Porter

[Otto Von Blotto]

Hey guys,

I'm about to go and start preparing for and then making up this recipe I've come up with for a porter. I just thought I'd post it in case anyone might have any suggestions to improve it, or just leave it as is?? I've never made a porter before so it's a bit of a stab in the dark[lol]

 

6.00 kg Joe White Traditional Ale Malt

0.35 kg Black (Patent) Malt

0.20 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L

0.10 kg Chocolate Malt

0.10 kg Roasted Barley

40.00 g Fuggles [5.40 %] - Boil 75.0 min

30.00 g Goldings, East Kent [6.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min

20.00 g Fuggles [5.40 %] - Boil 20.0 min

0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins)

20.00 g Goldings, East Kent [6.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min

S-04 yeast (Sorry Anthony) [lol]

 

25-26L batch.

 

 

 

[Canadian Eh!L]

Hey K,

 

It sounds quite bitter to me. What's the IBU's?

[Otto Von Blotto]

According to Beersmith about 50, which is right at the top end of the scale according to the style guides. I suppose I could always reduce the 75 min addition to 25 or 30g. 25g makes it 42.3IBU, 30g makes it 45IBU.

 

I only had those amounts because when I first plugged it in the AA% was less than what my hops state they are on their respective packets and I didn't realise until I checked them this morning. [lol]

 

EDIT: I've just noticed I'm on 666 posts[devil] So this will be my final post in this forum. [lol] [lol] [lol] (kidding)

[Guest]

It looks absolutely YUM Otto man! [cool]

 

I'm looking to do a couple of porter recipes in January sometime with a bit of honey in the mix.

 

I'll look to do something similar, except for the that damn S-04 yeast of course! [pinched] [lol] [tongue]

 

I was looking through one of the Canuck's (Chad) recipes recently, & noticed the IPA of his I plan to brew soon had oak chips in it. I'm betting they (or something similar) would work nicely in a dark beer.

 

I wonder if he's ever tried them in a porter or stout?

 

Hopefully he spots this thread, & maybe we'll find out. [cool]

 

Good luck with the Porter Otto man & definitely let me know how it turned out down the track. [joyful]

 

Anthony.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Cheers mate! Yeah I have decided to change the 75 min addition to 30g, so it will be about 45IBU. Having said that, whenever I do get around to fermenting and bottling it, it'll have a fair amount of time to age and mellow out any excess bitterness that it might end up with.

 

On another note, I tried my English "Pale" Ale out of the FV yesterday when taking a gravity reading. It measured 1020 after 6 days... but going by this early tasting it's gonna be a nice drop. I think I got the balance better on it because despite the use of the crystal, choc and black patent, that annoying sweetness I was getting on the amber ale attempts doesn't appear to be there, it's slight but not overpowering, so I'm pretty happy about that!

[Scottie]

As an extract only brewer please excuse me for butting in [whistling

But if I may [unsure]

 

I have made two Porters and my first impression of your recipe Kelsey is to drop or drastically reduce the Black Malt and up the level of Choc Malt. I have never tasted a commercial Porter but my son has and therefore I rely on his critique.

Much better the JS Jack of Spades although a little dark for a Porter. I did not use black malt just Chock Malt at 300g, Roasted Barley 100g and Medium Crystal at 250g. ABV boosted by 250g of Dark Brown Sugar.

 

I know that my base was quite a bit different but surely the flavours imparted from the specialty grains will be the same [unsure].

 

Anyway good luck with your Porter Kelsey, just be careful

Once you go black you never go back

 

[Canadian Eh!L]

Hey Kelsey,

 

Good choice on lowering the bitterness. Porters should be 25-45 IBUs according to style.

