Critique wanted on recipe

[new2brew1221]

I am slowly getting to where I want to make more than just the basic home brew, and wanting to come up with my own recipes. For the next beer that I brew, I am wanting to try a Caramel Porter. My wife likes the caramel flavor in her coffee, so I though about a beer with similar profiles. So, here it is. Please let me know what you think.

6 lbs. light DME
1 lb Crystal 20
1 lb Crystal 60
.25 biscuit
Glacier hops at 60 mins.
Willamette hops at 5 mins.
White Labs WLP023
I am thinking this would be a good winter warmer kinda porter with a sweeter, caramel flavor.
What would you guys recommend?

 

[corax]

Too much crystal, and not dark enough for a porter.

How about 1 pound of 75-80 L crystal, and 1/2 pound chocolate malt. Keep the biscuit (or increase to 1/2 pound). Don't go higher than 25 - 30 IBU to keep it on the sweet side.

EDIT: Oh wait -- is DME "dark malt extract"? If so, you don't need the chocolate malt. But using light malt extract plus chocolate malt would give you better results than using dark malt extract.

I'm old enough to remember when DME stood for "Diastatic Malt Extract" (malt extract with enzymatic power, for partial mashes). Then later it became "Dry Malt Extract", which is what I assumed it meant here.

 

[Yooper]

It's an "American amber" right now. There isn't anything porter-like about it. A porter has roasted flavor, and is dark.

If you want a sweet porter, you need some brown malt (for a brown porter) or some black patent (for a robust porter), along with some chocolate malt.

I don't have a sweet tooth, so I can't really help with how much caramel malt you need to have a distinct sweetness to it, though.

For something porter-like, but not too roasty (unless you want more roasty?), but guessing at the amount of crystal for a caramel flavor, I'd do this:

6 pounds DME
1 pound 40L
.5 pound 10L
1 pound brown malt
.75 pound pale chocolate

 

[new2brew1221]

Thanks for the replies. I think that I will add some chocolate malt, and use a light dry malt. Yooper your suggestions sound like what I'm looking for, dark with some roast but not too sweet.