Recipe Critique: Some Sort of Porter

[AlexKay]

I've got an empty fermenter, a clear morning, a lot of ingredients on hand, and a garage at ~60 F. This is what I come up with for a 1.25-gallon batch:

1.2 lbs. English pale
1.2 lbs. Munich
0.3 lbs. chocolate rye
0.3 lbs. crystal rye
0.5 lbs. flaked oats

1.5 g Phoenix (11.8%) @ 60
8 g Phoenix (11.8%) @ 5

Lallemand Nottingham

I'd like to get a little more yeast character, but 60 F is a little limiting. I've never done London or Verdant that cool. I do have K-97 and even Lallemand Koln handy, but I'm not sure that's the right yeast character.

With the right yeast and leaving out the Munich, this starts to look very English, but I'm going for tasty more than authentic.

Comments on grist, hops, and yeast all welcome!

 

[KeizerBrewr]

If you could move it into a warmer closet in the house London or Notty would make that more porter-esque.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Comments on grist, hops, and yeast all welcome!

What are you estimating for OG/FG/IBUs?

What were you planning for the mash? A quick look at the ingredients suggests that diastatic power is in the 50-60 range - so a longer mash may be necessary for full conversion.

 

[AlexKay]

This should be around 1.050 OG, 1.012 SG, and ~25 IBUs. Mash target is 148 F (the oats will give plenty of mouthfeel) -- I could do 90 minutes given the DP. I've had similar grists (English pale/Munich) convert pretty well in the past.

Unfortunately I have no available closets or other warm spots. My bargain with the wife is that I can make as many batches as I want as long as the beer stays in the garage. I'm really tempted to get one of those Bucket Buddy heated fermenters, but it would only get used for rare batches where I've filled up my (chest freezer) fermentation chambers and still want to (and have time to) brew something else.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Wrap it in a blanket, let it keep itself warm.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

Get a heating pad and an Inkbird if you've got the green light from the Wife to go nuts out in the garage

 

[tracer bullet]

0.3 lbs. chocolate rye
0.3 lbs. crystal rye

Would be interested to know how these turn out. I like rye whiskey, but any "rye beer" (per the bottle label) I've had, I hated.

 

[AlexKay]

Would be interested to know how these turn out. I like rye whiskey, but any "rye beer" (per the bottle label) I've had, I hated.

I like rye in beer -- malt or flaked -- but chocolate and crystal rye are their own, magical things. If you haven't tried chocolate rye in a dark beer (or even a not-so dark one; my Irish red has Maris, chocolate rye, and DRC) you're missing out!