Smoked Porter

[bwarbiany]

Modified from this recipe, which has been very well-received online.

Let me know what you think. I've never really done a smoked porter, or any smoked beer, in the past.


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 12.17 gal
Post Boil Volume: 10.92 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 10.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 10.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG
Estimated Color: 23.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 77.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 77.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 1 58.8 %
3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 17.6 %
2 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 11.8 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.9 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 5 5.9 %
1.00 oz Magnum [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 20.0 IBUs
2.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 7 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 17 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 30.50 qt of water at 165.6 F 157.0 F 60 min

[lexuschris]

I've never made a smoked beer either. From what I've read, the type of smoked malt is very important. The 'rauchmalt', beechwood smoked style, can be used for very large portions of the grist (e.g. Weyerman Smoked Malt). The other smoked malts are very strong, and should be smaller componants to the grist.

Looking at Biermuncher's recipe on that link, I'm curious as to why you made some of your changes. Swapping out Munich with 2-row, and much less of it? Also, lighter use of Crystal & Chocolate malt?

Also, BM's recipe seems very heavy on CaraPils considering he is mashing so high (157-F). I guess its just personal preference.

Anyways, looking forward to trying it!

--LexusChris

[bwarbiany]

I've never made a smoked beer either. From what I've read, the type of smoked malt is very important. The 'rauchmalt', beechwood smoked style, can be used for very large portions of the grist (e.g. Weyerman Smoked Malt). The other smoked malts are very strong, and should be smaller componants to the grist.

Looking at Biermuncher's recipe on that link, I'm curious as to why you made some of your changes. Swapping out Munich with 2-row, and much less of it? Also, lighter use of Crystal & Chocolate malt?

Also, BM's recipe seems very heavy on CaraPils considering he is mashing so high (157-F). I guess its just personal preference.

Anyways, looking forward to trying it!

--LexusChris

Yes, any peat-smoked malt is MUCH stronger. I'll make sure when I buy it that I don't get the peat. I'm actually thinking of dropping the smoke down closer to 50%, rather than as much as I've got now. Since it's only a 1.045 beer, I don't want it to destroy the balance.

I actually realized after I posted that saying it was "based" on that recipe is a bit of a stretch considering all my changes. I used 2-row as I've got it on hand, and didn't think a small amount of Munich would really make that big of a difference given the smoke & chocolate. I wanted to cross the 50% threshold on the smoke, and also wanted to drop gravity a little bit (I wanted 1.045 rather than 1.050). So I could only cut out a little bit of ingredients elsewhere to hit my targets -- it was the base malt that had to drop. For the chocolate, I was assuming 450L for the color while his was based on 250L, which is why I've got less. I might choose to replace the C40 with C120, though, since I dropped the actual poundage.

[lexuschris]

Cool! How soon can we sample?
---LexusChris

[bwarbiany]

Cool! How soon can we sample?
---LexusChris

About 2.5 weeks, I'm guessing...

I made some changes. I should be able to get plenty of body with mashing at 157, so I reduced the carapils. I replaced the C40 with C120 which should boost color and flavor, and offset the smoke a bit... And I dropped the smoked malt back to 50%.

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.50 lb Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 1 50.0 %
5.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 32.4 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.9 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.9 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 5 5.9 %
1.00 oz Magnum [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 20.0 IBUs
2.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 7 -

[BrewMasterBrad]

What smoked malt are you using? Just curious since your recipe has it listed as 9SRM and all the smoked malts I have seen are in the 1.7 to 3.0SRM range. I am not sure what the diastatic power of smoked malt is, but you may want to do a longer mash to make sure you get full conversion since your base malt is only 32% of your grain bill.

[backyard brewer]

JR made a great smoked porter some time back. He wet smoked the grain himself over applewood and the resulting beer was really good. If I remember righgt, he soaked the grain for about an hour, then dried it over the smoke for several hours. The result was a very pleasant smoke flavor and aroma with no acrid bite at all.

[bwarbiany]

Brad -- Thanks, I might add that longer mash. I'll end up using whatever smoked malt O'Shea carries (as long as it's wood-smoked, not peat-smoked).

Derrin -- I guess I need to build a smoker, then! Don't think I can make that project a reality by tomorrow, though...

All -- I can brew 15 gallons but only ferment 10. If anyone is interested in coming by tomorrow evening for a brew session and walking away with 5 gallons, let me know. Just show up with an empty fermenter and a bit of cash for the extra stuff... I'll probably brew until late in the evening (~5:30 PM start, >10 PM end). Note -- if you're interested in taking me up on this, let me know by 1:00 PM tomorrow so I can be sure to pick up enough ingredients.

[bwarbiany]

Just got my first taste of this. I didn't use Weyermann smoked malt, but rather the Briess, which is cherrywood smoked rather than beech or peat. Jeff @ O'Shea had me take a smell of both, and the Briess is definitely stronger than the Weyermann.

As for the end result, the smoke character is a bit strong at this point -- potentially on the edge of too strong. When I kegged it, I was worried based on the odor that it was ridiculously strong, but that seems to have [oddly] dissipated in the process of carbonating the beer. But the flavor gives no doubt as to the fact that it's a smoked porter. Of course, it's only been ~18 days since brew day, and I didn't use gelatin in this, so it's definitely a young beer as well.

Overall, this is going to be an interesting beer to watch as it changes over time.