American Porter Bert Grant's Perfect Porter tribute

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humann_brewing

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If you don't know who Bert Grant was, take a look here:
Michael Jackson's Beer Hunter - How Bert Grant Saved The World

From writings of Bert in his book "The Ale Master", the key to this recipe is Scottish Peated malt to give it a hint of smokiness. Another key is to leave some residual sweetness, the website said that is goes from 1.048 to 1.014. It is also heavy on chocolate on purpose. Somewhat of a session porter, it is a all together a perfect porter. Enjoy!

From the old website:
Original Gravity (Degrees Plato) 11.8°
Final Gravity (Degrees Plato) 3.5°
Alcohol (% by Vol.) 4.0%
Bitterness Units (IBU) 25
Color Units 90.0
Malts Used Pale, Caramel, Chocolate, Black & Peat-smoked (imported from Scotland)
Hops Used Willamette
Adjuncts Used None

This is based on 81% efficiency, so please adjust accordingly.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.20 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 30.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 81.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Great Western 2 Row (2.0 SRM) Grain 77.09 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 11.01 %
0.90 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 9.91 %
0.09 lb Peat Smoked Malt (2.8 SRM) Grain 0.99 %
0.09 lb Black (Patent) Malt (560.0 SRM) Grain 0.99 %
1.00 oz Williamette [5.00 %] (90 min) Hops 18.3 IBU
0.75 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 7.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028) [StarteYeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 9.08 lb
----------------------------
Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Saccharification 154.0 F
10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F



1.00 tsp Neutral Alcohol based Vanilla Extract in secondary during conditioning.


You may recognize these labels

beerlabels.com-00959.jpg


beerlabels.com-00958.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I remember Grant's Brew very well. I went to school not to far from Yakima and loved his porter. His Yakima Cider is still one of the only ciders I have ever liked. I already had the receipe on my list to brew over the holidays with a buddy who grew up in the Yakima Valley.

I will let you know how it turns out.
 
I remember Grant's Brew very well. I went to school not to far from Yakima and loved his porter. His Yakima Cider is still one of the only ciders I have ever liked. I already had the receipe on my list to brew over the holidays with a buddy who grew up in the Yakima Valley.

I will let you know how it turns out.

Great, can't wait to hear how it turns out.
 
I mocked up his Lazy Days a few months back. I can't remember what it used to taste like, but the one I brewed was mighty tasty. I was sad to see his pub go down hill and close.
 
If you don't know who Bert Grant was, take a look here:
Michael Jackson's Beer Hunter - How Bert Grant Saved The World

That's nothing new, the Scots have been saving the world for a long time! Heck when Jesus returns I bet he's Scottish! ;) I think rather highly of the Scots, being of Scottish heritage myself. Wanted a kilt for Christmas... alas Santa didn't come through for me this year!

As for the bier, I believe I'll be using this as a base for an upcoming porter recipe. It'll be a while before I get around too it, but I'll let you know how it goes in a few months! This'll give me a 3rd brew to make with the vile of Edinburgh yeast I ordered yesterday!

Do you ferment this on the cool side, 60-62?

Btw that's an EXCELLENT read you've linked. Love the closing lines, "I heard this morning that Bert had died, aged 74. To whom will we turn next time the world needs saving?" Some eulogy!

Schlante,
Phillip
 
Wow, quite a little history behind this one. I have a Scottish background myself, this is going on the need to brew list.
 
Do you ferment this on the cool side, 60-62?

Btw that's an EXCELLENT read you've linked. Love the closing lines, "I heard this morning that Bert had died, aged 74. To whom will we turn next time the world needs saving?" Some eulogy!

Schlante,
Phillip

So a Scottish that likes to drink beer? ;)

So I found this on white labs site regarding the yeast.

Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
Does not ferment well less than 62°F

So I would shoot for 65-67
 
What temp would you use for a single step mash? Thinking about trying this recipe.
Would 154 deg work out?
 
What temp would you use for a single step mash? Thinking about trying this recipe.
Would 154 deg work out?

If you nail the gravity numbers 1.048 OG and 1.014 FG, that is 70.8% attenuation and if you use WLP028 it averages 72.5%. So you are thinking along the right lines, I would say 154-155.
 
Here's my grain bill, just scaled down to 70% efficiency for us normal types:

6 lbs, 1 oz 2-row (76.98%)
14 ounces chocolate malt (11.11%)
12 ounces crystal 40L (9.52%)
2 ounces peated malt (1.59%)
1 ounce black patent (0.79%)

Total grain bill: 7 lbs, 14 ounces (7.8625 lbs)

Also, what do you think about Windsor or S-04 as dry yeast substitutes?
 
