American Porter Honeymoon Porter (2x gold medals + 2nd place BOS)

[TheMadKing]

I brewed this the first time right before my own wedding, and then tweaked the recipe a year later. I essentially made an American porter with English porter ingredients (stronger and hoppier). This took a gold medal and second place best-of-show in the 2019 Peach State Brew Off (the largest competition in Georgia), as well as another gold in a mail-in competition in Florida.

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.29 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 6.09 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 5.40 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
Efficiency: 75.00 %

Amt​	Name​	Type​	#​	%/IBU​	Volume​
2.00 g​	Calcium Chloride (Mash)​	Water Agent​	1​	-​	-​
1.00 g​	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash)​	Water Agent​	2​	-​	-​
7 lbs​	Pale Ale, Golden Promise®™ (Simpsons) (2.5 SRM)​	Grain​	3​	51.9 %​	0.55 gal​
2 lbs​	Brown Malt (65.0 SRM)​	Grain​	4​	14.8 %​	0.16 gal​
2 lbs​	Munich II (Weyermann) (8.5 SRM)​	Grain​	5​	14.8 %​	0.16 gal​
1 lbs​	Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)​	Grain​	6​	7.4 %​	0.08 gal​
1 lbs​	Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)​	Grain​	7​	7.4 %​	0.08 gal​
8.0 oz​	Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)​	Grain​	8​	3.7 %​	0.04 gal​
0.50 oz​	Magnum [12.40 %] - First Wort 60.0 min​	Hop​	9​	22.3 IBUs​	-​
0.50 oz​	East Kent Goldings (EKG) [6.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min​	Hop​	10​	8.2 IBUs​	-​
0.50 oz​	East Kent Goldings (EKG) [6.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min, 194.4 F​	Hop​	11​	1.7 IBUs​	-​
1.0 pkg​	London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) [124.21 ml]​	Yeast​	12​	-​	-​

Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Bitterness: 32.2 IBUs
Est Color: 43.1 SRM
Measured Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.017 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.4 %
Calories: 220.5 kcal/12oz
Mash Profile
Mash Temp: Single infusion 149F

 

[tracer bullet]

Thanks! Been considering a porter for my next recipe, tide me over between IPA season and RIS season (which I just brewed). Congrats on the medals!

 

[Bramling Cross]

Nice job putting a confident portion of brown malt into the grist (Yeah, I'm one of those brown malt militants, sorry). That's a really outstanding looking porter!

What are you using as your starting water?

 

[TheMadKing]

Nice job putting a confident portion of brown malt into the grist (Yeah, I'm one of those brown malt militants, sorry). That's a really outstanding looking porter!

What are you using as your starting water?

Thanks! I'm a big fan in porters, but very few other styles

My house water here in Georgia is 24ppm bicarbonate, and not much else. If you start with RO water you'll be pretty close

 

[TheMadKing]

Thanks! Been considering a porter for my next recipe, tide me over between IPA season and RIS season (which I just brewed). Congrats on the medals!

I hope it turns out good for you. I found peak flavor to be about 3 months after kegging

 

[Bramling Cross]

Thanks! I'm a big fan in porters, but very few other styles

My house water here in Georgia is 24ppm bicarbonate, and not much else. If you start with RO water you'll be pretty close

Thanks for taking the time, that's kind of you.

I was going to wake up my WY1469 this weekend with a mild followed by a brown porter, but your recipe bounced the brown porter out of the rotation (and I really like that brown porter... I like it a lot).

I'll check back in once I get yours online and the brown malt finally mellows out, 6-8 weeks or so.

Thanks again for the killer recipe.

 

[TheMadKing]

Thanks for taking the time, that's kind of you.

I was going to wake up my WY1469 this weekend with a mild followed by a brown porter, but your recipe bounced the brown porter out of the rotation (and I really like that brown porter... I like it a lot).

I'll check back in once I get yours online and the brown malt finally mellows out, 6-8 weeks or so.

Thanks again for the killer recipe.

Very happy to help, and I hope it goes well for you. Cheers

 

[tracer bullet]

Brewed this Tuesday, still fermenting. Hit the gravities and mash temps pretty well.

That yeast flocculates like crazy, my starter looked like I put cottage cheese in it. Never seen that before, had to research a little just to be sure I didn't kill it somehow.

Sips out of the boil kettle during transfer to the fermenter were yummy. Really curious to see how the grain bill turns out, it's more Munich, Brown, Biscuit, etc. than I am used to using. Well, obviously it turns out well if it wins medals but it's not something I've tried before in those sorts of ratios!

