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CliffMongoloid

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im look through left over supplies and random things i have on hand. I wanna try to do a baltic porter. Just threw this recipe together quick to see what you think. Any input is appreciated

3.3lbs Dark Malt Extract Syrup
2lbs Dark Dry Malt Extract
12oz American Crystal 40L
12oz Turbinado sugar
8oz Malto-Dextrin
6oz Chocolate Malt
6oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine

60 mins 1oz First Gold
Yeast- Muntons Dry Yeast

OG- 1.060
FG- 1.016
IBUS- 26
ABV 5.9
 
Just a guess but this might end up pretty dark. Might want to look at your SRM. I guess it's a porter so that's okay, but it seems like there's a general consensus around here that it's better to start with lighter extracts and use specialty malts, etc. to then bring the beer up to where you want it in terms of color & flavor. This method gives you a lot more control since you don't really know what goes into the LME and DME that you might be doubling up in your specialty grains.

Then again, if you already have the dark extracts on hand and are trying to use them up...I guess that's a different story.
 
Just a guess but this might end up pretty dark. Might want to look at your SRM. I guess it's a porter so that's okay, but it seems like there's a general consensus around here that it's better to start with lighter extracts and use specialty malts, etc. to then bring the beer up to where you want it in terms of color & flavor. This method gives you a lot more control since you don't really know what goes into the LME and DME that you might be doubling up in your specialty grains.

Then again, if you already have the dark extracts on hand and are trying to use them up...I guess that's a different story.

Yea i kinda wanna use this stuff up and do a little bit of experimenting while im at it. It says the SRMs will be around 25... Dark Brown color... I was just seeing if there would be any issues with the ingredients i listed

Thanks for the input tho
 
Sounds like good beer! I love Baltic porters. Why are you using the raw sugar, just to increase OG/ABV? Despite what some people say about using darker extracts, I have like every single beer I've done with dark LME. You certainly can get more control over the color with light LME and specialty malts, but I tend to care less about the shade and more about the taste, and dark extracts have always made full flavored beers when used with specialty grains.

I say, brew away, and let us know how it comes out!
 
Sounds like good beer! I love Baltic porters. Why are you using the raw sugar, just to increase OG/ABV? Despite what some people say about using darker extracts, I have like every single beer I've done with dark LME. You certainly can get more control over the color with light LME and specialty malts, but I tend to care less about the shade and more about the taste, and dark extracts have always made full flavored beers when used with specialty grains.

I say, brew away, and let us know how it comes out!

Yea i wanted to get it a bit higher but i could easily leave that out... would you suggest brewing it without the torbindao?
 
It would lighten up the body quite a bit, as it's about 15% of your fermentables... It seems like most Baltic porters that I've had that I can remember weren't especially light.

But you're also adding a large amount of maltodextrin and carapils - they'll add body to your brew. It is probably more than enough to offset the sugar. And, if you're just trying to get the ABV up to appropriate levels, and don't want to go pick up more extract, then you should go for it!

Have you used that much MD/carapils before in recipes? Seems like a little much but I don't have much experience with it, I think I've only used about 8 oz. of Carapils by itself before.
 
It would lighten up the body quite a bit, as it's about 15% of your fermentables... It seems like most Baltic porters that I've had that I can remember weren't especially light.

But you're also adding a large amount of maltodextrin and carapils - they'll add body to your brew. It is probably more than enough to offset the sugar. And, if you're just trying to get the ABV up to appropriate levels, and don't want to go pick up more extract, then you should go for it!

Have you used that much MD/carapils before in recipes? Seems like a little much but I don't have much experience with it, I think I've only used about 8 oz. of Carapils by itself before.

The most i have used is 6oz of carapils.... Malto dextrin and carapils do the same thing? (head retention) hmm i may want to rethink this
 
Well the maltodextrin is very unfermentable, so it will add body. The Carapils will add some body, and like you said, head retention.

I'd say vary the Maltodextrin for how much body/mouthfeel you personally like, I think 4-8 oz is fine as a range, especially if you're using sugar as well since that will reduce body. But also be aware that using all dark extract will also increase body a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if your FG ends up a little higher because of the unfermentables.
 
Yeah, I'd say just brew it. Every single recipe I've came up with myself (from scratch or modified another recipe) came out good - I completely pulled a hop schedule out of thin air with hops I had in my freezer for my first IPA and it was better than any IPA I've ever had, for example - and know that no matter what, even if it doesn't match a style or exactly what you had in mind, it'll still be beer, and probably a darn good one too.