Here's my grain bill, just scaled down to 70% efficiency for us normal types:

6 lbs, 1 oz 2-row (76.98%)
14 ounces chocolate malt (11.11%)
12 ounces crystal 40L (9.52%)
2 ounces peated malt (1.59%)
1 ounce black patent (0.79%)

Total grain bill: 7 lbs, 14 ounces (7.8625 lbs)

Also, what do you think about Windsor or S-04 as dry yeast substitutes?

I used US-04 on the first time I brewed this and turned out fine. I have not used windsor though.
 
Said I:d update when my brew was done so...

It turned out great, thanks for the inspiration! Mine is a (non-peated) smoked porter which relied heavily on this recipe to make. Recipe is in my recipe drop down.

Thanks for the inspiration Human Brew.

Schlante,
Phillip
 
how close did you feel you came to the original taste?

it was close but 2 key things I added for the next batch was using WLP028 for the yeast and adding a Tbs of alcohol based vanilla extract at kegging/bottling. I feel that will sinch the deal on this clone.
 
I am strictly an extract brewer due to the fact that i live in an apartment and really hate clean up. The woman absolutely loved the perfect porter so I used the calculator at http://beercalculus.hopville.com to attempt to get an extract version of your recipe. This is what i came up with:

5lb Extra Light DME
1lb Chocolate
1lb Crystal 40L
1oz. Peat Smoked Malt
1oz. Black Patent Malt
1oz. Williamette 60min
1oz. Williamette 20min
1oz. Williamette 5min
1tsp. Irish Moss
1tbs Alcohol based vanilla extract
WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale

Steep grains in 2gal at 150° for 45min. Sparge with 1gal 170° water.
Add extract and bring to a boil. Add 60min hops.
Add 20min hops.
Add Irish moss.
Add 5min hops.
1 week in primary
1 week in secondary with the addition of the vanilla extract.

The extra hops are there to hit the IBU, probably needed the extra due to the smaller boil volume. Does this look like it will hit close to the mark?
 
I am strictly an extract brewer due to the fact that i live in an apartment and really hate clean up. The woman absolutely loved the perfect porter so I used the calculator at http://beercalculus.hopville.com to attempt to get an extract version of your recipe. This is what i came up with:

5lb Extra Light DME
1lb Chocolate
1lb Crystal 40L
1oz. Peat Smoked Malt
1oz. Black Patent Malt
1oz. Williamette 60min
1oz. Williamette 20min
1oz. Williamette 5min
1tsp. Irish Moss
1tbs Alcohol based vanilla extract
WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale

Steep grains in 2gal at 150° for 45min. Sparge with 1gal 170° water.
Add extract and bring to a boil. Add 60min hops.
Add 20min hops.
Add Irish moss.
Add 5min hops.
1 week in primary
1 week in secondary with the addition of the vanilla extract.

The extra hops are there to hit the IBU, probably needed the extra due to the smaller boil volume. Does this look like it will hit close to the mark?

I am not good with Extracts so I hope someone else comes along. I am not positive but I think if you use a 1lb of chocolate in the AG version that doesn't transfer to a whole LB for the extract steeping and same with the Crystal but I am not sure.
 
I saw the SRM was higher in the calculator, i thought that was due to some of the SRM values being different then what you posted. I'll revise it when i get home and see if i can get closer to 30-34, it was 38 in the calculator.
 
I modified the recipe and got this:

5lb Extra Light DME
12oz. Chocolate
12oz. Crystal 40L
1oz. Peat Smoked Malt
1oz. Black Patent Malt
1oz. Williamette 60min
1oz. Williamette 30min
1tsp. Irish Moss
1tbs. Alcohol based vanilla extract
WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale

Steep grains in 2gal at 150° for 45min. Sparge with 1gal 170° water.
Add extract and bring to a boil.
Add 60min hops.
Add 30min hops.
Add Irish moss at 10min.
2 weeks in primary.
2 weeks in secondary with the addition of the vanilla extract.

Predicted-
SRM 30
IBU 23.7
OG 1.049
FG 1.013
ABV 4.8

I think this may be as close as i can get to the numbers doing an extract brew. Hopefully i can fire it through this weekend and see how it acts in a couple months.
 
I modified the recipe and got this:

5lb Extra Light DME
12oz. Chocolate
12oz. Crystal 40L
1oz. Peat Smoked Malt
1oz. Black Patent Malt
1oz. Williamette 60min
1oz. Williamette 30min
1tsp. Irish Moss
1tbs. Alcohol based vanilla extract
WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale

Steep grains in 2gal at 150° for 45min. Sparge with 1gal 170° water.
Add extract and bring to a boil.
Add 60min hops.
Add 30min hops.
Add Irish moss at 10min.
2 weeks in primary.
2 weeks in secondary with the addition of the vanilla extract.

