English Porter Smoked Porter

[Gnomebrewer]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

WY1318

Batch Size (Gallons)

5

Original Gravity

1.052

Final Gravity

1.016

Boiling Time (Minutes)

60

IBU

26

Color

27 SRM

Tasting Notes

Smoke. Chocolate. Light roastiness. Fruity esters.

I've never been a big fan of dark beers - I like the taste, but never want to drink more than one or two. Then a friend requested I brew a Porter for his birthday bash. I decided to go with a smoked version, having never used smoked malt before. Well, it was one of the tastiest beers I've ever made. I drank more of it while it was on tap than anything else. It has a complex flavour that blends smoke (noticeable and upfront, but not dominant), chocolate, roast, biscuit, toastiness, nuttiness, fruity esters and bit of earthiness from the hops in a surprisingly very easy drinking beer. Despite the quite high finishing gravity, it isn't sweet at all. If you brew it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Ingredients (for 5 gallon 75% efficiency):
Grains
6lbs (2.7Kg) Pale Ale Malt
1.5lbs (660g) Smoked Malt (Beech smoked and Cherry smoked are both great. I prefer Bestmalz smoked malt). Increase this if you want a really dominant smokiness.
3/4lb (340g) Chocolate Malt
3/4lb (340g) Crystal 60L
3/4lb (340g) Brown Malt

Hops
Target: 60 minute addition. Enough to get the beer to 26IBU total (for the target + EKG). Typically only about 1/4 to 1/3oz (7 to 10 grams) but depends on the AA content of the EKG.
East Kent Goldings (EKG): 1.5oz (42g) @ 30 minutes.

Water and Mash:
Aim for about 100ppm bicarbonate in the mash.
For RO water, use about 2g of baking soda in the mash only (not sparge).
Aim for about 80ppm Calcium in the mash and sparge from Calcium chloride. About 8 to 10g in total added to RO water.
Mash at 67C/153F

Yeast and fermentation:
WY1318 (London Ale 3). Pitch below 18C/64F then ferment at 18C/64F until about 50% attenuation (about 3 days), raise to 21C/70F over two days (if you can). Hold that temperature until fermentation is complete (typically about 6 days from pitching yeast). Bottle/Keg ASAP after reaching FG, or (even better) transfer to keg just before FG and complete fermentation in the ferment keg (spund).

 

[nick113]

Hi,
I’m interested in your recipe. I have never made anything smoked before but I like bacon...
As I can't find target hop, could I use magnum instead?
I am going to keep the primary Fermentation about 10-14 days and then bottling. How do you find this plan?
Thanks

 

[kevin58]

Interesting.

 

[BrewMan13]

For another take on it, here's mine. I love smoked beers, and this came out well last year. Modified my base porter recipe (which is rock solid) to accommodate the smoke. Still not over-powering to someone used to the style, IMO.

4 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM)
3 lbs Cherry Wood Smoked Malt (Briess) (5.0 SRM)
2 lbs Munich Malt, Germany (Avangard) (9.5 SRM)
12.00 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
8.00 oz BlackSwaen©Black (572.0 SRM)
8.00 oz Pale Chocolate (Crisp) (220.0 SRM)
1.50 oz Willamette [6.2%] - Boil 60 min
0.50 oz Willamette [6.2%] - Boil 20 min
1.0 pkgs London Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1028)

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Hi,
I’m interested in your recipe. I have never made anything smoked before but I like bacon...
As I can't find target hop, could I use magnum instead?
I am going to keep the primary Fermentation about 10-14 days and then bottling. How do you find this plan?
Thanks

Are you using Magnum in place of Target, EKG or both? It won't make a big difference in place of the target hops. If you can't get EKG either, just use Magnum at 60 minutes to 26IBU and don't include a 30 minute addition. It'll be different (EKG gives a classic English flavour and aroma), but should still be good.

If you can control ferment temperatures, it should be finished and ready to bottle in 10 days.

 

[nick113]

First of all thank you all for your time.
I am going to use magnum and EKG. I will make the recipe in a couple of months. I will inform about the results. Thanks again.

 

[catalanotte]

I have made a few batches of smoked porters and ryes, and found that Weyermann Oak Smoked Wheat Malt adds a really nice balanced smoke flavor. I kept it under 10% of the grist and it added nice aroma and a bit of smokiness without being overpowering. Prior batch was 20% smoked malt and quite a few friends thought it was too much, as it has a very distinct smokiness that overpower the other ingredients.

 

[kartracer2]

I have made a few batches of smoked porters and ryes, and found that Weyermann Oak Smoked Wheat Malt adds a really nice balanced smoke flavor. I kept it under 10% of the grist and it added nice aroma and a bit of smokiness without being overpowering.

Hello, any knowledge if an extract brewer could steep that malt and get the smokyness from it? Thinking a pound or so,,,,30 min +/-,,,150*,,,?
Thanks,
Joel B.

 

[catalanotte]

Hello, any knowledge if an extract brewer could steep that malt and get the smokyness from it? Thinking a pound or so,,,,30 min +/-,,,150*,,,?
Thanks,
Joel B.

Sounds like a good approach for a partial mash/steep. I’ll bet it would work to give you the same effect. You could also use liquid smoke at bottling time to fine tune the smokiness. Let us know how it comes out.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Hello, any knowledge if an extract brewer could steep that malt and get the smokyness from it? Thinking a pound or so,,,,30 min +/-,,,150*,,,?
Thanks,
Joel B.

Most smoked malts have diastatic power (i.e. have enzymes that convert starches to sugars) but some don't. You don't 'steep' diastatic grains, you 'mash' them, to get conversion (which is basically the same process, but mashing needs to be at the right temperature and for long enough for the enzymes to do their job). If you want to use smoked malt, I'd assume Weyermann smoked malt is diastatic seeing as it is listed for usage 'up to 100%', so it should be mashed. I'd suggest 156 for 45 minutes.

 

[kartracer2]

so it should be mashed. I'd suggest 156 for 45 minutes.

Thanks, I'm not up on mashing as maybe I should be, I'm just an extract brewer. Most of the brews I do include steeping some grains though. The way I understand it, steeping grains just brings out color and flavor and not much if any fermentable sugars. So if I don't "need" the sugars, as the extract provides those, do I still need to "mash" to get just the flavor/color out of those types of grains? My thinking is no but I am here to learn
Thanks,
Joel B.

 

[catalanotte]

Thanks, I'm not up on mashing as maybe I should be, I'm just an extract brewer. Most of the brews I do include steeping some grains though. The way I understand it, steeping grains just brings out color and flavor and not much if any fermentable sugars. So if I don't "need" the sugars, as the extract provides those, do I still need to "mash" to get just the flavor/color out of those types of grains? My thinking is no but I am here to learn
Thanks,
Joel B.

You are correct, as long as you add enough DME/LME to get to the OG you want you can step anything you want for color, flavor, or body, up to a reasonable amount.

 

[kartracer2]

up to a reasonable amount.

Thanks, I laughed the first time I read that. I do get your drift, I guess I had other things on the brain and no I won't say what.
Thanks all for the info and I am sorry for the little thread hy-jack.
Joel B.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

So if I don't "need" the sugars, as the extract provides those, do I still need to "mash" to get just the flavor/color out of those types of grains? My thinking is no but I am here to learn
Thanks,
Joel B.

Preferably, yes. Steeping base grains will put a lot of starch into the finished beer, which isn't good. Don't be intimidated by mashing vs steeping - the only thing you need to do is make sure your 'steep' is in the the 140 to 160F range for an hour or so, and it becomes a 'mash'!