Classic Style Smoked Beer Loon Lake Smoked Porter (Award Winner)

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BierMuncher

...My Junk is Ugly...
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
12,440
Reaction score
952
Location
St. Louis, MO
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Safale-04
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.050
Final Gravity
1.012
Boiling Time (Minutes)
75
IBU
24.6
Color
24
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
10 days at 67 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
5 days at 67 degrees
Additional Fermentation
Kegged and chilled 7 days
Tasting Notes
See Below:
The local micro brew here in town has an award winning smoked porter. It took a gold in the 2004 GABF. It’s mellow smoke flavor goes well with the malty flavor of this grain grist. I emailed the brewer there and he said they use up to 65% of beechwood smoked malt. While I love the rich smokiness of their beer, I wanted to tame it down just a bit to appeal to the more traditional beer drinker. I ended up using just under 50% beechwood smoked (Rauch) malt. I strongly suggest you don’t use peat smoked malt or (God forbid) try to use a smoke flavor additive. If you can’t get your hands on beechwood, try smoking your own. There are plenty of threads here that talk about the process.

There was a lengthy back and forth discussion on this recipe here, and the common theme is that you can’t fear the smoke. Anything less than 35% smoked malt and the flavor/aroma will be so slight as to be missed…depending on the grain bill.

I brewed this beer 23 days ago and have been enjoying this immensely for the last week. With a low IBU and a mellow base recipe, this is a beer that can be turned from grain to glass quickly. The smoke aroma is prominent, but not at all overpowering. The sweetness of the malt really balances this beer well. I mashed this at around 157 and held it for just 45 minutes. (I like my porters rich). This beer tastes, smells and feels like a rich porter that was brewed over an open fire in a log cabin. I’ve already placed an order for more Rauch malt because this one is a do-over.

I’ve actually bottled of a few of this batch to enter into a local competition coming up.

If you’re looking for a good winter warmer that is distinctive, this is a winner.

Loon Lake Smoked Porter

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 22.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 24.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
5.00 lb Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM
3.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (250.0 SRM)

0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min)
0.75 oz Williamette [5.20%] (60 min)

Safale-04 Slurry from a prior batch.
 
You reminded me of about 10 bottles I have sitting in the back of the beer fridge.

Thanks. Enjoying one now. :ban:

Still smoky and bright. Nice maltiness.

If I were to change one thing...it might be to kick the OG up by 7-8 points and mash higher/shorter to keep some residual sweetness.
 
Going to be ordering ingredients for this next month for a split batch brew day with theguy. I gonna go with the original 65% rauchmalt because I want huge overpowering smoke.
How high would you raise you mash temp to? My beers always seem to thin. I usually mash everything around 153-155

And how has the smoke mellowed over time? I am brewing this in july, but want smokiness for october/november sitting outside by the fire. Will it still be there strong, or should I wait till september for this one brew a longer agin winter spice in July.
 
The smokiness will stick around just fine.

I'd do about a 158-159 mash for no more than 50-60 minutes. Maybe even up the grain bill 2 pounds or so to "grow" this beer some.

Funny how June is the time to start thinking about your Fall beers. :D
 
Would would you think about just adding 2 lbs of Smoked Malt to this to both up percentage and smokiness? I want smokiness similar of Schlenkerla
 
Just stumbled across this thread after a brew day with IrregularPulse on this recipe. Everything went great except for a minor boil over (took eyes off boil kettle while ordering some pizza). I live about an hour away from where we brewed, and pitched once I got home. Took the OG at home and it came in at apx 1.062 (I think target was ~1.058). Never had a smoked beer until IrregularPulse invited me down for the brew day and bought a few Schrelenkerla's. Loved it. Anyway, I can't wait to try this one!
 
Had to tell everyone about our negligence there eh' TG? haha First boil over in a long time. Stupid PapaJohns. I thought about the OG and this was the first tiem I've ordered from BrewMasters Warehouse. I always hit my numbers withing a point or so with Northernbrewer set at 75% in Brewsmith. BrewMastersWarehouse must have a better crush for my setup. a few extra points never a bad thing :)

Question for you BierMuncher
Were you able to smell or taste any smokiness in the hydro samples or runnings? I didn't get any from it. But it also seems most of my worts all smell and taste the same until after fermentation!
 
Very pleased with smoked level, It was enough to remind of of a Schlenkerla Marzen but not AS strong. It may come through more or less as gravity drops. Was 1026 after 2 weeks. Working on rousing it up.
 
IP...I am having the same issue with the gravity not dropping enough. Are you thinking about repitching? My last reading (tonight) came in at apx 1.027 (this was after swirling it around a bit on Friday). I think you mentioned that you had some similar issues with Safale-04 in the past.
 