 

 

Hey Anthony,

 

I've not tried the oak chips in either a porter or stout as of yet. It is a good idea though. On the other hand I have used Smoked(peated) Malt with success in porters and stouts. I really gives the beer a warm, homey feel and taste. Give it a go! I dare you![wink]

 

Edit: I just went and grabbed one of the last bottles of my smoked porter. It's been in the bottle for a little over a year. I gotta' say that it really is a nice, comforting brew witha rich lasting head and plenty of body. The bitterness that I remembered from this beer back when it was in the bottle for a short time has mellowed to create a smooth yet smokey experience.

[cool]

[Alex]

Atta boy EH! Must be a delicious experience to be able to thwart temptation for a year! I applaud you good Sir![cool]

[Otto Von Blotto]

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Scottie: Unfortunately it's a bit late for this brew, as it's already in the urn mashing. [lol] However, I'll take your suggestion on board for the next time I make one and compare the two results. This one may end up being somewhere in between a porter and a stout, or a "storter", if you will (cue Tony Greig, "Well for storters you could have the borsted borred from this port of the broadcorst erea"). [lol]

 

I'll also have to try out this Smoked malt Chad refers to. It sounds delish! Anyway it'll probably be a few months before I get to fermenting this as I've got the amber ale due in the FV next, but I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out. [biggrin]

[Otto Von Blotto]

I'm not sure if I have posted about this brew (at least, how it turned out) in other threads or not, but anyway. It has been in the bottles for a few months now and bloody hell it tastes awesome. Nice malty profile, with hints of roastiness and chocolate flavours, well balanced by the hops I think. Not the sort of style that has much hop character, it's more about the malts I think. Rather full bodied since it finished about 1017-1018. Nice creamy tightly packed head on it too. Off white to light brown in colour. The beer itself is almost black and in reality it's probably half way between a porter and a stout, but all in all for a total experiment it has turned out great and I'll definitely be putting it on the list of recipes to brew again. [biggrin]

 

EDIT: It wouldn't be right not to include a picture of the brew [lol]

 

[PhilboBaggins]

Looks delicious! I think the main difference between porters and stouts nowadays is the amount of roast character compared to chocolate flavour. More RB = stout, less to zero RB and loads of chocolate = porter. Happy to be corrected though.[unsure]

 

Kelsey, are you a smoker?

 

EDIT: And what's the concert ticket for?

 

[lol] Just trying to learn things from the photo.

[PhilboBaggins]

By way of comparison, here's the recipe for the porter I am bottling today:

 

Grains:

4.225kg BB Ale Malt (73.3%)

0.634kg Chocolate Malt (11.0%)

0.576kg Wheat Malt (10.0%)

0.288kg Pale Crystal (5.0%)

0.040kg Black Malt (0.7%)

 

OG 1.050

 

Pacific Gem (12.8%AA) to ~27IBU

 

Fermented @ 21C with Wyeast 1275 - Thames Valley Ale

 

1.5L of the actual wort was used for the starter and pitched at high krausen. Man this thing went nuts. Hydrometer samples are very promising indeed.

 

As you can see, I go VERY easy on the black malt. Had a bad experience once. Ended up with a very acrid and bitter beer.

[Otto Von Blotto]

[lol] The concert ticket was from Black Sabbath earlier this year, and yes I am a smoker at the moment. Looking to quit soonish though.

 

I did notice you have hardly any black malt in your recipe. Fair enough reason I guess though. I haven't noticed anything like that in this brew though, it's all very smooth and balanced and just bloody nice! I didn't have a starter for it because at the time I had no real means to make one, although I do them for every brew now, even using dry yeast, just gives me a bit of practice at it I guess.

 

I also successfully harvested yeast from my Hellesraiser V2, put it in a starter and pitched into V3 and it has done the job, in fact I'm about to go and take a hydrometer reading to see if it's finished yet. [cool]

 

 

[PhilboBaggins]

I haven't noticed anything like that in this brew though' date=' it's all very smooth and balanced and just bloody nice![/quote']

 

Sounds like you're better at leaving yours alone for longer than I am.

