Beech-Smoked Rauchmalz in a Smoked Porter?

[specharka]

Looking to make my yearly smoked beer and I wanted to take a departure from my traditional Rauchbier lager for an ale this time. I’ve seen a lot of smoked porter recipes that call for cherry, alder, and even peat smoked malt, but not too many with standard beech smoked Rauchmalz. (I have brewed BierMuncher’s Loon Lake Smoked Porter with lager yeast, and it was smoky enough but not as roasty as I’d like).

I want to get the proportion of smoked to base malt just right to have a smoky note that just competes with the roast. My recipe is fairly simple:

1.065 OG, 1.017 FG, 33 IBU, 32 SRM

84% base malt (Maris Otter + Weyermann Beech Smoked Rauchmalz)
8% Crystal 60 blend
4% Pale Chocolate
4% Black Barley

20 IBU Fuggles @ 60
8 IBU EKG @ 30
5 IBU EKG @ 10

Conan yeast.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[Queequeg]

You need to use a lot of weyerman smoked malt in a stout, last recipe I think I used 20% and I couldn't really taste it. I would probably use 40%.

Alternatively use briess cherry wood malt. It's stronger so you can use less. I can't recommend an amount as I have never personally used it.

 

[specharka]

You need to use a lot of weyerman smoked malt in a stout, last recipe I think I used 20% and I couldn't really taste it. I would probably use 40%.

Alternatively use briess cherry wood malt. It's stronger so you can use less. I can't recommend an amount as I have never personally used it.

Thanks. That’s actually very similar to what I had planned on using (42% Maris Otter, 42% Rauchmalz). My concern with pushing that proportion higher is the low diastatic power (~46 L) might not be high enough to guarantee conversion over a short mash at higher temperatures.

I’ve never used Briess Cherrywood and I already purchased a fair amount of the beech-smoked Rauchmalz so I think I’ll stick with that one for now.

 

[tennesseean_87]

Thanks. That’s actually very similar to what I had planned on using (42% Maris Otter, 42% Rauchmalz). My concern with pushing that proportion higher is the low diastatic power (~46 L) might not be high enough to guarantee conversion over a short mash at higher temperatures.

I’ve never used Briess Cherrywood and I already purchased a fair amount of the beech-smoked Rauchmalz so I think I’ll stick with that one for now.

Higher temp mashes tend to convert faster. You could throw in a bit of 6 row if you're nervous, or use a base with higher DP than MO.

 

[specharka]

Higher temp mashes tend to convert faster. You could throw in a bit of 6 row if you're nervous, or use a base with higher DP than MO.

Yeah, I thought about that as well. I know standard 2-row is perfectly acceptable for making porter, so I might end up switching it up. I wanted to get some biscuit notes from the Maris Otter, but I suppose I can always use some Victory or Special Roast to get there too.