English Porter Atonement Brown Porter (2011 HBT Gold Category 12)

[notkevinc]

I've been trying out different Porter recipes, and I think I will try this one next.

I am also very curious about your process for adding peppers. Did you have an amount that worked well?

 

[Airborneguy]

I'm honored that your first post is in my recipe thread.

It's hard to answer questions regarding the amount of peppers to use because even within varieties, the heat can vary so much. I used chilis that my boss had grown in his garden and using two worked out great for me. I simply cleaned them, cut off the stem, and tossed them into the primary after fermentation had ceased.

That worked for me, but you will see wildly differring opinions on how to best use peppers in a beer.

 

[Velinos]

I brewed this recipe as my first AG brew, scaled down to 2.5 gallons using Beersmith and batch sparged in my 5 gallon cooler. The mash smelled amazing when I opened the cooler for mash out. I really hope this beer turns out as good as it smelled last night. Thanks for the recipe.

I did have one question though. Why did you sparge using 153 degree water? Most other recipes I have read say to sparge using 168-170 degree water.

 

[Airborneguy]

I batch sparge, so I pretty much start running off right away and get it onto the flame fairly quickly. Because of this, I've never seen a need to do a mash out. If you fly sparge, you should probably do it though.

 

[madchemist83]

I think I'm gonna try make this recipe with slight modifications. I can't do all grain.

 

[madchemist83]

Smokey Porter

Batch size: 6.0 gal
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.013
Bitterness (IBU): 32.9
Color (SRM): 26.4
ABV: 5.0%

[Grains]
Pilsener LME 3.300lb Extract 32.8%
Maris Otter Malt 3.000lb Grain 29.9%
Brown Malt (British) 2.000lb Grain 19.9%
Cane Sugar 1.000lb Sugar 10.0%
Chocolate Malt (British) 0.250lb Grain 2.5%
Peated Malt 0.250lb Grain 2.5%
Roasted Barley 0.250lb Grain 2.5%

[Hops]
Kent Golding 2.00oz 5.1% AA Pellet @ 60 min, 29.1 IBU
Tettnanger 1.00oz 3.7% AA Pellet @ 10 min, 3.8 IBU

[Yeast/Other]
Dry English Ale yeast 1.0 unit(s), Yeast

 

[JasontheBeaver]

Ok my batch has been on the gas for a week and I pulled a sample and it tastes green, or watery. More like a lighter tasting brown ale, though the color and aroma are perfect.

Major difference between the OP recipe and mine were that mine was in primary for 36 days. Other than that the numbers were really close.

I'll let it sit in the fridge to continue carbing and see what happens.

Just wanted to give the OP an update on this:
Now it is 5 weeks in keg and this beer has now developed into a great porter.
Time is the newest ingredient that I've been learning about in this hobby, and in this case that's the only ingredient this beer needed. I have to admit, I'm very proud of this beer. Really appreciate the recipe.
I bottled a few a couple weeks ago and they're just as good so I entered it into a local competition, can't wait to see the results.
I suppose you're going to want royalties if I win the 1st prize SS brew pot huh?

 

[Airborneguy]

That would be nice, but certainly not required.

You are required to tell me how it does though! Good luck!

 

[cyclonetx]

Just cracked open my first pint and it was great. This is my first AG porter and I was very happy with the way it turned out. I will be brewing this one again.

 

[ThePell]

I've brewed this three times now with one finished product so far. I made the first one for a friend and after taking a few pulls off the keg I almost didn't give it to him since I enjoyed it so much. I just did my first 10 gallon batch today with a neighbor and decided on this as our "break in the keggle" brew. I also just pulled a sample off the second brew which I moved to secondary after 3 weeks and added 20oz of Michigan maple syrup to. That was around a week and a half ago and I'm very pleased with how it is turning out. I will bottle this week and plan on entering it into the big West Michigan competition held by Siciliano's Market. Really looking forward to seeing the results.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[Airborneguy]

Thank you.

I'm glad everyone likes it. Just be advised that it's hit or miss in competitions. This is one of those recipes that doesn't perfectly fit any of the categories of porter. I consider it a brown, but in a few comps it's been called out of style.

 

[John_FL]

I brewed this on Saturday. I was growing a bit concerned today because it seemed as though my fermentation had stalled. I checked the gravity and astonishingly it was already done. The sample tasted awesome for such a green beer. I am really excited for this one! I did replace the yeast with Burton's from WLP. Everything else was a copy of your original recipe. I fermented at 68F but it still finished a lot faster than I was expecting.

I'm going to let it sit in primary for a while to clean up still.

 

[coypoo]

Is the black patent de-husked or no?

 

[AmandaK]

I'm glad everyone likes it. Just be advised that it's hit or miss in competitions. This is one of those recipes that doesn't perfectly fit any of the categories of porter. I consider it a brown, but in a few comps it's been called out of style.

So what were the results of the comp way back when? And who was judging it? I'm curious.

 

[Airborneguy]

So what were the results of the comp way back when? And who was judging it? I'm curious.

Oops, sorry I never responded. I've pretty much been working non-stop since the day you posted this.

In the 2011 HBT competition, this recipe won the porter category. In 3 other comps, it never even placed, although it always gets good scores. The problem is it really doesn't fit the guidelines for any of the porter categories close enough to win competitions that are more strict about adhering to the guidelines.

I don't enter competitions anymore. I don't have the time to brew based on competition schedules, set up shipping, deal with all the waiting... Just not my thing any longer.

 

[daggers_nz]

thanks for recipe, might try it when it cools down a bit here

 

[splakeshaker]

Wow! Nice easy drinking porter! Good job and thanks for an excellent recipe!

 

[MikeP710]

I picked this recipe for my first all grain batch and first batch in 10 years. Everything turned out great so far, my OG was 1.054. I had to switch to a blow off tube when my air lock filled with Trub(?). Thanks for the recipe.
Mike

 

[Airborneguy]

I hope you enjoy it. We were drinking this beer last night for Thanksgiving and it was a hit. I haven't brewed much lately but I have a recently "tapped" batch of Atonement on hand now.

 

[zaphro]

Bottled this yesterday. It was really nice. I edited the recipe a bit to shrink it to 3.5 gallons and not have weird measurements. Also used Windsor yeast. Came out really nice. Mine was more stout then porter, almost true black but that's my fault for messing with the recipe. Taste fantastic though. Almost like sweetened coffee. Can't wait for it to be carved. Not sure how close it is to yours but I would like to thank you for the start. This is going into the wheelhouse if it comes out of bottles anywhere near how it went in.

 

[Airborneguy]

Awesome to hear! I'm really happy that this recipe has been such a hit. My next brew is a slight tweak of this recipe based on a friend's preferences that he wants to try out.

 

[openfly]

Screwed up my pre-boil hydrometer reading. Ended up with an OG of 1.070.

See how that comes out. I think it now qualifies for the status of imperial stout.

Batch Details: https://github.com/nycresistor/brewery/blob/master/recipes/batch006-porter2.json

I am thinking of cold brewing some blue bottle coffee for secondary. We'll see.

 

[BigTuna]

This recipe looks fantastic and I'm going to try my hand at it, most likely at the end of this summer. I've been looking to brew a porter for a while but haven't actively pursued it. I happened to stumble across this recipe from another post about brown malt. I'm glad I did!

Anyway, I am looking at your mash schedule and you list that you sparge with 153F water. I've always spared with 170F water. Is the lower temperature to avoid releasing excess tannins from the darker malt?

 

[Airborneguy]

Since the mash is already at the proper temperature from the first runnings, I never saw the need to use hotter water than my chosen mash temperature for the sparge. I also do not use a mash out step.

 

[BigTuna]

Since the mash is already at the proper temperature from the first runnings, I never saw the need to use hotter water than my chosen mash temperature for the sparge. I also do not use a mash out step.

I also never mash out. I recirculate my mash since I have a HERMS. I will most definitely give this a try, although I am a bit skeptical since it may wreck the efficiency that I'm used to.

 

[Airborneguy]

You shouldn't change your normal routine for the recipe. I'm sure the difference won't be noticeable as long as you adjust for efficiency.

 

[barleywhore69]

I must try this. My first thought was that .6 lb of Black Patent is an awful lot. Do you mash that with the rest of the grain the entire time? I feel like that would add a lot of bitterness. All good though?

 

[BigTuna]

Airborneguy - Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.

I brewed it sometime in September 9/14. I changed the hop additions accidentally, only adding about 2.5oz of fuggles for the first addition. However, this did not contribute to a significant change IMO.

This beer had intense coffee and chocolate flavors and was SUPER drinkable. I Kegged most of it and bottled a few for again.. yeah, those are gone already! I will be brewing this again and will most likely secondary on some cocoa nibs and possible vanilla.

Thanks again!

 

[the_technogoat]

I am thinking of trying this recipe. I am just wondering if you (or anyone else) have tried this with higher AA hops (eg Challenger or Target)? Would adding more bitterness be acceptable here or have a negative effect.

 

[BigTuna]

I've made this beer a few times now and I really enjoy it. Here's one striking thing about this beer...

It tastes EXACTLY like Bell's Porter. I mean exactly. This could be reposted as a clone of the beer.

Anyway, that's not very important but what is, is that it's an easy recipe to brew and it tastes delicious.