Black Butte Porter XXIII clone... Help?

[seabass07]

Since this was just released not too long ago, I was able to get a few bombers from whole foods. The store only got one case. Since I love the regular porter, it has peaked my interest even though I haven't had any of the previous anniversary brews. Since I don't think I'll be able to acquire more of it, I'd like to let it age for a year and compare my clone to the real thing. I'll obviously be sampling my version along the way. I don't want to try the real deal until it's aged for a year though, so I'm blindly creating a clone of something I haven't tasted.

So far based on the regular porter recipe from CYBI and the "recipe" for the XXII version as well as the info on the XXIII from Deschutes website, I've put together a recipe. All criticism is very welcome! Here's what I have so far.

BTW, due to equipment size, I'll actually be scaling this to a 3 gallon batch this attempt.


Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Time: 120 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.0

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
21.16 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 78.3 %
2.78 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 10.3 %
1.40 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 5.2 %
0.84 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3.1 %
0.84 lb Chocolate Wheat Malt (400.0 SRM) Grain 3.1 %
1.20 oz Nugget [13.00%] (60 min) Hops 48.6 IBU (supposed to be millennium)
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50%] (30 min) Hops 4.4 IBU
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50%] (5 min) Hops 1.2 IBU
2 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [Starter 2000 ml] Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.106 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.024 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 10.8 %
Bitterness: 54.1 IBU
Est Color: 42.4 SRM

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Mash Total Grain Weight: 27.02 lb

Protein rest: Add 43 qts of water at 136 F 130.0 F 10 min
Mash: Heat to 150.0 F over 2 min 150.0 F 60 min (Maybe 90 mins at 148F to get FG to 1.024?)
Mashout: Heat to 168.0 F over 2 min 168.0 F 10 min

(I'll be doing BIAB, so sparge will be a rinse in a separate pot and mash temp will be raised with a heat stick)


I'll likely be using washed Pacman yeast for this and fermenting at 62F for 21 days before racking to secondary for additions.

Here's where I need HELP!

I need to rack it onto cocoa nibs, oak cubes (thinking bourbon soaked), orange zest, and Pasilla Negra chiles! I don't know where to begin with amounts and methods for doing this...so I just pulled some numbers out of my ass

My guess/plan is to use 1lb of cocoa nibs, 2 sliced chiles (they are relatively mild in heat and the chile is just hinted in the beer), the zest from 3 oranges, and 1.5oz of oak cubes soaked in bourbon for 2 weeks (I'll pour the bourbon in as well)

So now the method for these additions. I'm not sure whether to just dump the cocoa into the carboy or whether to use a sac for easy removal.

I was considering putting the oak cubes, orange zest, and chile together in a mason jar with bourbon for 2 weeks to sanitize before dumping it all in. Is this a good idea? Otherwise, I will just scrub the oranges and chiles before cutting them and hope for no infections or off flavors. I'll secondary on these additions for 3 to 4 weeks before bottling.

Thanks for the help! This is next weeks project.

 

[BiscuitPower]

Not sure on the other ingredients, but this might inform your use of the nibs> https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f78/black-butte-xx-207067/


Good luck and please post how this turns out. The XXII and the XXIII are def one of my favorites. Also, Deschutes has the XXIII on tap in their tasting room right now- just in case you need to jog your memory...

 

[Philip_T]

Curious on if you brewed this seebass, and if so, how is it coming along. I just had a XXIII bomber over the weekend and it was by far the best Porter I've ever had.

 

[seabass07]

Nope, I haven't made it yet. Wife requested a bourbon vanilla porter, so I made that. Then I went for an English Barley wine. I think this will be next as soon as I bottle the other porter. I have 2 more washed jars of pacman to use before they get too old, so this will be one of those. I'll have an empty fermenter in a week.

I also have enough voile material left over to do a BIAB in a 54qt cooler. So it will be a full 6 gallons.

Thanks for the link BiscuitPower. I didn't think about adding the cocoa to the boil. I wonder how that affects the flavor vs racking on it?

 

[humann_brewing]

BiscuitPower already posted the link to my recipe but basically the idea to do the cocoa in the boil was given to me by the brewer. I email him and he gave me some really good info that I put in the post linked above.

Enjoy, I hope it turns out great!

 

[Philip_T]

Thanks humann brewing.

I noticed that on their website, they list coffee as an ingredient for the XX/XXI, but not for the XXIII.
(from their website)
XXIII. So where to next? What's 2011's rich, imperial take on Black Butte Porter? Just for kicks, you dream. Orange zest perhaps? From Spanish Oranges. Seville, to be exact. And Chocolate nibs. Pampered nibs from the artisanal alchemists at Theo. Maybe some chilies? Pasilla Negra only, please. That would be crazy wouldn't it? Welcome to crazy. Get it while you can.

I also didn't get that much of a coffee note from it, but could taste the orange and chocolate. Lots of good info your link though....great place to start!