Predicted-
SRM 30
IBU 23.7
OG 1.049
FG 1.013
ABV 4.8

I think this may be as close as i can get to the numbers doing an extract brew. Hopefully i can fire it through this weekend and see how it acts in a couple months.

Either way, that looks like a solid beer, I bet it will turn out great!
 
hmmmmmmmmmmupdates?

anything to change from the OP?

I wish, having a baby or at least having a wife have a baby is a lot of work ;)

Truth be told I like bitter beer too much and I don't brew a malty beer too often but I would like to get this in during the cold season coming up and am planning on it.

Anyone else have updates?
 
i hear ya, two year old and a 10 month old here.

something i noticed while punching it in - your total grain weight is 9.16, but the sum of your grainbill is 9.08.

also, would a single-infusion work fine?
 
i hear ya, two year old and a 10 month old here.

something i noticed while punching it in - your total grain weight is 9.16, but the sum of your grainbill is 9.08.

also, would a single-infusion work fine?

I changed it, I think I adjusted some of the numbers and didn't update everything accordingly.

A single infusion will do just fine. I was just trying to get this as close to what was actually done by the original and that is what the brewer said that they did.
 
My attempt got infected in the secondary, bottled it anyways(left the nasty behind), so i cant say what it will be like. i plan on cracking one in 2 weeks to try it. I will have to make another attempt at this later and try to not screw it up.
 
I brewed this last weekend - it was my first try at a multi-stop mash. Seemed to go fairly well, i hit all the numbers, so that was a good sign. Primary fermentation has slowed considerably and I'll rack to secondary in a few days. I used a slightly different yeast, i used the White Labs WLP005 as thats teh closest the LHBS had on hand. The guy there looked over the recipie and commented that it oughtta make a pretty sweet beer.

cheers.
 
I've been drinking this for 2 or 3 weeks now. Overall I like it and it turned out fairly well. My only 'complaint' is in the carbonation, for some reason I didnt' get a real good carbonation in the bottles. Maybe I didn't get quite enough corn sugar. I don't get much head at all either - i'm wondering if this was due to less than perfect conversion in my mash.

But it's a good tasteing beer!
 
I've been drinking this for 2 or 3 weeks now. Overall I like it and it turned out fairly well. My only 'complaint' is in the carbonation, for some reason I didnt' get a real good carbonation in the bottles. Maybe I didn't get quite enough corn sugar. I don't get much head at all either - i'm wondering if this was due to less than perfect conversion in my mash.

But it's a good tasteing beer!

good question, it could be lots of things. I would like to have this beer on the lower side of the volume scale anyways but it should have plenty of good head with all that crystal in there. Did you check for conversion by chance?
 
Here's my grain bill, just scaled down to 70% efficiency for us normal types:

6 lbs, 1 oz 2-row (76.98%)
14 ounces chocolate malt (11.11%)
12 ounces crystal 40L (9.52%)
2 ounces peated malt (1.59%)
1 ounce black patent (0.79%)

Total grain bill: 7 lbs, 14 ounces (7.8625 lbs)

Also, what do you think about Windsor or S-04 as dry yeast substitutes?

I'm new to efficiency, but shouldn't there be more grains for lower efficiency? thanks,
 
For Some reason I came in 1 point low on the OG ( I think I have more than 11 Gallons) but I mash low so it shouldn't make too much of a difference. Now I'm waiting on the yeast.
 
had a little trouble with the yeast, it was old and the viability just wasn't there. Patience was required, anyways, it is bubbling away nicely for the last day or so

ef92f0ea-a02a-4f23-b3b5-459edfdddc6a_424x568r90.jpg
 
With the vanilla, do I need to mix it in a certain way?

Gonna rack mine this week to the secondary. This was my first crack at all grain brewing, so I am excited to see how it turns out.
 
With the vanilla, do I need to mix it in a certain way?

Gonna rack mine this week to the secondary. This was my first crack at all grain brewing, so I am excited to see how it turns out.

Glad to hear your giving it a try. I don't secondary so I just put a T spoon in a keg and rack into the keg.

Also, I know this was mentioned before but we're not talking about generic vanilla extract but something like this

313BK7JRXZL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla
 
When purchasing the ingredients I went with McCormicks Vanilla Extract, any difference I should be aware of or compensate for?
 
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