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Porter recipe?


SteveL

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Actually, one more thing;

 

Why light dry malt extract for a dark beer? Does darker DMEs make the beer too sweet or some other taste you don't want in a porter?

 

Could you replace the dry malt extract with for instance a tin of dark liquid malt extract? Would that result in a fuller body perhaps?

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You can easily get all the colour you need from the grains, and perhaps light DME is often the easiest malt to get your hands on? I think sometimes the darker liquid malts are a bit sweeter (please correct me on this if I'm wrong) but I doubt that has anything to do with it.

 

See, when you really get into designing a recipe you'll have a target colour, and believe it or not you could make a porter that's too dark.

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Thanks! I'm pretty lucky in that I live quite close to one of Norway's biggest suppliers of all kinds of equipment and ingredients to home brewers, so I can get pretty much whatever I want whenever I want it. [smile]

 

I'll stick to SteveL's recipe now, then I can experiment more when I have some experience to build on! N\xf8gne \xd8 (one of my favorite Norwegian micro breweries) did a limited edition rye porter last year, that was absolutely fantastic and something I would like to try to replicate some time in the future.

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I'd guess they recommend light malt because you get all the darker colors and the flavours from the specialty grains. The dark malts already contain these, so it would be a bit of an overload. It's like when you make a dark beer from scratch, most of the grain bill is pale ale base malt and then the color and other flavours adjusted with specialty grains. [cool]

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Think of the light malt as a blank canvas.

 

You become an artist adding your own specialty grains which lets you control the end result and gives a nice freshness to the brew and results in a masterpiece [love]

 

Gee I sounded like a wanker then [biggrin]

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Think of the light malt as a blank canvas.

 

You become an artist adding your own specialty grains which lets you control the end result and gives a nice freshness to the brew and results in a masterpiece [love]

 

Gee I sounded like a wanker then [biggrin]

[lol] Well, that explanation certainly appeals to my artistic side, so we'll go with it. Now I can't wait to brew and taste the beer! Any thoughts on how many weeks on bottle before the taste is "right"?

 

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Aaaaand some more questions... [tongue]

 

I've seen many say you have to boil the DME (to at least sanitize it), while others just add it to the fermenter and stir.

 

Boiling sounds like the safest option, so would something like this be a good way to do the brew:

 

 

* Steep the grains in a grain bag for 15-30 minutes in a big pot.

* Lift the grain bag and let any remaining liquid pour off the grain bag.

* Add more water, pouring it over the grain bag to bring out any remaining "goodness"?

* Add DME and boil for 15 minutes.

* Cool pot/wort to fermenting temperature and mix with the rest of the ingredients in fermenter - top up to 23L (I'll increase the amounts in the recipe to adjust for the added volume).

* Stir and then add yeast.

 

How much water would you use for the steep in SteveL's recipe and how much for the boil (if any more than for the steep)?

 

Sorry for turning this thread into a "how to brew for beginners"-thread... [lol]

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If you aren't adding hops to the boil then that process is fine. (Note: If boiling hops then you want a gravity around 1040).

 

For 600g of grains, I would steep it in 1.5 to 2 litres of water. Then depending on how much DME you are adding you can top up the water of the boil.

 

If I am using Coopers DME straight out of the packet then I don't boil it and add it directly to the FV.

 

If you are boiling hops then you may add some DME at the start to achieve your desired gravity but then just add the rest with 5 minutes to go or even at flame out. It should be fine.

 

But if you do have any concerns about the malt then best to boil it for 15 minutes. I always store my DME in air tight containers and have never had a problem with it.

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Actually, one more thing;

 

Why light dry malt extract for a dark beer? Does darker DMEs make the beer too sweet or some other taste you don't want in a porter?

 

Could you replace the dry malt extract with for instance a tin of dark liquid malt extract? Would that result in a fuller body perhaps?

 

I've used the dark malt cans a few times and every time the result has been yuk [annoyed]

So now i just use dark grains

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a quick update: Brewed last thursday, and it was a new experience for me doing a grain-steep, but it went quite smooth, besides a pretty messy kitchen! [lol] And what a lovely smell! For the next few days, my apartment had the most wonderful chocolate/coffee-smell. Did some small adjustments to the recipe as well - added some crystal rye, and used dark Brewferm candi sirup instead of brown sugar.

 

Did a gravity reading yesterday, and had to taste the brew of course. Oh my....! [w00t] What a fantastic taste it has already! I wanted to refill the hydrometer tube and drink more! [lol] If it gets even better when bottled and carbonated, this is going to be one killer beer!

 

So thanks again everyone for your help!

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Great stuff HenningG!

 

I always enjoy reading posts from brewers that have created a beer they are proud of. [joyful]

 

Do the brew justice, & put some away to age.

Trust me, you'll thank me for that comment in 6 months time. [biggrin]

 

Anthony.

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Do the brew justice, & put some away to age.

Trust me, you'll thank me for that comment in 6 months time. [biggrin]

 

Oh, I will! I can definitely see this being a beer that develops with age. I actually want to do another batch as soon as I've bottled the one currently in the fermenter. [biggrin] I'm considering switching to all grain/brew-in-a-bag soon, but I'm thinking of getting another fermenter as well, so I can have two brews fermenting at once, and do "easy" brews like this one, so I always have a supply of good beer, regardless of any failed experiments later on. [cool]

 

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BIAB rocks. I made the switch nearly a year ago and haven't looked back. It takes up more time but it's a lot of fun, and the satisfaction at the end of enjoying something you created yourself from scratch is pretty awesome too! It's convenient if you no-chill in cubes as well because you can brew when you have time to and store it until you're ready to ferment, rather than having to brew on the same day as you plan to start fermenting a new brew. Of course, no-chilling can be done with either BIAB or 3V system brews. [lol]

 

As a side note, I don't really know why they even call it no chilling. Slow chilling would be a better term. Pitch yeast into a 95C wort and kill it, or let the cube naturally cool down to a proper pitching temp. [pinched] [lol]

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just thought I'd pop by and say that the brew seems to be a success! Besides a hint of a metallic after taste that already seems to be mellowing out with age ("age" being only two weeks on bottle!), this is one damn good porter in my humble opinion. I'm already planning on brewing it again next week - just have to bottle the IPA that is currently fermenting (another special malt steep, thanks to the inspiration from this thread!). [cool]

 

ales_svarte_faen.jpg

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G'day HenningG.

 

I'm really glad you're happy with the end result of the brew you put down from ideas in this thread.

 

I pay homage to SteveL's initial post in the Porter related thread as being the instigator for the spawns of quality Porter based recipes that have followed. [cool]

 

Tuck a few away to age if you have the will power! [wink]

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

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Tuck a few away to age if you have the will power! [wink]

It's tough... [lol] No, my plan is to store at least 5-6 bottles, and do the same for the next batch as well. Then I'll let them sit for at least 6 months and compare them to a fresh batch sometime next year.

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