 

[TheMadKing]

Brewed this Tuesday, still fermenting. Hit the gravities and mash temps pretty well.

That yeast flocculates like crazy, my starter looked like I put cottage cheese in it. Never seen that before, had to research a little just to be sure I didn't kill it somehow.

Sips out of the boil kettle during transfer to the fermenter were yummy. Really curious to see how the grain bill turns out, it's more Munich, Brown, Biscuit, etc. than I am used to using. Well, obviously it turns out well if it wins medals but it's not something I've tried before in those sorts of ratios!

Cottage cheese is totally normal for that yeast - I hope it turns out great!

Incidentally, you should try a 100% munich beer sometime, I love it, and munich fills out the "middle register" of any malt-forward style so I use a couple pounds in almost every recipe except IPA's and session beers.

 

[tracer bullet]

So far, so good! It's in the primary for a few more days then on to a keg once one opens up. I'll carbonate it and sip on it but take heed that it'll be a while to get great (it shares some ingredients with a RIS I have as well, that's like 2 months old, and it too isn't ready by a long (bitter and still yeasty)).

Looking forward to it! Thanks for the note on the Munich.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I'm thinking about this for my next brew day. Also thinking of making it as a Pecan Porter.

 

[TheMadKing]

I'm thinking about this for my next brew day. Also thinking of making it as a Pecan Porter.

If you're going with Pecans, I would recommend subbing the biscuit for some crystal 40 or 60 to boost the sweetness a bit. This is a pretty dry, bicuity, toasty porter as-is, so I think adding nuts to that would make it a bit too nutty/toasty without adding some sweetness

 

[BongoYodeler]

If you're going with Pecans, I would recommend subbing the biscuit for some crystal 40 or 60 to boost the sweetness a bit. This is a pretty dry, bicuity, toasty porter as-is, so I think adding nuts to that would make it a bit too nutty/toasty without adding some sweetness

Thanks for the tip. If I do make it a pecan porter I'd probably go with Apex flavoring as I'm a big fan of their products. There's a thread on them here somewhere.

 

[Jeff Kroosz]

I like this recipe because each grain has a definable purpose. Thanks for the effort.

 

[tracer bullet]

Sipping on mine these days, it's really good. I never thought I'd whirlpool Kent Goldings, but there you go. It's the perfect hops for this beer. I was concerned about the fruity yeast but it too works perfectly and leaves just enough to be great and not too much to hit you over the head. The malts, especially the black patent, give the right flavors that are immediately identified as porter. A little chocolate, a little coffee, a tang of sorts reminiscent of Guinness (I know that's a stout). Definitely will make it again. Thanks!

 

[TheMadKing]

Sipping on mine these days, it's really good. I never thought I'd whirlpool Kent Goldings, but there you go. It's the perfect hops for this beer. I was concerned about the fruity yeast but it too works perfectly and leaves just enough to be great and not too much to hit you over the head. The malts, especially the black patent, give the right flavors that are immediately identified as porter. A little chocolate, a little coffee, a tang of sorts reminiscent of Guinness (I know that's a stout). Definitely will make it again. Thanks!

Thanks for the update and I'm very glad to hear you enjoy it

Cheers

 

[Bohern]

Hey @TheMadKing I thought I would search the forum for a porter recipe and viola, this pops up. I have been searching for recipes in a few books and a few other things. I might just give this a try.

On another note, since we both live in Ga and i bet our water is pretty close, did you not add any bicarbonate to this at all? What are your thoughts on that too? I ask cause I have been using Bru'n Water and I have been adding baking soda to get in the neighborhood of the profile I choose.

Good to see you around and again and cheers!

 

[InspectorJon]

Would LA III yeast work well with a porter like this?

 

[TheMadKing]

Hey @TheMadKing I thought I would search the forum for a porter recipe and viola, this pops up. I have been searching for recipes in a few books and a few other things. I might just give this a try.

On another note, since we both live in Ga and i bet our water is pretty close, did you not add any bicarbonate to this at all? What are your thoughts on that too? I ask cause I have been using Bru'n Water and I have been adding baking soda to get in the neighborhood of the profile I choose.

Good to see you around and again and cheers!

I did not add any baking soda to this recipe, but I don't think a small amount would be harmful. It would certainly neutralize the very slight tang that tracer bullet described above

In general you only need to add baking soda to control your mash pH if it is too low. You should never add baking soda just to match a water profile or if you are also adding acid to a recipe. Hope that helps!

