Hey guys, I’ve never brewed a porter before and am trying to brew more styles in 2022. I want one that’s more on the sweet side instead of the robust or Smokey kinds out there. How does this recipe look?
If you want an authentic, classic London Porter, check out the recipe for Fullers London Porter. We got a bronze medal with this recipe.
^Fuller's London Porter is one of the benchmark English Porters of the world. It is the number 1 ranked English Porter on BeerAdvocate and has the sweetness you are targeting.
The great beers of the world usually have fairly simple recipes. To make great Porter you don't need vanilla, peanut butter, pecans, chocolate, lactose, bourbon, or adjuncts, which in my opinion makes for great cake but not beer (sorry about the snarkiness
). Brown malt and Chocolate malt bring a lot of complexity all by themselves.
The BYO recipe mentioned above is a very good one and differs from Graham Wheeler's and the supposed brew log from Fuller's in that the amount of Chocolate Malt is in the 5% range rather than 2%.
The supposed brew log/Graham Wheeler recipe is approximately...
OG 1.053
IBU 35
ABV 5.4
SRM - ?
75% Pale Malt
12% Brown Malt
10% Crystal Malt (not sure if 60L or 75L, I make mine with Crisp 77L)
2% Chocolate Malt (300-350L range)
Hopping is simple, Fuggle at 60 mins and ~.5 oz @ 15 mins to hit an IBU of 35ish.
Note, the SRM of using the 2% Pale Chocolate malt leads to ~20 SRM which is at the bottom of the Brown Porter scale. I have not found any information that confirms the actual Fuller's London Porter SRM and if darker than 20, how it is achieved. Using a darker and/or more Chocolate malt ups the SRM but also ups the roastiness which may not be appropriate for the clone.
Also, one important but seldom mentioned consideration if using Maris Otter as your base malt. Maris Otter has low diastatic power. Crisp's is only 50 L. If you use Maris Otter, a longer mash may be required to convert the Brown malt. Alternatively, you could add a little good ole American 2-Row to boost the diastatic power of the mash.
Coincidently, my next brew is a London Porter clone. Recipe below...