me close, but I like "weird Stout territory.":rockin:

Lots to think about in your reply. I may go forward with this one to see what happens, but definitely implement your suggestions next time.

Much appreciated.

No worries, my friend. Glad to help.

Software doesn't have to cost much. There are any number of online recipe calculators that can get you from ingredients to analysis:

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/

BeerTools has a free online calculator: http://www.beertools.com/html/calculator.php

The Beer Recipator is useful: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator

Brewmaster's Warehouse has an excellent calculator which will not only keep you "in-style" but also allow you to order everything in the recipe with a couple of mouse-clicks after you input everything. Good prices and excellent customer service, too, plus a library of other people's recipes - including some HBT stalwarts.

QBrew is freeware and works on XP. Dunno about Vista or W7. I've used it; it's handy.

If you're going to spend money on software, download free trials. Use all of 'em, see which one fits you best. I like ProMash, but that's primarily because I've been using it for a decade. I'm used to it and know enough about it to make it do what I want.

Style is what it is. I like brewing to style, because of my philosophy on style. Style is not about restricting you as a brewer. Style is for the drinker. If you hand me a beer made from this recipe as originally written and tell me it's a Porter, I'm going to expect something far different than what'll be in my glass. My mind and palate are set up for Porter, but you've given me something outside those boundaries. It'll confuse me - and if I'm brutally honest, it'll cloud my judgement of you as a brewer! "He calls this a porter!? What's he thinking?!" Not exactly nice, but again, it is what it is - we judge things based on how we pigeonhole them before we ever experience them. If you go to a movie that's been advertised as a creepy, scary horror film and get Eddie Murphy clowning, you're not terribly pleased, are you?

Well, there you go. That's what styles are about. YMMV.

Cheers,

Bob