 

[seabass07]

They definitely used some different ingredients on the XXIII version. So no coffee and the addition of chocolate wheat malt. Should be quite interesting!

So I think Ill go with the 4oz of cocoa nibs gradually added for the last 15 minutes as well. Then I'll rack onto the orange zest and chili...actually I may just stick with my long primary and just add zest and chilis after a week in primary and FG is reached.

 

[humann_brewing]

yeah, sounds like this years is quite different. Gonna have to find a few bottles of the real stuff. I just found XXI last month, had to get a couple bottles to keep my XX company.

 

[jlauritz]

I'm wondering what you used for the peppers.

In California poblanos are mislabeled as pasillas. A pasilla is the dried version of a chalica pepper. A poblano is a fresh pepper that when dried is an ancho.

The simpler form of the question: did you use dried or fresh peppers? And, was two peppers the right amount?

 

[seabass07]

Still haven't made it yet, but I will use 2 pasilla negra chiles. I might have to order them online if my local spice shop doesn't have them. The chili flavor is extremely understated.

 

[BiscuitPower]

Well, I'm about to brew this myself as per your recipe, seabass. I've had the oak chips soaking in about 10oz of bourbon, along with some pasilla negra chiles. I think I'll wait until after the primary fermentation is done to add 'em. I'll also give a quick dunk to some fresh orange zest just before I pour it all in. I should have a report for everyone in about a month. Any update on yours?

 

[bottlebomber]

Almost 30 lbs of grain... BIAB... dude, you need a mash tun.

 

[seabass07]

Well, I'm about to brew this myself as per your recipe, seabass. I've had the oak chips soaking in about 10oz of bourbon, along with some pasilla negra chiles. I think I'll wait until after the primary fermentation is done to add 'em. I'll also give a quick dunk to some fresh orange zest just before I pour it all in. I should have a report for everyone in about a month. Any update on yours?

I still haven't made it yet! I suck! I have a jar of pacman yeast waiting, but I've made too many "need some aging" beers and I have no pipeline! I've got 2 batches going that will be quick, so in another week...hopefully! Of course now my wife wants me to figure out a recipe for the southern tier creme brulee imp stout! HTF do they get it to smell exactly like creme brulee?! I'll make this before I mess with that one though.

 

[seabass07]

Almost 30 lbs of grain... BIAB... dude, you need a mash tun.

LOL. I know! I'm actually going to do the BIAB in a cooler and dunk sparge in my kettle for this one. I'm still considering putting a manifold in there. I just haven't gotten around to it. It isn't too bad though. The bag isn't too hard to lift and transfer to another vessel. I don't have to hold it for it to drain.

I might just use a stainless braid for the manifold since I'll batch sparge when I get to that point. Since I'm already using the cooler for the dunk sparge when I use less than 19lbs of grain, I might as well just make the switch. I'm getting very tired of having to heat up my mash every 15 minutes to maintain temp.

 

[bottlebomber]

I saw deathbrews BIAB thread and was like "Eureka!". Tried it once, and went straight for the Cheap and Easy 10 gallon MLT thread. Its been awesome.

 

[seabass07]

Yea. I went with BIAB because I didn't have a cooler. Since then, I had to buy one for camping, so I got a 54qt one. I'll switch between a manifold and the drain that came with it.

 

[BiscuitPower]

Hey guys, I'll give you a full report later. Brewed this, 2 oranges is too much. Also, 2 chiles is not enough maybe 3? And finally 10oz of bourbon is not enough. I've been busy and life is still pretty hectic, so it might be a week or more before I get back to ya. Otherwise, cheers and happy brewing!

 

[BiscuitPower]

Allright, let me put it this way- anyone know of any way to tone down some of this oranginess? Honestly, I know it's still pretty early on, and granted flavors might eventually balance out, but right now this taste like one of those chocolate oranges you get for christmas... Not awful, but not exactly what I was going for. Cheers

 

[seabass07]

The orange flavor supposedly fades a lot with age. I'm curious about how it will be in a few months. Thanks for trying this!

 

[Cascadegan]

Mmmm orange chocolate bourbon doesn't too bad as a stand alone beverage....

 

[mjap52]

Sorry to res a dead thread, but I'm on my second batch of something close to this.

Same grain bill, the first round I didn't do any secondary additions and it turned out absolutely excellent.

This time around I did a 10 gallon batch and am splitting the late additions. Doing 1.5 oz of non-toasted oak chips in 6 oz of burbon (Evan Williams Black) for a week, then adding the entire tincture to fermentor A. Then doing 6 oz of cocoa nibs, toasted at 350 for 5 minutes, and adding that to 6 oz of vodka, and adding the entire tincture to fermentor B.

I'm going to taste fermentor A every day after 6 days, once I like the flavor, both batches will go into kegs to carbonate and then go straight to bottles after about a week in the kegs.