Porter Recipe - Please Help - Old Engine Oil Clone

[chapa]

I've found very few threads on a recipe for Old Engine Oil, and only one person who actually posted one for it. My main concerns are the heavy use of Flaked Oats and Roasted Barley. Old Engine Oil is one of the best Porters I've ever had though, so it must be OK to use! Here are the most informative links:

MJ's Beer Hunter Article

Northern Brewer thread with Recipe

Harviestoun's Website

Here what I have worked up for my own recipe:

78% Base Malt(suggests MO-thinking of using 63% 2-row, 8.4% Munich and 6.3% Vienna(already have Vienna on hand-could buy Victory or just more Munich))
16.84% Flaked Oats
5.26% Roasted Barley

EKG @ 60min - 25.6 IBU
Williamette @ 10min - 6.8 IBU
Nugget @ 5min - 8.8 IBU

1.059 OG - Mash @ 154 - 40.9 IBUs - Color: 27 SRM

Should I toast the oats a little bit, or just throw in mash? Any other suggestions or red flags doing this recipe? Thinking about doing some oaking or something on 5 of the 10g I plan to brew. Any suggestions on that? I'm not HUGE on the oak/smoke flavor, but a slight hint is ok, or maybe I can go more for vanilla or something. TIA!! Brewing up Saturday, so I'll keep posted to how it comes out.

 

[chapa]

Planning to get some ingredients tomorrow. Might just stick w 2-row and a lil munich for base. I know this is really kind of outside the "normal" realm of a porter, but does anybody have any input on it? I'm kind of surprised its not a more popular brew and cloned more often, especially at $4/12oz bottle

 

[chapa]

Well I got this brewed up on Saturday, and a few things changed. I ended up boiling for over 2 hours, because I missed my pre-boil OG by a few points, and then my propane started running low, so I wanted to make sure I ended up with a nicely concentrated wort. I waited to add bittering hops until after the first hour. Here was my recipe:

Slick Rick - Old Engine Oil Clone
10g Batch - (Start Vol - 12.6g)
150 Min Boil
SG: 1.062
IBU: 47.5
SRM: 28.6
Mashed 60min @ 155
66% Eff

70.34% Canadian 2-Row (18.5lb)
7.6 % Victory (to sub for Maris Otter-2lb)
17.11% Flaked Oats (4.5lb)
4.94% Roasted Barley (1.3lb)

2.5oz - East Kent Goldings @90min
2oz Williamette @10min
2oz Nugget @5min

WYeast 1968 ESB English Ale Yeast - Used Slurrys from Big Brown(previous Moose Drool clone)

Also used a 1lb of rice hulls, to make sure I didn't have any problems sparging with 4.5lbs of Oats. Worked great.

The pre-boil and post-boil samples tasted VERY good...almost like a sugary chocolate milk, very smooth and silky. The post boil sample was a little bitter, as I boiled longer than expected, and I hit closer to 50IBU, rather than 40, but I think it will still smooth out very nicely. I also intend to add bourbon, oak and vanilla to the other half of the batch, such as Denny Conn's recipe.

I'm really looking forward to this one...glad nobody talked me out of doing what sounds like a very different recipe, than any typical porter. It seems to be more of a robust porter, but honestly I don't care what style it is...if it comes out anything like Old Engine Oil...I will be one HAPPY brewer!!

And if you haven't ever tried this stuff....its about time to treat yourself

 

[FromZwolle]

thanks for the post. i'm slotting this one into my roster as soon as the weather turns warm.

 

[chapa]

thanks for the post. i'm slotting this one into my roster as soon as the weather turns warm.

No problem. I'll let you know how mine turned out, and if I'd change anything, once I get to drinking it!

 

[chapa]

So I don't know how promising this brew is going to be. It stopped fermenting at 1.022, and has a very distinctive spicy(bad)malt flavor, and almost reminds me of an amped up lager. I'm not good at pin-pointing off-flavors yet, but I assume its diacetyl? I can't say it tastes exactly like butter though. The funk is in the aroma as well as the flavor, and completely overpowers the roast.

Here are some of the suspected errors/explanations:

• I mashed pretty high:155-156 - Seen other recipes at this temp, but maybe the amount of roasted/oats played a factor.
• I used the Wyeast 1968 slurry from a brew that I made a few months back. The original came out good, and didn't have any funky smells before I pitched it. Maybe a little sweet/fruity smell. No starter, just used what looked like more than enough slurry.
• I recirculated the boil kettle the entire time of the boil, and cool down. I hear about HSA, but the only way to get my BK to drain through the actual ball valve, is to make sure the trub doesn't settle at the bottom(it is recirculated through the hop bag)
• I initially fermented around 63 degrees, which may be slightly too low for Wyeast 1968.
• After 2 weeks, I brought it into my closet and wrapped it in a heating blanket and got it up to 70. Also pitched some new S-05(didn't rehydrate though)

This is really a bummer, because I have 10g, and was really looking forward to a good clone of this, and doing the oak, vanilla & bourbon on 5 of the 10g. Do you think I should go ahead an add these, and maybe they'll blend the flavors more?

 

[chapa]

Update: I roused and warmed the carboys more, got them to about 75 degrees, and finally got my gravity down to 1.015!! :rockin:

Next time I will be sure to use a starter, and ferment a little warmer. I thought I was pitching so much yeast slurry I would be fine, but that wasn't the case.

I still have the odd flavor in it, so I decided to bring a sample to the brew club meet. Turns out that its really just the roasted barley thats probably giving me the sharp burnt kind of flavor. They said its almost like burnt popcorn, but that based on my ingredients, it tastes how it should. There is definitely no infection.

