Is this porter grain bill too aggressive?

[theheroguy]

Hello everyone thanks for taking the time to read my thread. I'm going to brew a porter this weekend and I want help deciding if this grain bill has too much dark roasted or crystal malts. I have no problem controlling the mash PH so that isn't a concern. I'm only worried about creating an acrid beer. I want the roasted flavors to be upfront and noticeable but not detrimental.

8 lbs 8.0 oz Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 4 79.6 %
10.0 oz Baird Dark Crystal (75.0 SRM) Grain 5 5.8 %
10.0 oz Black Patent (Briess) (500.0 SRM) Grain 6 5.8 %
8.0 oz Carared (Weyermann) (24.0 SRM) Grain 7 4.7 %
7.0 oz Roasted Barley (Simpsons) (550.0 SRM) Grain 8 4.1 %

So right now total black patent+ roasted barley content is 9.9%. Total crystal malt content is 10.5%. I've always liked the flavor of black patent when used with a generous amount of crystal malt. Here is the entire recipe for context. I think this will be fine but I want to make sure I'm not crazy and get some feedback.
Boil Size: 6.72 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.22 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.48 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.48 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 36.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 43.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 76.4 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4.00 g Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 1 -
4.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 2 -
3.00 g Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 3 -
8 lbs 8.0 oz Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 4 79.6 %
10.0 oz Baird Dark Crystal (75.0 SRM) Grain 5 5.8 %
10.0 oz Black Patent (Briess) (500.0 SRM) Grain 6 5.8 %
8.0 oz Carared (Weyermann) (24.0 SRM) Grain 7 4.7 %
7.0 oz Roasted Barley (Simpsons) (550.0 SRM) Grain 8 4.1 %
1.50 oz Perle [7.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 35.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 6.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [3.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 2.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 12 -


EDIT: corrected black barley to black patent

 

[McKnuckle]

Seems fine to me. I made a stout recently with 16% roasted malts and NO crystal. It was very roasty but smooth after 3-4 months in the keg. It did take a while, though.

I learned from that recipe to dial down the roast and balance with crystal. There seem to be many on HBT who waggle fingers at crystal malts, but 10% is perfect in my mind. And 10% for the roasts will definitely make them prominent, but it will age well and likely be balanced.

I made my next stout with 8% each roast and crystal. Much smoother and easier to drink right out of the gate. Do watch your BU:GU ratio, though. Yours is teetering near 1.0, which is IPA territory. Might want to dial down the bittering just a hair. Or not.

I aim for a 5.5 room temp mash pH with this type of beer. That will also help smooth it out in the glass; lower pH can produce a tart porter/stout that's not super pleasant to drink.

 

[theheroguy]

Thanks. The actual ibu will probably be in the mid 30s. Both the willamette and centennial are over a year old. They smell good still but the AA units are definitely depressed.

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

I honestly greatly prefer chocolate malt over roasted barley in a porter, but I imagine if you agreed, your recipe would include it.

This to me personally looks more like a light American stout, but that doesn't mean anything about flavor. It looks like it will be very drinkable and fairly complex with all those specialty grains at only 1.050. I don't think it'll be out of balance, but I'd say it'll definitely side a hair more towards the roasty side of a porter than balanced.

 

[porterpounder]

Agree that the roasted barley imparts more of a stout flavor and prefer chocolate malts in porters.

 

[chickypad]

Agree with the posters above, looks okay but looks like a stout. Just to clarify the black roasted barley from Briess is unmalted roast barley, just roasted darker than their regular roasted barley at 300L. Just mentioning that because you were talking about black patent - that is malted, not the same.

 

[theheroguy]

It definitely black malt. I don't remember the maltster because I bought it over 6 months ago. Sorry for the confusion. I'm not really concerned with the whole black patent = porter vs roasted barley = stout thing. I don't even really agree with that logic personally seeing as their are plenty of professional recipes that don't adhere to that rule and the fact that porter and stout have historically been made with both ingredients. I don't care about adhering to a style I just want someone to tell me if I'm crazy using this much roasted malt in combination with everything else.

 

[iijakii]

I think it looks pretty damn good. 1.050 is still low enough that you want a good amount of crystal in there to balance it out. If it was imperial then it'd be way too much crystal.

 

[JKaranka]

Looks fine. I don't believe in BJCP so my stouts are stronger, more bitter porters. If you like complexity check out Brown malt.

 

[chickypad]

It definitely black malt. I don't remember the maltster because I bought it over 6 months ago. Sorry for the confusion. I'm not really concerned with the whole black patent = porter vs roasted barley = stout thing. I don't even really agree with that logic personally seeing as their are plenty of professional recipes that don't adhere to that rule and the fact that porter and stout have historically been made with both ingredients. I don't care about adhering to a style I just want someone to tell me if I'm crazy using this much roasted malt in combination with everything else.

If that's the case I think you are fine. Totally agree with you there is a lot of overlap between the styles, though dominant roasted barley flavor I usually associate with stouts. Where a robust porter ends and stout begins though can certainly get very murky, and often just depends on what the brewer wants to call it IME. The one exception in my mind are what I still call brown porters, which I usually make with just brown malt and a little pale chocolate, but sounds like not what you're going for. I actually am a fan of black malt and will often take a recipe with roasted barley and split it half and half with black patent. It seems to me to give a smoother less espresso type roast.

 

[theheroguy]

Brewed it today got better than intended efficiency OG of 1.054. In a rare occurrence for me the unfermented wort taste good. Bitterness is on point and there is a really nice gentle but strong roast character. The hops really balance it out I'll update when its bottled and carbed.

 

[theheroguy]

Brewed it today got better than intended efficiency OG of 1.054. In a rare occurrence for me the unfermented wort taste good. Bitterness is on point and there is a really nice gentle but strong roast character. The hops really balance it out I'll update when its bottled and carbed.

This one is a winner. I get a real nice smooth black barley flavor then the roasted barley comes in with a little aggression. This is on the edge of medium and medium light bodied. It is a semisweet beer and goes down real easy. Very recommended.

 

[theheroguy]

I think this beer would be better if you did a 50/50 split on roasted and black barley or maybe even had slightly more roasted than black barley. Also I would add some flaked wheat about 10% removed from the pale malt and reduce the crystal malt to about 7% 2.5% dark crystal and 5 % carared.