imperial version of Black Butte Porter

[JLem]

For my annual "Imperial" brew I'd like to use Descute's Black Butte Porter as my base (recipe here - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/can-you-brew-recipe-deschutes-black-butte-porter-176186/)

I'd like to get the OG up to around 1.100. I can scale up the grist, but my real question is how to hop it. The base beer lists about 37 IBUs. To keep the imperial version balanced, should plan on upping the IBUs? How much? 70ish?

I plan on aging the a while and keeping some for several years even. I may even add some oak.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kanzimonson]

So basically you're increasing the gravity by about 75%. I would say you should increase the hops by 100%. My reasoning has to do with the likelihood that you'll get less attenuation than the regular beer, you'll be aging it so you'll lose a lot of hoppiness, and your utilization will probably be less than an exact 100% increase.

I'm curious how you're planning on upping the grains? Just the pale and wheat? Partial increases on the specialty grains? I love the idea of "bigging up" smaller beers but I haven't taken the time to brew one myself.

 

[woodenbuick]

I brewed this and was in love.. I let it sit for 4 months before trying it.

 

[ChshreCat]

Yep, that's what the annual special release of Black Butte is, pretty much.

 

[JLem]

Thanks all. Here is my idea for a recipe. It is not an exact clone of the original recipe - it is tweaked to accomodate my LHBS ingredients and my own personal ideas/tastes. I need the DME to get the gravity to where I want it and I have the turbinado sugar in there to help dry this big beer out. THe smoked malt is there for some added complexity. Please note the 5 gallon boil and 3.5 gallon batch size.

Recipe Specifications:
Batch Size: 3.50 gal
Boil Size: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.102 SG
Estimated Color: 39.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 70.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 74.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grist:
7 lbs Pale Malt - 58.33 %
1 lbs Wheat Malt, Pale - 8.33 %
12.0 oz Crystal Dark - 77L - 6.25 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt - 4.17 %
8.0 oz Smoked Malt - 4.17 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Wheat - 2.08 %

Malt extract & other sugars:
1 lbs Extra Light DME - 8.33 %
1 lbs Turbinado Sugar - 8.33 %

Hops:
0.75 oz Galena [13.00 %] (90 min)
0.5 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min)
0.5 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] (5 min)

Yeast:
Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007)

 

[kanzimonson]

I'm trying to decide if I think that's too much dark malts. I guess 6% isn't a crazy amount, especially since it's chocolate and not roast/black.

This is the biggest thing I debate when I think about Imperializing a smaller recipe - in a bigger beer, the flavor and color contributions are so much more significant even when the percentages are maintained.

I think it's a nice recipe, looking forward to hearing the results.

 

[JLem]

I'm trying to decide if I think that's too much dark malts. I guess 6% isn't a crazy amount, especially since it's chocolate and not roast/black.

This is the biggest thing I debate when I think about Imperializing a smaller recipe - in a bigger beer, the flavor and color contributions are so much more significant even when the percentages are maintained.

I think it's a nice recipe, looking forward to hearing the results.

Good question. I was a bit concerned after seeing the color jump up to almost 40 SRM. Perhaps I'll cut it back to 4 or 5% total...though then again, it might be OK with some age.

I'm going to brew this in a couple of weeks - my wife and daughter will be in London for February vacation and my mom will be watching my son, so I have a whole week alone. I'm planning on brewing at least twice!