Drake's Black Robusto (with input from the brewmaster)

[dtwhite]

Hey guys, I'm totally new here but just spiraling into the delicious black hole of money and time known as homebrewing. Anyway, for my first dark beer, I wanted to brew a clone of one of favorite (if not my favorite) porters, local brewery Drake's Black Robusto. If you haven't tried it, you should, because it's great.

Here's what the website lists as ingredients:
Malt:

• American 2-Row Barley
• Simpsons Coffee Malt
• Weyermann Carafa Special 3
• Simpsons Chocolate
• Simpsons Crystal 155-165
• Simpsons Crystal 50-60

Hops:

• Bittering- German Magnum
• Kettle- Willamette
• Whirlpool- Willamette

Yeast: WLP001
Original Gravity: 15.9 degrees Plato
Alc/Vol: 6.3%
IBUs: 35

... which all seems good. I emailed them at [email protected] to ask for proportions and John Gillooly awesomely responded in 5 minutes with an answer. Here's what he gave me:

76% Pale Ale malt
8% Pale Chocolate malt
4% Chocolate malt
4% Dark (~150) Crystal malt
4% Medium (60-80) Crystal malt
4% Black Patent

~30 IBU bittering hops.

Obviously there's a tiny bit of disconnect here, and I have no doubt that both grain bills will make a great beer. However, myself and a trusted homebrew authority of mine have a feeling that the coffee malt and perhaps the carafa special III have a decently large impact on the flavor in making it more Black Robusto-y. Based on that I'm thinking of following the brewmaster's homebrew formulation and trying to track down those seemingly more obscure malts and replacing them in his recipe.

Thoughts? Does that sound like a good idea? Thanks

 

[aeviaanah]

Sup man!

 

[fuzzy2133]

I would go with what the brew master sent you and ask what the LHBS thought of what is listed on the web. Wondering if what is listed on the web is only sold 50lbs at a time.

I agree it is a really good beer and I need to grab a couple extra bottles when I see it again.

 

[dtwhite]

My LHBS is a MoreBeer and there's a chance they'll have the coffee malt, etc, it's just listed as OOS on the website. I know Nothern Brewer sells it in smaller quantities. Isn't Black Patent going to make it more astringent than the real thing? The lack of astringency is something I'd really like to keep.

 

[fuzzy2133]

BYO has it listed as color and sharp flavor in porters and stouts. Beer Smith agrees and even lists 10% as the maximum recommend in a batch.

BYO Grains and Adjuncts

 

[dtwhite]

Update on how the recipe turned out:


1) Boiloff rate was lower than expected, so it ended up slightly dilute
2) Fermentation had more temperature swings than I wanted, which hurt attenuation most likely
3) I split the batch and mixed in ~16oz of strong cold-brewed coffee in one half
4) It's super tasty! I would definitely brew this one again. I might even try making an "imperial" version, or trying other tricks like oak cubes.


Here's the final recipe for how mine turned out:


HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Black Robusto... Clone?


Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Robust Porter
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 6 gallons (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 7.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.044
Efficiency: 65% (ending kettle)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.020
ABV (standard): 4.51%
IBU (tinseth): 23.18
SRM (morey): 40

FERMENTABLES:
10.5 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (75.7%)
18 oz - United Kingdom - Coffee Malt (8.1%)
9 oz - German - De-Husked Caraf III (4.1%)
9 oz - United Kingdom - Chocolate (4.1%)
9 oz - United Kingdom - Extra Dark Crystal 160L (4.1%)
9 oz - United Kingdom - Pale Chocolate (4.1%)

HOPS:
0.6 oz - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: First Wort, IBU: 18.28
0.5 oz - Willamette, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 4.57
0.5 oz - Willamette, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 1 min, IBU: 0.33

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temperature, Temp: 152 F, Time: 120 min, Amount: 4.5 gal
2) Sparge, Temp: 185 F, Time: 10 min, Amount: 4.5 gal
Starting Mash Thickness: 2 qt/lb

YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (custom): 63%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 68 - 73 F
Pitch Rate: 0.75 (M cells / ml / deg P)