smoked porter version 1.0

This is the second recipe that I have designed. The first is in secondary and so far, so good. I'm brewing this on National Home Brew Day as part of a group brew. This is my first attempt at a partial mash. It is my understanding that I can get conversion on the smoked malt if I steep all the grains in 9 qts of water at 150-155 for an hour. I than planning on sparging with two cups of water at 160. Not sure if this is right. Also, I have never used Special B and was wondering if 1/2 an ounce is too much. I've heard it is powerful stuff, but at 4.44 percent of the grain bill can it overpower the other flavors? I plan on fermenting this in primary for a week, secondary for two weeks and bottle condition until fall. Any and all feedback is much appreciated.


Type: partial mash
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer: Mike
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (8 Gallon)
Est Original Gravity: 1.059 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.87 %
Bitterness: 28.6 IBU

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 26.67 %
4.00 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 35.56 %
2.00 lb Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 17.78 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.44 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.44 %
0.50 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 4.44 %
0.25 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.22 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (250.0 SRM) Grain 2.22 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.22 %
1.00 oz Cluster [7.90 %] (60 min) Hops 28.6 IBU
1 Pkgs London Ale (Wyeast Labs #1028) Yeast-Ale

I did a Smoked Porter PM with a very similar recipe. I used about 10% smoked malt which gave it a really nice smokey flavor without dominating. 18% smoked will punch up the smokey flavor, but it's really your preference. I noticed that the smoke mellows out with time.

Regarding the mash, I just mashed the smoked malt with the specialty grains (no 2 row) and it converted fine. I mashed at 154 and got a little more body than I wanted. The next time I will mash around 152. If you follow the 1.5 qts/lb guideline, you should use around 6 qts of water in your mash. I am just starting out with PM and use a 2 pot on the stove method. I sparged with 2 gallons of water at 168. Not sure about how you would sparge with 2 cups of water?

I can't be of any help with the Special B as I have never used it.

secinarot said:

I did a Smoked Porter PM with a very similar recipe. I used about 10% smoked malt which gave it a really nice smokey flavor without dominating. 18% smoked will punch up the smokey flavor, but it's really your preference. I noticed that the smoke mellows out with time.

Regarding the mash, I just mashed the smoked malt with the specialty grains (no 2 row) and it converted fine. I mashed at 154 and got a little more body than I wanted. The next time I will mash around 152. If you follow the 1.5 qts/lb guideline, you should use around 6 qts of water in your mash. I am just starting out with PM and use a 2 pot on the stove method. I sparged with 2 gallons of water at 168. Not sure about how you would sparge with 2 cups of water?

I can't be of any help with the Special B as I have never used it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. The way I came up with the two cups 160 method was from a recipe that I did that was halfway between a steep and a partial mash. Now that I think about it, the way I was going to do it doesn't make any sense. I am going to use your technique and sparge with two gallons at 168. Someone gave me very vague partial mash advice about the temperature and amount of water. The told me that 2 qts per lb at 150-155 for an hour is what I should shoot for. The only method of temperature control I know is to kill the flame on the burner when it gets to 162 and let it fall to 158 before turning it back on its lowest setting and repeating. That is how I have always steeped and was going to do it this way but with 151-155 for an hour. I have found that using a total of 7.5 gals of spring makes it so I end up with 5 gals of beer. Should I still sparge with two gallons and add the rest when I add my extract?

I'm not really an expert on this, but the 2 gallon sparge works for me as I do partial boils so I end up with about 3 gallons in the boil.