Baltic Porter Recipe

I have a bunch of grains and hops left over from many different previous batches. I thought I would put them together to see what I could come up with. I came up with a Baltic Porter. I would like to brew this without buying anything else. There is a little bit more of these ingredients that I could add or change for this recipe. How do you think it will turn out?

3.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 41.10 %
2.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 34.25 %
0.50 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 6.85 %
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6.85 %
0.30 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.11 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3.42 %
0.25 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 3.42 %
0.25 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (60 min) Hops 10.8 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, U.S Kent [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 14.3 IBU
0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [3.40 %] (60 min) Hops 10.8 IBU
SafAle US-05 yeast

How big is the batch?

It doesn't strike me as particularly Baltic (not much Munich, not a lager, chocolate instead of carafa, too much bitterness etc...), but it certainly sounds like it will be a solid beer American-English porter.

Oldsock said:

How big is the batch?

It doesn't strike me as particularly Baltic (not much Munich, not a lager, chocolate instead of carafa, too much bitterness etc...), but it certainly sounds like it will be a solid beer American-English porter.

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Oh Right! I forgot. It is 2.5 gallons. that would make a big difference.

Okay, so not Baltic. I was just trying to find a "style" in which to set Beer Smith. Maybe I should lower the hop bitterness? Is this more of an American Imperial Porter?

I was at a home brew club meeting the other night where we were tasting many porters. I was talking to a guy, and he said he wasn't a "Style-Nazi." I thought I wasn't either, but I find myself really wanting to stick within the parameters of a style. I know I don't have to, but I keep messing with it. Must be some sort of O.C.D.

Imperial Porter is obviously not a BJCP style. What numbers would take a porter from Robust to Imperial? How high could the ABV go? What keeps it from becoming an Imperial Stout, the absence of roasted barley? Is Imperial Porter just a blind venture into the wildness beyond the style guidelines?

EDIT: I should have done a search. I didn't realize that the term "Imperial" was one of those debated terms. Please forgive my jump to post before searching.

I have had one imperial porter that I remember, and it was definitely different than an imperial stout. To me, the separation definitely came in the hoppiness of it: it was way hoppier than any RIS that I've had.

I think that the ABV can be as high as you want it, and you can call it whatever the heck that you want to.

eanmcnulty said:

What numbers would take a porter from Robust to Imperial? How high could the ABV go? What keeps it from becoming an Imperial Stout, the absence of roasted barley? Is Imperial Porter just a blind venture into the wildness beyond the style guidelines?

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BJCP puts the high end at 1.065 and 6.5% ABV. That seems like as good a point as any (although many would be up considerably higher than that).

I think it is more a difference of roast level, stouts tend to be more roast/char/espresso forward and porters are more smooth/mocha (of course this is a gross oversimplification). There are plenty of stouts that don’t use roasted barley, and some porters that do use it (so that isn’t a good indicator). .3 lbs of chocolate malt in 2.5 gallons will give you a pretty light roast, it might even come off more as an Imperial Brown than a porter. In comparison, my last 5 gallon batch of imperial stout had almost 2 lbs of dark malt (roasted, chocolate, carafe, black patent).

An imperial porter would have similar flavors and balance to a Robust porter, but with all of the flavors (as well as the body) being bigger (much like IPA and Imperial IPA). Porters have a wide range though, so you could go hoppy or malty with the balance.

I don't think it's that far off from a baltic porter. You definitely need more munich or vienna, but the IBUs are within range and ale yeast can be used as long as fermented at the lower end.
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style12.php#1c