Maple Wheat Porter? - critique a leftovers brew

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snailsongs

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I am planning to brew this tomorrow morning. It's comprised of the 5lbs of base malt I have left and stuff I have sitting around. The only hitch is that I'll be using 6 gallons of maple sap in place of bottled water this time, as a friend was kind enough to share some of his home-tapped sap. It won't add any maple flavor, but it will add about 10 points to the gravity and probably dry it out a bit. This is the reason I am mashing at 158F.....a good idea? any thoughts on the recipe itself? thanks guys and gals.

milkshake wheat porter

Type: All Grain

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 45.5 %
1.00 lb Brown Malt (65.0 SRM) Grain 9.1 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 9.1 %
1.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 9.1 %
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Dark (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.1 %
1.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 9.1 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.5 %
0.25 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.3 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 2.3 %
1.25 oz Fuggles [4.50%] (60 min) Hops 20.5 IBU
0.75 oz Williamette [5.50%] (30 min) Hops 11.5 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50%] (15 min) Hops 5.0 IBU
2 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.0 %
Bitterness: 36.9 IBU
Est Color: 35.5 SRM
 
Sounds good to me, but are you sure that the sap will only add 10 points? I think I might mash it at 154 and run the risk of drying it out too much.
 
This turned out really really good! probably the best beer I've made yet! It's creamy, rich, notes of coffee, bittersweet chocolate, (I know I know this is the most generic description ever, but it fits so well) and just the perfect amount of kick for it's size.

The aroma is disarming - I've never poured a beer that smelled so inviting in my life.....maybe it's just because it's 'fresh' and unfiltered (vs. a store-bought brew), but I've not had anything quite like it. I wish all beer smelled as good as this one.

I'm going to play around with this recipe a bit, maybe increase the percentage of wheat a little bit, and add just a slight touch of nut or biscuit flavor with some victory (or biscuit), just to add a subtle 5th dimension....this rocks though. I'm happy.
 
This beer rules! best porter I've ever had......there's somehow a really pleasant coffee note in there, but it's not even quite coffee, but more like what you'd imagine the best cup of coffee ever might taste like....creamy, just a little nutty and incredible. I love this beer so much that I will cry when it's gone.....I am having second thoughts about messing with this anymore.

the catch is, I split this batch in half and fermented one with S-04 and one with Nottingham.....The one I bottled already was the S-04...the notty is still sitting and smoothing out in my basement in primary.....I was originally going to use the notty half as an experiment in long bulk aging, but I might have to bottle soon so I can compare them......
 
I'm confused...what did you do with the 6 gallons of maple syrup? From your description you make it seem like you used it instead of water but I don't see how that can be?
 
I'm confused...what did you do with the 6 gallons of maple syrup? From your description you make it seem like you used it instead of water but I don't see how that can be?

CRAP! I forgot to mention that I ended up brewing this with plain bottled water instead of sap. Here's why: I brought the sap I picked up from my friend into my office and let it sit near the window in a carboy for 8-9 days, and when I went to open it - holy crap! one of the worst smells ever! so.....I guess maple sap (yes, sweet water), goes bad at about the same rate as milk left at room temperature.....I did get to brew an oatmeal stout with some of the maple sap before I killed it, and that is still aging out since it came out at 1.068, but at tastings there seems to be, indeed, no maple flavor there.

the good news is that this awesome porter is completely repeatable now. :eek:

EDIT: and because of the switch from sap to water, I mashed at 144-55 rather than 158, just FYI....
 
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