Imperial Porter with dried plums + Sherry Oloroso oak chips

[thehaze]

Hi,

As Christmas approaches, I want to try to brew an Imperial Porter, to which I will add just a bit of lactose ( 0.5 lb - added to boil ), vanilla pods, natural dried plums ( 2 lbs - no preservatives added ) and Sherry Oloroso oak chips. The vanilla pods+plums ( cut in smaller pieces ) and oak chips will be soaked in El Dorado 12 years rum for a few days. The content will be added after fermentation for about a week.

The recipe contains a mix of Maris Otter with Brown, Amber, Chocolate, Pale Chocolate and Medium Crystal malts for an OG of 1.090 and FG: 1.022. I will be fermenting with a combination of Windsor and Nottingham dry yeast.

I am unsure how much oak chips should I use. I read chips don't need a prolonged contact with the beer, as they will quickly impart flavours.

I was thinking 3.5 oz for 5-7 days, but is it too much? I will age some bottles to try next year.

Thank you.

 

[specharka]

I really don't like chips for wood-aging homebrew. They have this odd astringent quality that always seems to strip out the worst flavors from the oak, and the oak flavor is a lot more "fleeting" than other methods. Oak cubes and spirals are a safer bet to harness the woody, vanilla notes without getting any astringency. Use 0.25 oz/gal for a lighter note, and 0.5 oz/gal for something a bit more robust for 4-6 weeks.

 

[thehaze]

specharka Thank you for you reply. I don't have oak cubes at hand. These Oak chips were given to me as a present.

Maybe I should skip those this time and try to get some nice oak cubes for the next one.

 

[thehaze]

I've talked to a few local brewers about oak chips and one of them uses oak chips for a Stout they make and it's good. He said he leaves the oak chips for about 2 weeks and recommended I only let them for max. one week.

So I think I will go ahead and use the chips and post back with the results, if anyone is interested.

How about the dried plums? Has any of you used them before in a dark beer?

 

[thehaze]

The final recipe is

13.7 lbs Maris Otter Pale 71.3%
1.1 lbs Brown 5.7%
1.1 lbs Chocolate 5.7%
1.1 lbs Pale Chocolate 5.7%
1.1 lbs Amber 5.7%
1.1 lbs Crystal 90L 5.7%

Mash temp: 64C/147F
Mash time: 90 minutes
Boil time: 120 minutes
Yeast: 2 x Windsor + 2 x Nottingham

 

[thehaze]

Would anyone care to tell how the recipe looks? I am kinda unsure and would love any kind of critique.

Thank you.

 

[thehaze]

Hello again.

Sorry to be pushy... does the recipe look OK? I ask, because I'm pretty unsure how this will turn out. I am aiming for a roastier Porter, with around 50 IBUs ans maybe 9%. The water profile looks something like 70 ppm Ca, 10 ppm Mg, 15 ppm Na, 40 ppm Cl and 80 ppm Sulfate.

 

[goschman]

Hello again.

Sorry to be pushy... does the recipe look OK? I ask, because I'm pretty unsure how this will turn out. I am aiming for a roastier Porter, with around 50 IBUs ans maybe 9%. The water profile looks something like 70 ppm Ca, 10 ppm Mg, 15 ppm Na, 40 ppm Cl and 80 ppm Sulfate.

I am brewing my own imperial porter on saturday that I didn't get any feedback on. I think yours looks pretty good but might get rid of the amber malt and possibly up the brown malt a tad in it's place with the rest going to base malt. Maybe back down on the chocolate and pael chocolate a bit to stay closer to 10% roasted grains. Take my advice with a grain of salt since I'm trying to get advice myself. My ingredients are already purchased so I'm locked in at this point.

Similarly to you; I am shooting for 1.093, 50 IBUs and using Nottingham (alone). I am planning on mine to be less robust though.

 

[thehaze]

goschman Thank you for the reply. So... I am going for a more robust Porter, with a more definitive roasty flavour, chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, plums and a bit of barrel/alcohol presence. I will brew the beer tomorrow morning, starting 5 o'clock and I will post here how it went.

The thing I keep coming back to is mash pH, but I will see how it goes. I have a pH meter and will adjust with Baking soda when needed.

I will post more tomorrow.

 

[goschman]

goschman Thank you for the reply. So... I am going for a more robust Porter, with a more definitive roasty flavour, chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, plums and a bit of barrel/alcohol presence. I will brew the beer tomorrow morning, starting 5 o'clock and I will post here how it went.

The thing I keep coming back to is mash pH, but I will see how it goes. I have a pH meter and will adjust with Baking soda when needed.

I will post more tomorrow.

Good luck! Sounds like you got it figured out. Sorry didn't pay too much attention to the wood chips and adjuncts.

I personally like a mash pH above 5.4 for darker beers. I would like push closer to 5.6 but that would require a lot of unnecessary Na from the baking soda so I will have to stay around 5.5 with black malty water profile.

 

[thehaze]

I would be happy with something between 5.3 and 5.4, without adding too much Baking soda. I brewed a few dark beers with a mash pH of 5.1-5.3 and turned out very good, so as long as I manage 5.3-5.4, I am happy.

Thank for the replies.

 

[LittleRiver]

I cut 1/2" white oak cubes on the bandsaw and toast them in the oven. To remove the harsh astringent flavors (and sanitize) I boil them. The boil water is discarded. I put the cubes in the fermenter for the last week of fermentation. That has worked well for me. I've not had a problem with harshness, or overpowering oak taste.

I've done an oatmeal stout with and without oak, and I definitely prefer it with the oak.

 

[goschman]

I would be happy with something between 5.3 and 5.4, without adding too much Baking soda. I brewed a few dark beers with a mash pH of 5.1-5.3 and turned out very good, so as long as I manage 5.3-5.4, I am happy.

Thank for the replies.

Awesome! Agree to disagree. Please update the thread with your impressions.

 

[thehaze]

I am about to finish the mash and begin the mash out
91 minutes mash at 147F/64C
pH was measured at 20, 30, 40 and 60 minutes in the mash with little to no difference at all
pH was 5.45 adjusted with 4 gr Baking Soda

 

[thehaze]

Grain bill was 18.75 lbs and that's a lot for the Grainfather
Boil time: 120 minutes
Added a bit of sugar and lactose to boil
OG: 1.090
7 gallons in the fermenter ( hopefully, I will be left with 6 gallons to bottle )

 

[thehaze]

The Porter I brewed earlier today has been showing signs of fermentation for almost 1 hour now. So it started fermenting 4 hours after I pitched the yeast. I am happy.

I am now in the course of boiling my Imperial Brown Ale.

 

[thehaze]

OG: 1.090
FG: 1.018
55 IBU
9.5% ABV

8 days on 2.2 lbs dried plums, 3 oz oak chips and 12 years old El Dorado Rum
Bottled 5.8 gallons on 20 Nov. 2018
Final beer pH: 4.15

Aroma and tasting notes at bottling: lots of roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, raw cocoa, the plum is subtle, the rum is there.