Flavor balance for smoked baltic porter?

[nathanthn]

I want to find a balance between the smoked and roasted flavors for the baltic porter I want to brew, I also want a moderate amount of hop flavor to come through but with little to no aroma. Here's the first draft of my 5gal recipe, please give me some input:

6lb Munich
5lb Beechwood Smoked Malt
0.33lb Black Patent
0.33lb Chocolate
0.5lb CaraMunich
1oz Magnum FWH
1oz EK Gouldings @20min

I'm also debating the yeast choice. I don't have a full setup for lagering but my basement will stay around 50-55F through the winter, should I go with a true lager yeast, a Cali common (WLP810), or a low temp ale yeast (Kolsch or Scottish)? I don't have refrigerator space to do an extended lager at the moment, not sure if that will be an issue with a porter and lager yeast or not...

 

[nathanthn]

Any help would be appriciated...

 

[adrock430]

Did you brew this? The grain bill looks nice, and I'm looking into brewing a baltic porter with a munich base.

 

[nathanthn]

I did brew it but with a few tweaks based on what grain I had on hand:

6 lbs Smoked Malt
3 lbs Munich Malt
2 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt
4.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt

0.75 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min

1.0 pkg California Lager (Wyeast Labs #2112) stepped up to 3L starter

OG 1.068
FG 1.020
IBU 44

I fermented it at 58degF for ~3 weeks then transferred to the keg where it has been sitting refrigerated for about a week, haven't tapped it yet. The hydro sample tasted great, the smoke flavor was definitely the strongest and I didn't get much hop flavor. I'll post results after I try the finished product.

 

[adrock430]

Looking forward to it, I'll be running this on Wyeast Bo Lager. This will be my first time with smoked malt, so I look forward to hearing your comments.

 

[nathanthn]

I've been drinking this for the past few days and it tastes great! It definitely came out on the smokey side but not overpowering, I like it that way so I'm happy with the grain bill as is. I might try all Munich instead of the Munich/Maris Otter split next time though. The hop flavor got almost completely covered up by the strong smoke and roasted flavors but it is there subtly in the background, the bittering was good but probably a little on the high side.

 

[adrock430]

Nice, great to hear. I'm surprised that the bittering was too high looking at the specs, but I'm sure the smoke adds its only level of bitterness/tannins. I'll shoot for high 30s, thanks!

 

[adrock430]

Finally got around to doing this brew (#100), tasting the hydro sample now...

12 lbs best malz dark munich
7 lbs briess cherrywood smoked
1 lb chocolate
.5 lb black malt
.75 lb special b
1 lb d-90 @ 15'

40 ibu from chinook @ 60'

w-34/70 (bohemian lager) repitched from previous cake

OG 1.080
FG 1.016
IBU 40

I'm not getting a whole lot of bitterness, it's a bit on the smokey side, but I have 8 weeks of lagering before I bottle. The cherrywood is definitely a bacon-y smoke. A nice combo with the chocolate from the porter. I feel pretty good about this one. Thanks for the tips, maybe we can swap when mine gets packaged, considering how close we are.