 

 

And your beers too. [innocent]

 

[DaveH21]

looks nice Otto - wish I could have a pint[sad]

[Otto Von Blotto]

[lol] Phil. Yeah I tend to drink them batch by batch although sometimes I change it up a bit when I feel like something different, but for the most part they all get aged for months before I drink them. I'll be cleaned out in October though when I move all these lagers to my mate's place for their wedding reception, but by that time I'll be doing some ales again so should get the stocks up pretty quick again.[biggrin]

 

Dave yeah, I think it's fair to say that it tastes as good as it looks! You could probably convert the recipe to extract if you wanted to have a go at it though.

[DaveH21]

My next ale is Muddy's Downtown Brown - this time carefully made to 21L[roll]

[Otto Von Blotto]

My next ale is Muddy's Downtown Brown - this time carefully made to 21L[roll]

 

[lol] Let us know how that turns out made to the proper volume [tongue]

 

But yeah, if you did decide to have a crack at this one you could probably just sub the ale base malt for a couple of tins of LME or 3kg DME. If doing a smaller boil you may have to up the hops to get the same IBU's.

[Scottie]

Dave yeah, I think it's fair to say that it tastes as good as it looks! You could probably convert the recipe to extract if you wanted to have a go at it though.

 

Hey Kelsey

These black brews do look the goods and I reckon they taste the goods too, however I always space them out, and I am about to run out of my Fav EB Porter . I am looking at doing the same recipe but using the EB can with a partial mash.

 

If I were Dave, I would look up SteveL's thread and have a crack at that one as an introduction.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Yeah I'm the same with regards to spacing them out. I haven't brewed a dark beer since this one and this one was the first one I'd done since the toucan stout about a year previous which I've hardly touched (how I managed that I have no idea but anyway). I'll probably brew another one when summer hits again and have it ready for next winter. [happy]

 

I never did get around to trying that EB Porter recipe, if I'm ever short on time for a brew it will be one I will give a go though.

[AdamH1525226084]

mmmm porter

[PhilboBaggins]

Hey, Adam! Where have you been mate?

[Beerlust]

Hi guys.

 

I remember the chats with Otto, AdamH, & Chad about constructing a Porter back then. (That would be me Post#4 in this thread [innocent] )

 

I'm glad the Porter turned out so well for you Kelsey. So I'll re-state what I said in my earlier post,...

"It looks Yum! [love]"

 

If I were Dave' date=' I would look up SteveL's thread and have a crack at that one as an introduction.[/quote']

I never did get around to trying that EB Porter recipe' date=' if I'm ever short on time for a brew it will be one I will give a go though.[/quote']

...I did get around to making a version from info in our discussions, along with ideas from SteveL's thread using the EB kit as a base. [biggrin]

 

Anyone for a Porter Peroni? [lol]

 

 

I added in some chocolate malt, dark wheat malt, carapils, some more fuggles, a bit of cascade, some dark dry malt extract, a couple of vanilla pods, & because I still had some oak chips left from Chad's "Big Island IPA" (or Shipwreck IPA as I called it), in they went as well!

 

I bottled this back in early February & it turned out awesome! [biggrin] I took a few longnecks up to a party I went to in the Adelaide Hills recently. I received some very praising comments from those that sampled it. [joyful]

 

P.S. Nice to see you still posting AdamH! I was wondering where you have been since my return also. [happy]

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

[SteveL]

Hi Anthony,

Your porter sounds awesome, do you have a record of the amounts you used for all your additions? I wouldn't mind changing my usual porter up a bit just for the sake of it...

cheers

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

I'm glad the Porter turned out so well for you Kelsey. So I'll re-state what I said in my earlier post,...

"It looks Yum! [love]"

 

Cheers mate! There's probably too much black malt in there for style but I really couldn't give a rats [lol]. The proof is in the "pudding" so to speak. It's one of my favourite brews so will definitely be doing it again. [biggrin] Everyone who's tasted it so far thinks it's nice too.