Hydrometer broke so who knwos what this finsihed at. I am confident it basically stayed at 1026. Just got this gassed up and pulled my first carboneted pint tonight. It is fantastic. Pretty close to Schlenkerla, I think next year Wehn I make this again for teh fall (Oh yes it will be a yearly Fall campfire beer) I will make a starter for sure, and add some flaked wheat for head and body. This would be a meal if sureved on Beer-Gas.
 
Did you base this on the O'Fallon Smoke? I'm drinking one right now and really enjoying it, was looking around already for a recipe. I know one of the brewer's sons, maybe I can get some inside info.
 
Did you base this on the O'Fallon Smoke? I'm drinking one right now and really enjoying it, was looking around already for a recipe. I know one of the brewer's sons, maybe I can get some inside info.

It was inspired by their smoked porter, but not an attempt to clone. Dave (brewer at O'Fallon) told me they use around 60% smoked malt.
 
I brewed this a few weeks ago, I added magnum dry hops in the second and some american oak chips to give it a little more bite, really great beer though. big ups biermuncher
 
Brewing this today, I love Islay scotch so I am wondering if my taste for smoke will carry over to beer...

I did up the grain bill too 52% Smoked malt as I was afraid I would drink some and be left wanting more smoke.
 
I think you'll be happy upping the smoke. I may up it even more next year and do a smaller bottled batch as more of a specialty beer. Currently mine is pretty smokey, but I can handle 2-3 in a row.
 
I could barley detect any smoke in the wort, when I let a sample cool the smell came through fairly nicely but there was still little taste. Hope it is just masked by the sweetnes and comes out after time. Either way I can tell she is gonna be great and can't wait to crack one open.
 
I didn't use 9 SRM I used Wyermans smoked malt whcih is lighter. I did some checking and from what I could find was beech smoked and my LHBS assured me it was not peat smoked. I upped the grain bill slightly as well but if you are worried about the color, don't be it will still be very dark.
 
i'm not worried about the color really, i'm just worried that i'm using the right stuff. i've seen other recipes call for 9 SRM smoked and i'm wondering where they are getting it.
 
I scaled this down to 1.1 gallons, and brewed it up tonight using Deathbrewer's Stovetop AG method. OG and volumes came out spot on. Rehydrated the yeast, and in less than 1.5 hours it's bubbling away in the ferm chamber set @ about 62-64F.

Hydrometer sample tasted great. The smoke flavor came out nicely. Can't wait to drink it.
 
I did not secondary this last time I made it. I think if I wanted to drop out as much yeast as possible I might do something like that however it does need to age a little longer imo.

It was great bottled after 3 weeks but give it even an extra week or two and this beer is superb. It is a must have on hand for the winter months. Actually gonna get me another 10 gals rolling next week.
 
I smelled a fire burning last night and it made me thirsty for this beer. Guess I know what I'll be brewing this weekend.

I'm doing a Brown this Friday but am going to go with 45% smoked malt. No time to brew to batches, so I thought I merge the two. Dropping the Smoked malt % a bit since it won't be as big a backdrop.
 
Did you try adding the flaked wheat? I am about to order the recipe and want it to be thick and smoky to go with pulled pork BBQ
 
Any idea how long the smoke flavor lasts on this beer? I brewed basically this recipe, but with 1 lb more smoked malt and 2.5 months after brewing there is very little if any smoke flavor left. Do you guys have the same experience with this?
 
Any idea how long the smoke flavor lasts on this beer? I brewed basically this recipe, but with 1 lb more smoked malt and 2.5 months after brewing there is very little if any smoke flavor left. Do you guys have the same experience with this?

The smoke flavor/aroma does fade over time in these smoked recipes. They are really meant to be drunk fresh.

To get the most out of your smoke at this point, warm the beer a bit and give it a good vigorous pour to knock out some of the carbonation. Strip away the cold and the fizz...and the flavors will come through better.
 
Thanks for the recipe Biermuncher!

I wound up brewing this on Thursday but upped the OG to 1064 and swapping the Northern Brewer for Cascade because that's what I had on hand. I kept the Rauch percentage roughly the same at 49%. This mash was INTENSE! This was my first time dealing with Rauch malt and it really does have a very, very smoky profile during the mash.

Looking forward to this one :mug:
 
Thanks for the recipe. I brewed it to go with some New Year's day BBQ. It came out perfect and went great with the pulled pork.
 
I brewed this yesterday, and the wort had no detectable smoke taste/smell. The malt had a very faint smell, but not much. Is that normal, or did I maybe get the worng malt from BMW. I ordered the Weyermann Smoked Malt. Hopefully the smoke shows up more after fermintation.
 
Did you taste your gravity sample? I've only done a few smoked beers, but they all lost some of the smoke after fermentation, and even more by time I got to the bottom of the keg.
 
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