Robust Porter Recipe.....please critique!!

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brentt03

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Working on making another original recipe, calling this one Draggin' Nuts Robust Porter....this is my first attempt at a dark beer, so any advice would be great. My goal is a nice toasty/roasty porter, with hints of chocolate, and a hop spice that you can taste but doesn't overpower, yet gives a nice aroma when taking a drink.

And of course I want a unique flavor, trying to use some hops that may not be so common in most porters.

Looking to brew this one, this coming weekend....here is how she looks so far:

Total Grains: 12.0lbs
OG Estimate: 1.058
Lovibond Estimate: 36.1
IBU's: 44.6

Single Infusion, Batch Sparge @ 156

Grains
8.50lbs - Munich Malt 20L
2.50lbs - 2-Row Pale Malt (US)
0.50lbs - Chocolate Malt
0.25lbs - Black Patent Malt
0.25lbs - Special "B" Malt

Hops
1.00oz Pearle (60min)
1.00oz Hallertauer (20min)
1.00oz Fuggles (10min)
1.00oz Hallertauer (10min)

Yeast
Wyeast Irish Ale #1084

Let me know what you think, and I will tweak! :mug:

Also considering exchanging the chocolate malt for pale chocolate malt....if the chocolate malt is too much....
 
For the taste you're looking for, I would switch the quantities of Munich and 2-row pale. Using Munich malt as a base for porter is not altogether very common, and the flavor might be a bit undesirable. Also, once you've switched the quantities, I would use Marris Otter instead of American 2-row. Marris Otter is a strain of British 2-row that is slightly darker than other types of pale malt, and it gives a really nice malt profile to the beer, especially in Porters and Milds but in lighter styles as well. You can definitely keep everything else the same other than that, and you should have good results. I was going to critique your hop choice, but I realize that you wanted to do something a bit different. Kudos...I love mongrel beers!

Here's the proposed grain bill:
8.50 lbs Marris Otter
2.50 lbs Munich malt (You might also consider 1.5 lbs Munich malt and 1 lb 60 L Crystal)
0.50 lbs Chocolate
0.25 lbs Black Patent
0.25 lbs Special 'B' malt

Same hopping schedule...should definitely be interesting. If you want more conventional but with similar levels of bitterness/flavor/aroma, I would go with:
1 oz. Challenger @60
1 oz. East Kent Goldings @20
1 oz. Fuggles @10
1 oz. East Kent Goldings @10
 
for the taste you're looking for, i would switch the quantities of munich and 2-row pale. Using munich malt as a base for porter is not altogether very common, and the flavor might be a bit undesirable. Also, once you've switched the quantities, i would use marris otter instead of american 2-row. Marris otter is a strain of british 2-row that is slightly darker than other types of pale malt, and it gives a really nice malt profile to the beer, especially in porters and milds but in lighter styles as well. You can definitely keep everything else the same other than that, and you should have good results. I was going to critique your hop choice, but i realize that you wanted to do something a bit different. Kudos...i love mongrel beers!

Here's the proposed grain bill:
8.50 lbs marris otter
2.50 lbs munich malt (you might also consider 1.5 lbs munich malt and 1 lb 60 l crystal)
0.50 lbs chocolate
0.25 lbs black patent
0.25 lbs special 'b' malt

same hopping schedule...should definitely be interesting. If you want more conventional but with similar levels of bitterness/flavor/aroma, i would go with:
1 oz. Challenger @60
1 oz. East kent goldings @20
1 oz. Fuggles @10
1 oz. East kent goldings @10

+1
 
Awesome!!! I will switch it up in beersmith when I get home from work.

Do you guys think my hop choice may be overbearing??
 
hop choice, I don't think so, fuggles are traditional porter, hallertau isn't that far out of line i don't think.

hop amounts, yeah that's outside the lines, especially if they're high aa hops.

should be good, do you know your water? If you have soft water I'd consider adding some baking soda.
 
From the looks of it the AA's are a little less in the original ones I chose.

Pearle - 7.8
Hallertauer - 4.2
Fuggles - 4.2

compared to.....

Challenger - 7.0
East Kent - 6.6

So maybe I will end up with a nice subtle hop aroma
 
Also, I can't seem to get perle leaf hops at my LHBS. I prefer using leaf hops over pellet, but for this batch should I go all pellet, or can I mix and match??
 
Adding honey is not hard, and at 5% to 10% will be noticable without going over the top.

Do not boil the honey.

Add it during cool down, post-boil. I pour it in at 130-F while the wort-chiller is running. Stir well to completely dissolve. This will preserve most of the aromatics & flavor of the honey. Honey has a naturally low moisture content, preventing bacteria from growing. It does not need to be sterilized or boiled before hitting your beer.

Enjoy!
--LexusChris
 
Just a suggestion, and this may pertain only to me, but I would try to leave out the black patent all together. I know you said you want roasty/toasty but I find that black patent gives a smokey sometimes acrid flavor to the beer. I'm expecting that in a stout, not in a porter. When I make a porter I tend to use .75 - 1lb of chocolate malt and a 1lb or so dark crystal like 120L (which is what your special B will get you). I find that I get toasty, chocolate, and coffee like without the smoke flavor with that. So, just a thought, black malt is not a bad idea, but I try to restrict black malt to stouts and even then I usually just use roasted barley. But, by no mean is what you're doing odd and it's your recipe so have fun with it!
 
that is a good suggestion. maybe drop it to 2oz. i'm drinking a porter right now that was 2row, munich, 1lb c80 and 1lb chocolate and it's one of my best beers.
 
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