Chocolate Porter

[EVILEMRE]

I made a chocolate Porter and it actually turned out quite well. Made with millet, buckwheat, cocoa and Belgian Candi syrup. FG was 6.7% and its black as molasses. Lovely stuff. If anyone is interested I'll post the recipe and details. If not, I guess I'll just gloat. Delicious.
This gluten free homebrewing kicks ass over any store bought. But I live in western Canada and there's literally 4 choices: Bards, New Grist, Omission (can't drink it), LA Messagere (won't drink it). I don't remember what real beer tastes like but I no longer care.

 

[davemacrunnel]

Sounds awesome. I'd love to see the recipe. I brew gluten free for my wife and she used to like porters and stouts.

So far I've only brewed summer "wit" type beers.

 

[mergs]

I'll second the request for the recipe.

 

[jsmsmk]

I would also like to see the recipe.

 

[Osedax]

Yup. Throw it up. Let's take a look!

 

[AGGF_Brewing]

Sounds great! +1 I want to see the recipe!

 

[EVILEMRE]

GRAIN BILL: Please note, the millet and buckwheat were home-malted

3.4 Kg Pale Millet Malt
600 g Crystal Millet Malt
300 g Chocolate Buckwheat Malt
200 g Chocolate Millet Malt
450 g Quick Cooking Oats

Adjuncts:

16oz Package of D-180 Belgian Candi Syrup
300g Organic Cocoa Powder

Hops:

25g Northern Brewers
25g Cascade

OTHER ADDITIONS:

1 tsp Amylase
1 tablet Irish Moss
1kg Rice Hulls

My grain mill does not crush Millet, so I used a coffee grinder for it all, including the buckwheat. The oats were thrown in whole.
-Initial Mash in of 12 ltrs water @ 45 Degress Celsius (this is all Celsius), dropping temp to 42, and held for 25 minutes. (dropped to 40 deg. by end)
-Added 4.5 ltrs boiling water and held at 55 degrees for 25 mins, and stopped stirring it for last 15 minutes to allow grain to settle to bottom.
-Decanted 4 ltrs off top of mash, placed it in the fridge.
-Added 3.5 ltrs of boiling water, heated mash to 70 degrees and held for 20 minutes.
-brought to a boil for 5 minutes (took a while to get it up to boiling)
-Cooled mash back to 70 degrees- Added 1 ltr of cold water to speed that up
-Added decanted liquid enzymes back in to mash, and added 1tsp of Amylaze.
-Held @ 65 Degrees for 90 minutes.
-Raised temp to 75 degrees and dumped mash into lauter tun (big rectangular cooler with copper piping) and mixed with 1 kg Rice Hulls
-Allowed to settle for 15 mins.
-Sparge Water temp was 73 degrees
-I collected 26 lts wort over about 50 minutes (it was slow but steady)
-Boiled for 30 mins, added 25g NB hops
-Added Irish Moss with 20 mins left in boil
-Added 25g Cascade hops, D-180 Candi Syrup, and 16 oz cocoa powder with 10 minutes left in boil.
-Cooled to 75 Degrees, Pitched Nottingham yeast Dry. Fermented in glass carboy.

OG was 1.060 and brewhouse efficiency was 74% (which didn't seem too bad with the amount of adjuncts)
FG was 1.012 after 2 weeks.
Bottled with 3/4 cup honey.

6.4% ABV in the end (sorry, I thought it was 6.7 when I first started this)

The criticism I have for it after pouring it and tasting it was the lack of head retention. I thought my buckwheat addition would help that, it usually does, but not this time. Also, it feels a bit thin for a porter. I thought about adding Maltodextrin, but wanted to try it without that crutch, thinking the oats would help with that. They did not, actually not sure what they did for me in the end.
So there you have it. It's highly drinkable, but a work in progress.
I racked it to a secondary after a week, and it sat for another week before I bottled it. The chocolatey taste is mild but definitely there, and it has a great colour.
Any suggestions and thoughts are welcome.

 

[Osedax]

You lied to us!

Haha! I don't think any of us mind the .3% drop.

Looks good. Give this some time in the bottle. For me, oats don't present their mouthfeel and great big bubbles until after a little aging.

The only thing I would say is about the cocoa. What kind? I find the dark stuff to work best. I also think it is a little better if you don't boil the powder but, let it steep in the whirlpool. Just my opinion.

Keep on drinkin'!

 

[Osedax]

Also, that FG is pretty low for a porter. That might be why it seems thin. Have you thought about using lactose in your dark beers? Adds a bit of sweetness with better mouthfeel.

 

[EVILEMRE]

Just reading about lactose now actually. I'll have try that. It's hard to let them age, I just want to drink them. Maybe I'll get my wife to hide some on me until the fall.
And yes, I used 100% cocoa powder. I thought I'd get more bitterness from it though. And by whirlpool do you mean when pitching the yeast?
I was just winging it and had no prior experience with darker beer making.
Thank you for the tips. I'll take these into account and go another round.

 

[Osedax]

After you turn your heat off and right before you start cooling is your whirlpool period. The actual whirlpool and times depend on your system. Most just use their spoon or mash paddle to swirl the wort in a circle for a few minutes.

There are a bunch of benefits to it and I recommend it for all kinds of reasons. I do about a 20 minute whirlpool with my pump and a whirlpool valve. At this time I bring it down to 180F-160F to add large charges of hops in hoppy beers. Anything delicate should be added here. Honey(debate on that), chocolate, fragrant herbs, coffee(don't recommend), etc.

Hope that helps clear things up! Yup, pun was intended for those that know a healthy whirlpool can help wort clarity.

 

[davemacrunnel]

I second all that Osedax. I've even started whirlpooling a second time (just stirring fast in circles for 20 seconds) after the wort is completely chilled. Then putting the cover on and leaving for 30-45 minutes. I have a ton of cold break with my all grain gluten free beers and this seems to help a lot.

This is from when I just transferred after chilling.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[mergs]

Thanks a lot for the recipe! I've already started adapting an extract version of it. I might try adding some toasted coconut to it as well as the cocoa powder.

Osedax, Cocoa at 10mins or whirlpool around 180F (I'm assuming it will still dissolve fine at 180F?). What's the debate on honey and whirlpooling? I add honey late in the boil, should I try a whirlpool and what would I expect... more honey flavors retained?

 

[Osedax]

Personally, I would whirlpool the cocoa. I never boil anything chocolate.

The honey won't make much difference late compared to whirlpool. The aromatics are too volatile. I would do it directly in the fermenter before pitching the yeast. Just shake it up and you should be good to go. Honestly, I don't have much experience with honey. Someone else might have better advice.

 

[mergs]

Personally, I would whirlpool the cocoa. I never boil anything chocolate.

The honey won't make much difference late compared to whirlpool. The aromatics are too volatile. I would do it directly in the fermenter before pitching the yeast. Just shake it up and you should be good to go. Honestly, I don't have much experience with honey. Someone else might have better advice.

Thank you. I will whirlpool chocolate when I do the recipe. I think I have a fresh raspberry or huckleberry ale next (trying to align with the growing seasons here in WA), then I have to start planning for fall and the chocolate porter sounds perfect. I wonder if a few pounds of raspberries in secondary of the chocolate porter would work. maybe i'll split a batch into 2 secondaries and try that. man, this is fun.