Recipe Critique - River Knolls Maple Porter

[ArizonaDB]

Hi Everyone,

So this is the first AG recipe I have "designed" and I wanted to get some feedback from everyone on this site. Below is the summary from BeerSmith. The mash and sparge instructions are at the bottom. I am only set up to do stovetop all grain brewing (per DeathBrewers instructions, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/)l. And I only have a 5gal pot, so my preboil vol is limited to about 4.5gal of wort.

I was going for a mapley, Americanized porter (hence, the Williamette hops) with a nice soft mouth feel (i.e. the malto-dextrine). I like the biscuity flavor from Victory so I added that in too just for kicks. I get the maple syrup from my Mom who taps the trees on my parents property and boils it down to awesome authentic maple syrup each year. And I have plenty of it so if you think I need to add more let me know. The thing I am least confident about is when to add the syrup. A brewer friend of mine suggested adding all of it to the secondary, but I wanted to add half or at least some near the end of the boil as I planned to get some of my OG from the sugars in the syrup.

Anyway, here's the recipe; let me know what you think.

Name: River Knolls Maple Porter
Type: All Grain
Date: 9/9/2009
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer: Dustin
Boil Size: 4.08 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (5 Gallon)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00

Taste Notes: See NOTES below for Mash/Sparge info
Malto Dextrine added to boil with 20 min left
rehydrate Nottingham; add 16oz syrup at 15min, add additional (boiled) 16 oz to secondary and lightly stir beer. Let settle for 7 days.
16oz (vol) = 1.37lbs (weight) o

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 55.87 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 9.31 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.66 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.66 %
1.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 23.3 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.8 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
8.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.37 lb Maple Syrup (35.0 SRM) Sugar 12.76 % (@ 15min)
1.37 lb Maple Syrup (35.0 SRM) Sugar 12.76 % (to secondary)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale


Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.056 SG
Measured Original Gravity: SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG Measured Final Gravity: SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.56 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: %
Bitterness: 27.1 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 25.6 SRM Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash: 152*F (strike temp 164*F)
8lbs x 1.5qt/lb = 3gal (premash)
3gal - 1 gal absorb = 2gal (post mash)
Sparge: 170*F (strike temp 185*)
4.5gal (kettle vol) - 2gal(post mash) = 2.5gal (pre sparge)

2gal (post mash) + 2.5(post sparge) = 4.5 gal (pre boil)

Add cold tap water to bring post-boil volume to 5gal

Thx for your help everyone!!

 

[Oldsock]

First off I don't understand your desire to add the maple syrup to the boil to up the OG. I mean no matter when you add it the yeast will consume it and produce alcohol, it doesn't matter whether or not it is captured by your hydrometer reading before fermentation.

That said I agree with your friend. Maple is a pretty subtle flavor so I would add it to the primary after the bulk of fermentation is complete (all the CO2 produced during fermentation scrubs out subtle flavors). I don't see a reason to rack the beer to secondary only to get the yeast going again. I think you have the amount about right, but you can always add more if it tastes like it needs it.

Your recipe looks solid. Personally I would just increase the mash temp or add carapils instead of adding the malto-dexrin, but if you don't have room for more grain there is nothing wrong with doing it your way. I would also up the chocolate malt and/or add some black patent (or carafa special II if you want a mellower roast), as it stands you are walking the line between brown porter and brown ale. I would also go with a darker crystal malt which goes better with dark beers in my opinion.

Good luck.