Robust Porter - No aroma!!!

Here is a weird one! This was my 3rd all grain brew. I was shooting for a robust porter. Grain bill was as follows:

8lbs 12oz Pale 2-row
14.1oz Caramel 60L
12oz Flaked Barley
9oz Chocolate Malt
7oz Black Patent
4oz Roasted Barley

I left in primary for 2 weeks (didnt do secondary) and bottled.
It's been 2.5 weeks in the bottle.

It tastes OK...but not very ROBUST and has zero aroma.

I love a nice strong coffee aroma on a porter so this is disappointing.

Im thinking I didnt let it marinate long enough in the primary.

Other thoughts???

.... okay, about the marinate thing... I really hope you're joking!

First of all, coffee is supposed to be subtle or non-existent in a porter (IMHO)... otherwise you're making a stout. But if you want more next time just up the roasted barley.

Also upping the chocolate malt to a full pound will help you get nice toasty aroma.

It might have to do with temperatures, too. What temperature did it ferment at and what temperature are you drinking it?

I left in primary for 2 weeks (didnt do secondary) and bottled.
It's been 2.5 weeks in the bottle.

Click to expand...

Put the bottles somewhere out of the way for the next 2 months and then sample. I'll wager it will be a lot more 'rubust" then.

Dark beers take longer to mature. If you leave them in the fermenter longer they seem to mature much quicker. When you do this recipe again, leave it in the primary for 4 weeks before you bottle. Sample one at 2.5 weeks and then another at 4 to 6 weeks and see how it matures.

Reno_eNVy said:

.... okay, about the marinate thing... I really hope you're joking!

Click to expand...

What??? Seems like a perfect word for aging!!!

My temperatures may have been a little funky...it stayed pretty consistent at 150F for 60 minutes which was lower than I would have liked.

Also, I didn't have my sparging process down and got a low og. It was 1.045 and I was shooting for 1.060. I added some DME...dont have access to my program at the moment and I forget how much.