A Kit based Porter (or similar)

[robwalk]

I'm wanting to make a dark porter style ale.  I made the Bilby Chocolate ROTM a while back and loved it.  Looking for something similar  BUT wanting to use what I have in stock.  I would love some suggestions.  Here's what I've got:

Dark Ale kit
Family Secret Amber Ale kit
Bootmaker Pale Ale kit

Dark Malt extract can
Amber Malt extract can

300gm Chocolate malt grain

Plenty of LDME, Dextrose, Maltodextrin brown sugar and golden syrup

Saf US-O5: US-04 and W-34/70 yeast
plus plenty of still viable kit yeast as above and Real Ale and Pale Ale

Hops include: Cascade, Citra, Centenial, Galaxy, Mosaic, Nelson Sauv.

You can probably guess that some of these items are getting a bit long in the tooth; still well within 'date'.  But I'd like to use some rather than but new stuff.

Many thanks in advance. 

I'll post updates on progress of the recipe I follow.

 

[Aussiekraut]

17 hours ago, robwalk said:

I'm wanting to make a dark porter style ale.  I made the Bilby Chocolate ROTM a while back and loved it.  Looking for something similar  BUT wanting to use what I have in stock.  I would love some suggestions.  Here's what I've got:

Dark Ale kit
Family Secret Amber Ale kit
Bootmaker Pale Ale kit

Dark Malt extract can
Amber Malt extract can

300gm Chocolate malt grain

Plenty of LDME, Dextrose, Maltodextrin brown sugar and golden syrup

Saf US-O5: US-04 and W-34/70 yeast
plus plenty of still viable kit yeast as above and Real Ale and Pale Ale

Hops include: Cascade, Citra, Centenial, Galaxy, Mosaic, Nelson Sauv.

You can probably guess that some of these items are getting a bit long in the tooth; still well within 'date'.  But I'd like to use some rather than but new stuff.

Many thanks in advance. 

I'll post updates on progress of the recipe I follow.

 

You could try:

Dark Ale kit
Amber extract can
300g chocolate malt
25g Cascade
S-04 yeast

Boil up 2l of water, remove from heat and steep the (cracked) grains. Strain the grains out, boil up the liquid and add the hops for 10 minutes, then cool it off and add to the FV with the other ingredients. Top up to 23l, pitch ye yeast at around 21C and then off to the fridge with it at 18C.

Just an idea.

[robwalk]

50 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

You could try:

Dark Ale kit
Amber extract can
300g chocolate malt
25g Cascade
S-04 yeast

Boil up 2l of water, remove from heat and steep the (cracked) grains

Thanks AussieKraut. 

Sounds a nice balance and quite a lot of dark richness there.  How long would you steep the grain and would you let the temperature drop just a bit before steeping?

What do you think about adding some cocoa powder?

Cheers

Rob

[Aussiekraut]

36 minutes ago, robwalk said:

Thanks AussieKraut. 

Sounds a nice balance and quite a lot of dark richness there.  How long would you steep the grain and would you let the temperature drop just a bit before steeping?

What do you think about adding some cocoa powder?

Cheers

Rob

Boil the water, take it off the heat and then steep for about 30 minutes.

I never used cocoa powder or chocolate nibs, so I can't say how successful it'll be. Should work though.

[robwalk]

3 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

Boil the water, take it off the heat and then steep for about 30 minutes.

I never used cocoa powder or chocolate nibs, so I can't say how successful it'll be. Should work though.

Thanks again.  I'll think on the use of cocoa powder - do a bit of reading and see what I think.  Your recipe sounds pretty flavoursome as is.

 

[robwalk]

On 6/17/2020 at 3:34 PM, robwalk said:

You could try:

Dark Ale kit
Amber extract can
300g chocolate malt
25g Cascade
S-04 yeast

Boil up 2l of water, remove from heat and steep the (cracked) grains

Here's an update.

Put the brew on this afternoon and it looks very interesting.  Decided to hold on the cocoa until I went to get the cans and found that it was light malt extract not amber.  So to enrich the brew a little I went with 3 generous tablespoons of Dutch cocoa powder in the boil.  I also used flowers not pellets so upped the weight to 30 grams ( I grew the hops this season.)  

Because I didn't have enough water ready, I made the wort up and I'm waiting for it to cool to 21 degrees before pitching.  Smells pretty nice and I'll taste it when I take SG just before pitching.

Cheers

 

[robwalk]

On 6/17/2020 at 3:34 PM, robwalk said:

You could try:

Dark Ale kit
Amber extract can
300g chocolate malt
25g Cascade
S-04 yeast

Boil up 2l of water, remove from heat and steep the (cracked) grains

Here's an update.

First taste today - just a tad early and will develop a little more carbonation, but I did go for 2.0 V-CO2 ( quite soft)  It is delicious.  The cocoa is not obvious, but it is malty, complex, hints of Cascade break through the toasted malt, coffee, chocolate flavours.  Very drinkable.  Amber malt would have made it richer but I'm very pleased with this.  Thanks for the guidance, Aussie.

Cheers

 

[robwalk]

And after more than a year...

This has aged gracefully- mellowing, integrating, developing deep and subtle flavours. I am so grateful support by the community and Aussiekraut's recipe.

This time, I will use the amber malt as suggested instead of the light  And I might try some more cocoa.  Who knows, I might add some oats or Oat malt to enhance mouth feel.

[Aussiekraut]

2 hours ago, robwalk said:

And after more than a year...

This has aged gracefully- mellowing, integrating, developing deep and subtle flavours. I am so grateful support by the community and Aussiekraut's recipe.

This time, I will use the amber malt as suggested instead of the light  And I might try some more cocoa.  Who knows, I might add some oats or Oat malt to enhance mouth feel.

You can just get some rolled oats from Woolies and add maybe 250g to your grain steep, that should do the trick.

Ideally you'd mash them but let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet   

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Aussiekraut

[robwalk]

Thanks for the tip re oats.  And , yes steep for me at the moment.