Critique my biggest beer ever!

[bransona]

I've been working on a house porter for some time now, and it's finally about finished. Most recently, it was:

Robust Porter (originating from Founder's)
1.5 Gallons
1.072 OG - 1.02 FG
~45 IBU, give give or take 5

3lb 2-row
7oz Pale chocolate
5oz munich
2oz Aromatic
2oz Melanoidin
1.5oz C120
1oz Black malt (their original recipe uses this, so no flaming for this being more of a stout. It really doesn't come out that way)

Mash around 152-154 for an hour
Boil for an hour with 12g Nugget FWH
180* Hopstand with 7g each Goldings and Cascade (I actually really liked this hopstand addition instead of boiling. Brings a certain "freshness" to the final product)
Ferment with US-05

Now, I'm planning an imperial Belgian porter today, made from this recipe, with the most significant change being WY3787. There are some other tweaks that I'll explain my thinking behind along the way. I present to you my idea for...

DARTH MALT - AN IMPERIAL BELGIAN PORTER

1.25 Gallons (reduced batch size rather than upping grain bill...just in case it sucks)
OG 1.112 - FG 1.022
40 IBU

3lb 2-row
8oz Homemade d-160 candi sugar
7oz Pale Chocolate
6oz Flaked oats (the sugar ups the abv so much that I'm concerned it will dry out too much. I figured some oats would help that and keep the beer nice and soft, in spite of a potential of almost 13%abv)
5oz Munich
2oz Aromatic
2oz Melanoidin
2oz Victory
1.5oz Special B
-no black malt-

Mash at 148
8g NB and 4g Nugget FWH, with no other hop additions.
Ferment with y3787, allowing to free rise in 70* ambient room

I left out the black malt to avoid winding up with more of a stout. The lower mash temp is typical of belgian brews, and I think the oats coupled with that will give me good fermentation characteristics and body congruently. Then I swapped part of the bittering schedule for Norther Brewer because I made an english porter with these instead of nugget recently and am a fan of the very clean character, but I think leaving some nugget in will help the bitterness stand up against this massive grain bill. I also discarded the hop stand additions because I honestly wouldn't want those flavors with the belgian yeast. I really am just shooting for massive malty and belgian flavors---hops shouldn't be anything more than the stage crew for this show.

If you've made it this far, let me thank you for your time and patience Whatcha think? I know the grain bill is extensive, but it's not without reason. I've been tweaking and tweaking and do honestly believe each aspect of this conundrum adds to my finished product in a beneficial way.

I've got my starter rocking and rolling, made the sugar yesterday, and will be brewing today by the early afternoon :rockin:

 

[chickypad]

Well it certainly is complicated as you mention. If you like the way your other porter comes out though, then the altered recipe seems to make sense with the main changes of subbing in the Special B and candi sugar. Plus it's a small test batch so minimal loss if you hate it. One question for my own edification as I don't use those malts often, I thought melanoidin and aromatic were essentially the same thing just different maltsters? Seems like you could simplify there, but I guess maybe you've already got them on hand anyway. Not sure you need the victory.
Good luck with it!

 

[bransona]

Well it certainly is complicated as you mention. If you like the way your other porter comes out though, then the altered recipe seems to make sense with the main changes of subbing in the Special B and candi sugar. Plus it's a small test batch so minimal loss if you hate it. One question for my own edification as I don't use those malts often, I thought melanoidin and aromatic were essentially the same thing just different maltsters? Seems like you could simplify there, but I guess maybe you've already got them on hand anyway. Not sure you need the victory.
Good luck with it!

I find that the aromatic really sticks true to its name, whereas melanoidin gives richness and depth of body and flavor...or at least that's how my confirmation bias sees it. Lol. The victory adds a certain sweetness that reminds me of a lot of good Baltic porters, but it really may also be my bias. The three together just make a nice malt canvas for the others to be painted onto. I'm probably just a little crazy though Thanks!

 

[m00ps]

You remember playing with paints as a kid? I love blue, but I also love red, maybe if I combine them, oh and it could use some green and orange and.....

What do you end up with?

 

[bransona]

You remember playing with paints as a kid? I love blue, but I also love red, maybe if I combine them, oh and it could use some green and orange and.....

What do you end up with?

That's a fair point, but the former is a tried and true recipe... Thus, the latter should make the same level of sense

(in theory)

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

The only problem I see with the latter recipe is that you're not making more than 1.5 gallons of it.

The "too many malts" thing...um, there is a point there, but in my experience the way it tends to play out in these threads pushes over into "superstitious aversion" territory. This came out nicely, for instance, as, I'm told, did this when it was still brewed. And as you said, your base recipe too.

 

[signpost]

If you were pulling this together out of thin air and speculation, then I'd be lining up behind the people telling you the grain bill is too complex and muddled. But if you've developed your base recipe over a number of batches and feel good about it, then your imperial version seems to make sense to me.

Looks good.

 

[bransona]

Thanks, guys! It just got pitched. OG of 1.120 went ahead and assumed I'll need a blowoff with 3787

 

[bmaupin]

sounds interesting. how did this turn out?

 

[bransona]

It's still bottle conditioning, but so far it's freakin amazing! Huge fruit Belgian character with a malt complexity that just doesn't quit. Syrupy but not too thick or sweet. Hides the 14%+ abv extremely well.

 

[chickypad]

Nice. What FG did you hit?

 

[bransona]

I think it was 1.024