 

[TheMadKing]

Would LA III yeast work well with a porter like this?

Yes I think it would be fine, it's a bit fruitier than 1968 in my experience so you may consider fermenting it toward the cooler end (63-64) to keep the ester profile under control.

 

[tracer bullet]

I added tiny amounts of gypsum CaSO4, Calc Chloride CACL2and Epsom Salt MgSO4. The water profile spreadsheet indicated a resulting mash pH of 5.5, Ca=39, Mg=4, Na=32, Cl=67, SO4=43 and a chloride / sulfate ratio 1.55 "enhanced maltiness". No acids. This is to a filtered tested water supply. Everywhere you look has different recommendations so I figured I'd start here and revise next time if needed.

Just background if anyone's trying to get into details. I figured the tang was the black patent but perhaps not. I've been brewing for decades but only began caring about water recently and have a ways to go yet.

 

[stealthfixr]

Was looking for a Porter to do and this popped up...perfect, thank you.

 

[tracer bullet]

Almost done with this keg. Sorry to keep coming back but wanted to make another plug for this porter.

The initial tang is gone and while still a characteristic porter flavor has mellowed out and in a very good way. I was concerned it'd lose its flavor and "go downhill" but it has not, just a slow evolution of tastes that are equally as good. I'll be sad to see it go and will no doubt brew it again.

I had considered to maybe add a touch of high degree L Crystal and / or a few ounces of coffee beans next time, but to be honest - There's just no need.

Thanks again for posting this recipe - one of the best I've ever made. Better tasting than many, perhaps most porters I've purchased.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I’ll probably be kegging mine this weekend. I made minor changes to the original recipe. I cut the biscuit in half and replaced it with Crystal 60, dropped the black malt from 8oz to 6oz, and also added 2oz flaked barley (had that left over from a previous recipe so I threw it in). Also I used WLP002, which I believe is a comparable yeast. I had a yeast mishap which I detailed here. At any rate an initial sample taste was excellent. I’ll take one last gravity reading (taste it), and then keg the batch over just a touch of Apex pecan extract.

 

[BongoYodeler]

OK folks all I can say is brew this!! @TheMadKing , thank you for this recipe, it’s so good. I racked mine into a keg over 1 TBS of Apex Pecan extract. Set pressure to 10 PSI, and at one week it’s perfect. It’s said that at three or four months it really hits it’s prime, I’m not sure if I’ll have any left by then.

 

[BongoYodeler]

OK, since this is so good I brewed this again back in November, more closely following the original recipe with one exception. My LHBS didn't have enough brown malt left so we used what he had and filled in with amber malt for the difference. I still cut back on the black patent, 6oz instead of 8oz, but otherwise following the original recipe. Racked it over pecan extract again because last time it seemed to go so great around the holidays.

Anyway, fast forward to February and a local brewery was running a homebrew competition sponsored by MoreBeer and judged by folks from The Brewing Network. Since I still had a gallon or so kegged I decided to fill a couple bottles and submit this, and a second beer (an apricot wheat). There was only one prize - up-scaling your HB recipe and brewing and canning it on their system. While I didn't win the prize it was very warmly received and scored unbelievable high, especially considering this was the first competition I've ever entered. I finally picked up the judging notes last night and was surprised to learn that it scored 46/50. Thanks to @TheMadKing for a great recipe. I will continue to brew this every year for the year-end holidays. Highly recommended.

 

[TheMadKing]

OK, since this is so good I brewed this again back in November, more closely following the original recipe with one exception. My LHBS didn't have enough brown malt left so we used what he had and filled in with amber malt for the difference. I still cut back on the black patent, 6oz instead of 8oz, but otherwise following the original recipe. Racked it over pecan extract again because last time it seemed to go so great around the holidays.

Anyway, fast forward to February and a local brewery was running a homebrew competition sponsored by MoreBeer and judged by folks from The Brewing Network. Since I still had a gallon or so kegged I decided to fill a couple bottles and submit this, and a second beer (an apricot wheat). There was only one prize - up-scaling your HB recipe and brewing and canning it on their system. While I didn't win the prize it was very warmly received and scored unbelievable high, especially considering this was the first competition I've ever entered. I finally picked up the judging notes last night and was surprised to learn that it scored 46/50. Thanks to @TheMadKing for a great recipe. I will continue to brew this every year for the year-end holidays. Highly recommended.

Many thanks! I'm glad it came out so well and that certainly speaks to the skill of the brewer too. Great job on the 46 that's an impressive score