I'm going to let it sit for another week and then go ahead and keg 5g of it, and transfer my other 5g to a secondary for adding oak, vanilla, and bourbon. I'll keep posted how it turns out.

ALSO, I sampled my Chicamarillo IPA up there last night, and it was a big hit!! Even the really experienced connoisseurs & hop heads were very impressed, and were grabbing other people to have them try it! That felt awesome! It really is a d@mn good beer...if I do say so myself

 

[FromZwolle]

nice work! and keep us posted on that old engine oil. I think i'll have to wait until late summer to take a crack at it. my brewqueque is getting pretty crowded.

 

[Passini]

I already made a search here and didn't find, anyboby knows about a clone of Harviestoun Schiehallion (Lager Bier)?

 

[chapa]

Wanted to update the progress on this one. I have had half of the batch kegged for almost 2 months now, and its smoothing out more and more, but definitely still needs time. I've confirmed this with several fellow brewers who say its good, and is just young.

Its got kind of an "acrid" overtone that is what is seeming to mellow over time, and you can start to get the more roasty notes. Slick, oily mouthfeel thats pretty nice.

I put the other half of the batch on 1oz medium toasted oak cubes, and 1 vanilla bean that soaked in Balvenie Scotch for several weeks(poured it all in)...3 weeks later and took a sample...WOW! The flavors from these additions have blended incredibly with this beer! I think this is the ticket.

I'm going to try and let both of these age for at least another month or two, and now that I just bought more kegs, I can just pull this one off the current tapper. REALLY looking forward to drinking this scotch, vanilla, oak batch!

Been trying to brew like crazy lately to build up this pipeline, so I can be patient and let these brews age!

 

[FromZwolle]

i think its just about time to take that stab at this one. my pipeline is getting full and i've got a few empty kegs. Plus i've got nothing darker than a penny right now, so that needs to change.

 

[chapa]

Awesome, let me know how it turns out. I'd do a normal boil time, as I overdid it because of my lower og. And personally I'd consider going the oak, vanilla, scotch/bourbon route(if you go one way or the other). I was blown away with the flavor and complexities. Can't wait to start drinking it!

 

[FromZwolle]

Awesome, let me know how it turns out. I'd do a normal boil time, as I overdid it because of my lower og. And personally I'd consider going the oak, vanilla, scotch/bourbon route(if you go one way or the other). I was blown away with the flavor and complexities. Can't wait to start drinking it!

i'm definitely leaning towards the oak/vanilla/bourbon. I just picked up 10 vanilla beans for $5 at my lhbs, and i've been sitting on some oak cubes that i've been itching to use for a while now.

 

[raptor5099]

I put the other half of the batch on 1oz medium toasted oak cubes, and 1 vanilla bean that soaked in Balvenie Scotch for several weeks(poured it all in)...3 weeks later and took a sample...WOW! The flavors from these additions have blended incredibly with this beer! I think this is the ticket.

Hey Chapa,

Just curious on how much Scotch you gave to the vanilla bean? And, did you split it? I just started brewing and stumbled across this on my search for an Old Engine Oil clone. Im looking forward to add this to the recipe I have compiled so far (please make any suggestions):

malt & fermentables
% LB OZ MALT OR FERMENTABLE PPG °L
56% 6 10 Briess CBW Golden Light 34 4 ~
17% 2 0 Briess Caramel 120L 34 120 ~
15% 1 12 Briess Dark DME 43 30 ~
5% 0 10 Briess Roasted Barley 34 300 ~
4% 0 8 Barley, Flaked 32 1 ~
2% 0 4 Flaked Oats 33 2 ~
Batch size: 5.0 gallons

Original Gravity
1.076 / 18.4° Plato
(1.068 to 1.080)
Final Gravity
1.018 / 4.6° Plato
(1.016 to 1.020)
Color
36° SRM / 70° EBC
(Black)
Mash Efficiency
75%


hops
USE TIME OZ VARIETY FORM AA
boil 60 mins 1.5 Kent Golding pellet 4.5
boil 10 mins 0.8 Nugget pellet 13.0
boil 10 mins 1.0 Willamette pellet 5.5

Bitterness
31.6 IBU / 7 HBU
ƒ: Tinseth
BU:GU
0.41

yeast
Nottingham Ale Dry Yeast
ale yeast in dry form with medium to high flocculation and 76% attenuation

Alcohol
7.7% ABV / 6% ABW
Calories
250 per 12 oz.

misc
USE TIME AMOUNT INGREDIENT
boil 10 min 1 ea Whirlfloc Tablet
secondary 21 days 1 ea Vanilla Bean
secondary 21 days 13.5 liquid ozs Scotch
secondary 21 days 1 ounces Oak Cubes, medium toast

 

[FatDragon]

Thread necro!

I'm hoping to do an Old Engine Oil clone sometime. It's by far the best (and most unique) porter I've ever had. However, I'm surprised that the recipes I've seen are all around 32-36 SRM - my memory of the beer is that it's basically a black hole for light absorbtion - the darkest beer I've ever had, and I was expecting something more in the 50-60 SRM range. Anyone who's brewed this have any comments or recipe updates?

Also, does anyone have a good guess at what yeast they use, or if I could potentially harvest viable (primary strain) yeast from an Old Engine Oil bottle? Once I get set up for a yeast bank, I could justify the outrageous costs of acquiring liquid yeast here in China since I could slant it and keep reusing it, but in the meantime, bottle harvesting or dry yeasts are viable options.