As far as the yeast goes, for whatever reason I've only used dry yeast when I brew mead. I've used liquid yeast for all my beer (Wyeast or White Labs) or harvested and repitched it. Never used a starter, and it always attenuated just fine. It takes a little longer to get started without a starter, sure, but as long as you're under 1.080 or so I'd say you don't NEED a starter for the yeast to be totally healthy and I try to keep things as simple as I can. =]

Also, dry yeast is less likely to need a starter than liquid yeast, but I'd rehydrate it separately if you hadn't already planned on it per the package instructions. Some people pitch dry yeast straight into the wort, though, without problems.

I always use a blow off unless both of mine are already in use. If you have it laying around, why use an airlock? Having said that, I just did a CDA with a 1.084 OG and I didn't have my blow off available when I pitched the yeast, and I was lazy and never swapped out the airlock, and it was fine. It had a pretty vigorous initial fermentation that got up to the lid of my 6.5 gallon fermenter (5.5g batch) but didn't make it through the bung. I just use a regular #6.5 stopper and small tubing going into a prego jar I set on top of my bucket. Never had an issue with it overflowing.
 
Thanks you def gave me some confidence to try this one. Will be brewing this one in about a week... maybe next wednesday

I was planning on re hydrating as normal... should i do one or 2 packs? cause i do have an extra one
 
Haha, sure, I use a simple test when determining whether it will be beer or not: Does it have malt? Does it have hops? Did some hungry yeasties go to town and make it bubble away? If yes, then it's beer! :mug:

That does not mean all beers are created equal, but time heals (most) all beers (if they're not excellent right out of the fermenter), and worst case it'll be better than BMC swill. Chances are that a friend/family/stranger will LOVE it and declare it the best beer you've ever made.

I'd just use one pack of yeast and save that as a backup or for your next batch.

As Chuck would say, RDWHAHB!
 
Not yet... I was gonna but a friend of mine is coming home this weekend and I'm gonna show him how to brew... well as best I can haha.... but ill take some pics and let ya know
 
Its brewed.... me and a buddy brewed her up today and also bottled my summer ale....

BUT.... i messed up... not a huge mess up but i added 12 ounces of carapils instead of 6.... whoops oh well bet she'll have some nice head....


Thats what she said
 
update...

Some serious fermentation is going on... about 4 bubbles every 3 seconds... and its moving around like serious in the carboy.... its goin cray.... may have to switch to a blow off
 
Not to rain on the parade, but that's gonna be one sticky brew, my friend. Dark extract has specialty grains in it like caramel and chocolate malt, so really no need for the extra caramel and carapils (especially the accidental extra carapils). Add the malto dex on top of that and you may end up with a pretty high FG. The simple sugar may help a bit, but I'm guessing it'll be a struggle to get it down near your target OG, anything under 1.02 with a malt bill like that would be surprising. And lastly, the main flaw I see other than what I mentioned is your choice of yeast. Read up around here, you'll see that Munton's isn't really regarded as a quality yeast.
 
Not to rain on the parade, but that's gonna be one sticky brew, my friend. Dark extract has specialty grains in it like caramel and chocolate malt, so really no need for the extra caramel and carapils (especially the accidental extra carapils). Add the malto dex on top of that and you may end up with a pretty high FG. The simple sugar may help a bit, but I'm guessing it'll be a struggle to get it down near your target OG, anything under 1.02 with a malt bill like that would be surprising. And lastly, the main flaw I see other than what I mentioned is your choice of yeast. Read up around here, you'll see that Munton's isn't really regarded as a quality yeast.

Thanks for the input... its an experiment... if its good great... if not oh well....ill learn from what went wrong and get better... ill keep an eye on the gravity and ill see if i can get it down a bit... i understand muntons is not regarded as a high quality yeast but i figured i had a few extra packs and a bunch of extra ingredients around so itll be a good test for myself to see why so many people dont like muntons... any suggestions at this point or should i just let er go?
 
I'd let 'er ride. Keep it cool and it should limit what the yeast imparts. And I've brewed beers before with way to much caramel, and had them ferment well, albeit the caramel flavor was a bit much. What happened was I had a recipe that needed ~2#'s of light Munich, in the grain room at Midwest I asked my wife (who's an amazing brewer/winemaker, FWIW) to grab me some light Munich. She grabbed light CaraMunich and before we figured out the mistake the grains were bagged, tagged and sold. DOH! We let it ride, figured it to be an amber instead of the extra pale ale I'd intended. Long story not so long, it fermented down to ~1.013, which surprised me, and was pretty tasty, but a bit too sweet and the caramel flavor was a bit intense. So yeah, let it ride, could be an amazing beer.

If you want a great place to start with recipe formulation, i highly recommend JZ's and John Palmer's book, "Brewing Classic Styles". They give some great tips in there, and there's an extract recipe for every style of beer out there. Every one I've brewed has been a huge hit, and the knowledge I gained about how to create a beer recipe is invaluable. :mug:
 

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