Need Help With A Smoked Porter

Been wanting to do a smoked beer for a while but not real sure about this recipe. I want to get some prominent smoke aroma and flavor with a good balance of maltiness. This is what I've got so far based on Jamil's recipe. Shooting for a Tuesday brewday. Any thoughts would be very appreciated.


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Smoked Robust Porter
Brewer: Redweasel
Asst Brewer:
Style: Other Smoked Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.56 gal
Estimated OG: 1.072 SG
Estimated Color: 42.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 41.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 49.18 %
3 lbs Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 19.67 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 13.11 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.92 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.92 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.92 %
8.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 3.28 %
1.00 oz Goldings, US [4.70 %] (60 min) (First WorHops 16.2 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [4.50 %] (30 min) Hops 10.9 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [4.50 %] (20 min) Hops 8.6 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, US [4.70 %] (5 min) Hops 2.9 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [4.50 %] (5 min) Hops 2.8 IBU
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

Your grain bill looks pretty good to me. I brewed Jamil's recipe, and the only thing that I would have changed is to up the percentage to the smoked malt a bit. I would have liked a bit more of that flavor to come through.
By the way, I hope that you are using the beech wood smoked rauch malt and not the peat smoked stuff.
The original recipe didn’t really need the increased amount of hops that you have, but that is personal preference.

I think that looks good! Personally, I would up the IBUs, but that is a personal preference only. Have you considered smoking your own malt? I highly recommend it.

Last time I made a smoked porter I used 3lbs of wyermanns smoked malt. It is still just a little light on the smoked flavor for my tastes. Next time I make it I'm going to up it by a pound and see if that does it.

Maybe a bit more rauchmalt. I really want the smokiness to come through. Not as heavily as in a Rauchbier but enough to notice. The hops I have listed give me a bitternes ratio of .576 which I hope is fairly balanced.

I'm starting to wonder if 8oz of black patent may be an overkill. Should I adjust it or maybe drop it all together? This is a new style to me and my first "big" beer so I need all the help I can get.

Redweasel said:

Maybe a bit more rauchmalt. I really want the smokiness to come through. Not as heavily as in a Rauchbier but enough to notice. The hops I have listed give me a bitternes ratio of .576 which I hope is fairly balanced.

I'm starting to wonder if 8oz of black patent may be an overkill. Should I adjust it or maybe drop it all together? This is a new style to me and my first "big" beer so I need all the help I can get.

Click to expand...

The BP with all that chocolate malt may be a bit overkill; it *might* be a bit closer to a smoked stout, albeit with a fair amount of crystal to sweeten it out. It looks tasty, but if I were to change anything, I'd probably cut the BP in half.

EDIT: I meant, change anything other that the % of smoked malt; I can't get enough of that.

Bird, I think you read my mind. I'm going to cut the BP in 1/2 and add 1 1/2 lb rauchmalt, dropping the MO by 1/2 lb. Think I'm going to stay with the same hop schedule though. I am going to change the yeast to Wyeast 1272 per Boerderij's Smokey Boggert recipe. So Here is what I've got. I would LOVE to smoke my own grain but just don't have the ability to do so.

7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 43.75 %
4 lbs 8.0 oz Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 28.13 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 12.50 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.69 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.69 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.69 %
4.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.56 %

I like the fact that your using 2 different crystals to get a little complexity, but it seems like it could be too much. If it was my beer I would drop it so about 5% total of the bill was crystal

Bokonon said:

I like the fact that your using 2 different crystals to get a little complexity, but it seems like it could be too much. If it was my beer I would drop it so about 5% total of the bill was crystal

Click to expand...

The Crystal is a bit higher than I would normaly use. I added more to help balance out the rauchmalt. Now you have me rethinking that also.

After a couple of months thinking about this brew I finaly took the plunge today. Here is what is being brewed right now. It smells amazing.

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.063 SG
Estimated Color: 36.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 36.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 48.28 %
3 lbs Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 20.69 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 13.79 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5.17 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.17 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5.17 %
4.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.72 %
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 24.8 IBU
0.75 oz Williamette [4.60 %] (20 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [4.60 %] (15 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.80 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 oz Williamette [4.60 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale