American Porter Bee Cave Brewery Robust Porter

[petep1980]

If you can lager this I highly recommend it!!!! I tapped mine, then put it aside at 35-40° for a couple weeks, then tapped it again today. Holy hell it's perfect!!!!!!

 

[oparea]

If you can lager this I highly recommend it!!!! I tapped mine, then put it aside at 35-40° for a couple weeks, then tapped it again today. Holy hell it's perfect!!!!!!

Yeah I couldn't resist, I tasted mine after one week in the bottle and it's soooo tasty I wanted to drink them all. Nice lacing, great flavor, and great aroma. Only thing I did dif was add an extra ounce of Vanguard hops to the last 5 minutes of the boil because I forgot to add the maltodextrine, restarted the boil and just happened to have them laying around.

 

[oparea]

Mine are 6.7% alcohol.

Primary 1 week @ 68°F, then 4 days @ 50°F to crash
Primed 1 week @ 68°F
Then in the spirit of Baltic Porters I actually did a quick lager for conditioning, 2 weeks @ 35°F.

There is 1 week missing from my notes, it had to be either an extra week priming or conditioning.

It's weird though the last two times I made this batch at this point it still tasted a little off & grainy. This time it's perfect. It doesn't taste young at all. This one is even bigger than the others too. I think the cold crashing & conditioning helped.

I think next time I'm going to just make it a real oatmeal stout. I'm going to scale back on the cascades up front, swap out some of the black patent & chocolate for roasted barley, and since I did a partial mash, scale back all the DME to fit into the Oatmeal Stout Gravity guidelines.

Interesting, I did three weeks primary on this one and then left in on the porch in the cold (around 40 degrees) for three days. At one week in the bottle mine tastes excellent.

 

[skeeordye11]

Making 5 gallons of this tonight after work. (Thanks Brewmasters Warehouse) I must say, after reading this 28 page thread I'm pretty freaking excited for this one!!! I will add my own impressions in a month or 2.

 

[HalfPint]

Making 5 gallons of this tonight after work. (Thanks Brewmasters Warehouse) I must say, after reading this 28 page thread I'm pretty freaking excited for this one!!! I will add my own impressions in a month or 2.

Your going to enjoy this one.

 

[humann_brewing]

Enjoyed one of the custom six pack bottles I made with the leftover 1/2 gallon I had when I brewed this 13 months ago.

I added a bit of coffee to the 1/2 gallon, a bit too much actually but it is still mighty tasty and since this was my first all grain and had no idea about efficiency, this stuff is 8% and the 13 months of aging has treated it nicely

 

[oparea]

My effort

 

[ReeseAllen]

Brewed this on Saturday. I doubled up the recipe and did my first ever 10 gallon batch. I also somehow screwed up the transcription of the recipe to my shopping list and bought 23.6 lbs of 2-row rather than 22.

The session wasn't without hiccups; I had to mash thicker than usual (1.17 quarts/lb) because my MLT is only 10 gallons and 29 lbs of grain is a LOT. I used 8.5 gallons of strike water, the MLT was brimming and closing the lid nearly caused it to overflow. After lautering the soaked grain filled the MLT to about an inch below its edge. I then did a double batch sparge, 4 gallons at a time.

Final pre-boil volume was 13 gallons and during the boil it came down to about 11.5 or so. 5.5 gallons went into my carboy, 5.5 into a bucket for a buddy of mine who chipped in on ingredients, and the last half gallon got dumped off the deck.

Starting SG of 1.070. I used about 5% more grain than the recipe calls for, but got a SG that's ~7.5% higher than EdWort reported. Apparently this means I'm ever-so-slightly more efficient than the man himself

Pitched yeast 24 hours ago, still waiting on the krausen. Little bit of CO2 bubbling out in the meantime.

 

[brewer44]

Ok, I finally brewed this tonight. I think I added double the Roasted Barley at 2 oz. I hope it's OK. Might be a Robust Stouter, I don't know. My OG was 1.063.

Thanks Ed.

 

[Jeepnbrew]

Made a few changes.. Can't resist throwing more hops in... LOL Going to be 55.4IBU, maybe a little hoppy for a porter but hell it may be classic... Sprinkled S04 directly on the chilled wort @ 75 degrees, bubbling nicely this morning!!

11.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.87 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 6.99 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6.99 %
0.50 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 3.49 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.49 %
0.25 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
0.06 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 0.42 %
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 15.9 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 24.6 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (20 min) Hops 14.9 IBU
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale


Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.069 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.070 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.018 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.65 %
Bitterness: 55.4 IBU Calories: 315 cal/pint
Est Color: 35.0 SRM Color: Color

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge

Total Grain Weight: 14.31 lb
Sparge Water: 4.50 gal
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
TunTemperature: 72.0 F
FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description
Step Temp 45 min Mash In Add 17.89 qt of water at 170.5 F hold at 158.0 F

 

[ReeseAllen]

Okay, wow. I brewed this a month ago, bottled it on December 12. It's now 9 days in the bottle and I think this is already the best porter I've ever had. Rich chocolate and coffee flavors, very well balanced, just the right level of sweetness. It finished at 1.022 so an ABV of 6.4%. Completely successful in every way possible, one of the better beers I've ever brewed.

 

[oparea]

Okay, wow. I brewed this a month ago, bottled it on December 12. It's now 9 days in the bottle and I think this is already the best porter I've ever had. Rich chocolate and coffee flavors, very well balanced, just the right level of sweetness. It finished at 1.022 so an ABV of 6.4%. Completely successful in every way possible, one of the better beers I've ever brewed.

That's exactly where mine finished, I mashed at around 155.

 

[MrInternet]

Just got 5 gallons of this into the fermenter @ 1.074 SG ... did a PM, so the slightly high OG is likely due to splitting the base malt 5# grain/4# XLDME. House smells great, I can't WAIT to try this... I bumped up the roasted barley to 2oz, to hopefully make it a bit of a "coffee porter" without using actual coffee, but other than that, followed the recipe.

 

[oparea]

Just got 5 gallons of this into the fermenter @ 1.074 SG ... did a PM, so the slightly high OG is likely due to splitting the base malt 5# grain/4# XLDME. House smells great, I can't WAIT to try this... I bumped up the roasted barley to 2oz, to hopefully make it a bit of a "coffee porter" without using actual coffee, but other than that, followed the recipe.

I thought of doing the same thing, let us know how it turns out.

 

[MrInternet]

I thought of doing the same thing, let us know how it turns out.

Well, I forgot the Flaked Barley... not sure exactly how that will affect it. I had crushed the whole grain bill, and then threw that in a bag... of course, come brew day, I just used the crushed grain in the bag and forgot about the flaked barley that hadn't needed to be crushed. C'est la vie... RDWHAHB.

 

[ReeseAllen]

Brewing this tonight, except using Golden promise instead of 2-row. My LHBS was out of M.O. and 2-row (both organic and normal) as unbelievable as that sounds.

 

[MrInternet]

Well, I forgot the Flaked Barley... not sure exactly how that will affect it. I had crushed the whole grain bill, and then threw that in a bag... of course, come brew day, I just used the crushed grain in the bag and forgot about the flaked barley that hadn't needed to be crushed. C'est la vie... RDWHAHB.

Sorry, one more thing... anyone want to take a stab at how this might affect the finished product? I'm thinking less head retention and maybe a little mouthfeel, but with the malto-dextrin I'm not even sure if that's an issue...

 

[ReeseAllen]

Brewing this tonight, except using Golden promise instead of 2-row. My LHBS was out of M.O. and 2-row (both organic and normal) as unbelievable as that sounds.

I hit 1.070 again using the same recipe as I did before (other than the Golden Promise), 5 gallons into the carboy. Pitched a packet of Safale US-05 after chilling and hoping for good things to happen again this time.

 

[MrInternet]

Sorry, one more thing... anyone want to take a stab at how this might affect the finished product? I'm thinking less head retention and maybe a little mouthfeel, but with the malto-dextrin I'm not even sure if that's an issue...

Bueller?

Gotta say I'm impressed with the Notty... my first time using it, and it chewed through the krausen in 72 hours! Still gassing the airlock, but krausen has already pretty much fallen at this point... yeesh. And I thought WLP001 was a beast...

 

[Sparky]

Bueller?

I brewed the exact recipe 3 months ago and will keg this weekend and hit it in another 2 weeks, THEN give my feed back....

 

[skeeordye11]

Wow. I mean WOW. This is a FANTASTIC beer. I am sad that the keg is probably gonna kick soon. This is a definite brew over. This blows my Oatmeal Stout out of the water! I was gonna bottle some to enter in some comps, but I don't think it's gonna last long enough to get my BMBF constructed. I guess I'll just have to place another BMW order! To anyone onthe fence, don't think, just brew this recipe! Great job Ed!!! Thanls for sharing! Prost!

 

[annasdadhockey]

I agree with all the positive sentiments. I brewed this on 11/7, drinking it now, bottles and on tap. It's amazing. Mine turned out to be about 8.3%, so maybe more like an imperial porter, but fantastic nonetheless. Kudos to Bee cave and EdWort!!!

 

[eharper]

What a way to ring in the new year... first AG attempt! Everything went way too smoothly!

Hit about a 72% eff. - a little lower than I'd hoped but can't wait to try this brew nonetheless.

Some pics (sorry for the large sizes)...

No, the gravel was not an ingredient...

First runnings - mmm, dark...

Right before flame out...

And finally, the fruits of my labor... Expected more krausen, but maybe that's just the way it goes.

 

[OLB]

That looks tasty, I can't wait to try mine.

 

[McKBrew]

I'm going to brew up this bad boy next. It's been awhile since I've brewed and downsized my equipment quite a bit. Still have the urge to make something.

 

[IXVolt]

This is a very good recipe. I need to make another batch, just emptied my last keg!

I've bought many commercial 5~6 dollar porters that couldn't touch this one! 20 or so people who I've shared with will also attest to that.

I need to move up to 10 gallon batches of this one!

 

[Talloak]

My second batch is just about ready to drink as I prepare to brew my third batch of this for my local club competition.

 

[MrInternet]

Bueller?

Gotta say I'm impressed with the Notty... my first time using it, and it chewed through the krausen in 72 hours! Still gassing the airlock, but krausen has already pretty much fallen at this point... yeesh. And I thought WLP001 was a beast...

So, three weeks later and we're stuck at 1.028 ... I did this as a PM, subbing 6 lbs of base malt for 4lbs XLDME. Would the half malt extract account for ~7-8 points higher than what Ed finishes at? My OG was 1.074, so we're at 6% ABV... sounds about right. It's been cool in the basement where I have it fermenting, but not cold... 66ish. Seemed like it would be perfect... the other thing I noticed is that there are "floaties" left over on the top... not anything infected looking, just little bits of krausen or something that never fell. Should I re-rack or just wait until they fall? never had this happen before...

I DEFINITELY could have had a liter or two of the hydro sample... DAYUMM...

 

[shohog]

I brewed this all grain today and was planning on following the recipe exactly as the original but as usual I made a slight mistake. I added 16oz instead of 8oz Malto Dextrin!
My OG was 1.075 for 5.5gal collected. I estimated a 80% efficiency from my batch sparge.
So what do you think the 16oz of Malto Dextrin will do to my beer? I have never used it before and I am hoping it won't make it too sweet.

 

[BriBrew]

Brewing this up in about an hour....using the Pacmen though.