CS9 - Smoked Robust Porter

[Luke Davey]

First swap for me boys and girls.

This is a smoked robust porter. I had seen the smoked malt available but had not tried it (or any smoked beer for that matter), so the goal became find a recipe that uses smoked malt. I've heard good things about the smoked porters, so decided on a recipe from Brewnosers: http://www.brewnosers.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3206&p=40848

Recipe Specifications

Method: BIAB

Bottling Volume: 19.5L

OG: 1.065 (measured)

FG: 1.02 (measured)

ABV: 5.78% (measured)

Estimated Color: 35.2 SRM

Estimated IBU: 36.3 IBUs

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain Bill:
3.4kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 54.0 % 
1.2kg Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 19.0 % 
0.4kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.3 % 
0.4kg Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.3 % 
0.4kg Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 5 6.3 % 
0.3kg Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6 4.8 % 
0.2kg Black Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 7 3.2 % 

Hop Bill:
42g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 8 21.4 IBUs 
21g Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 9 9.1 IBUs 
21g Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 10 5.8 IBUs 
12g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Aroma Steep Hop 11 0.0 IBUs 
12g Willamette [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs 

Finings: Irish Moss at 50mins.
Mash temp: 73degC (start), mashout at 75degC
Yeast: Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)

Yeast pitched at 21degC, and fermented in primary at 21degC for 6 days, racked to secondary for 6 days then bottled. Primed and bottled on 17th April.

Disclaimer (in keeping with Dan's): this is my first porter. Nuf said.

[mattd2]

Ok so keeping with firsts this is the first beer I have ever really critiqued and so I am somewhat stumbling my way through it! Thank you Luke for being the guinea pig. There was an actual reason I chose your beer first, I somehow ended up with two of your smoked porters so I thought it would be the best place to start as I can re-taste it closer to the end of the pack to see if I pick up anything else (if anyone is missing one I can send my spare out). So here it goes...

Appearance: Good head that drops back slowly, with slight lacing. Black, but very clear (the last mouthful in the bottom of the glass was at least)

Aroma: A slight smokiness, I think I’m getting a hint of whiskey or dried fruit (really trying to define what it is – sorry)

Flavour: Burnt (in a good way), slight smokiness. Nicely balanced with the hop / dark malt bitterness. No hop flavour

Mouthfeel: Good level of carbonation for a porter, medium bodied.

Overall: Great first beer of the case. Good balance of aroma/flavours with a subtle smokiness. Very nice and I am glad I got two. My only comment would be that unless I was told this was a smoked beer I could have possibly missed it – but that could be my untrained palate talking!

Cheers!

[Tilt]

Mate -  you're well ahead of the pack on the tastings.  I've been holding off as my tasting senses are out of whack with a bug at the mo - but keen to get started.  Nice review too - no-one'd tell its your first crack at it.  That's a buggar that I've stuffed up the sorting.  If you've got two of Luke's then you've probably missed out on one, sorry.  Do you know which one it is?  I'll recheck the cases that haven't gone out yet to fix any other mistakes.

[mattd2]

Yeah I couldn't hold back!

I had a quick check through them last night and going by the recipes and main CS9 thread I think I missed out on Dan's Belgian Stout (assuming the glass swapper with "Pil" is Max's contribution?). If you find out someone is missing this one let me know who and I can post direct to them. Wouldn't want to see anyone miss this one Luke!

[Tilt]

Thanks Matt - I'll check to see if your Belgian Stout is with someone else and get back to you.

[Tilt]

Somehow the two belgians were in my case - must have been unconscious thoughts about wanting to horde stouts as we hit winter!  If you're desparate to try it I'll save it here for you and we could swap sometime you're back in Auckland.  Otherwise we could just take our double ups as an added bonus and enjoy the same beers twice.

[Luke Davey]

Thanks for the feedback Matt. I had similar thoughts regarding the smokiness, especially after I had tried several of Dan's smoked beers, which were at the other end of the scale. I quite liked this one, but next time I might play with more smoked malt.
Cheers.

[mattd2]

No problems Luke, just to be clear I did really enjoy this beer. The smokiness was probably perfect for my tastes as I like subtleness of unique aromas/flavours (well except for in PA, IPA, IIPA, etc. where a good smack in the mouth is great). Cheers again!

[Max Giles]

Appearance: Lovely deep black transparent colour. Head was small but retained well.

Aroma: Definite whiskey aroma with a balanced burnt aroma. The whiskey and burnt aroma smelled amazing together. My friend sniffed it for a good couple of minutes before even tasting it.

Flavour: Definite burnt flavour which wasn’t too overpowering. Apparent bitterness that didn't linger. Very clean flavour. Not overly complex.

Mouthfeel: Good carbonation. Quite light in body for a porter but enjoyable.

Overall: Didn’t notice the smoked flavour. Have never tried a smoked beer before though so I didn’t really know what to expect.
For a porter it was quite light but that was something I really enjoyed about it. Could definitely have drunk a few of these.

[Luke Davey]

Tilt, I received a bottle of my own back. Did someone drop out ?

[Dan]

No mate - the extra bottle was the spare I got you to chuck in - just in case someone else added to the swap.

There is one more coming your way - the courier didn't bring it yesterday.

[Tom C]

Appearance Deep black with a hint of brown,Fine tan head

 

Aroma Dark roast malt with crystal notes, Coffee essence & vanilla, Hint of smoke

 

Flavour Fairly light coffee, chocolate & vanilla notes with background smokeyness which lingers nicely

 

Mouthfeel Over-carbonated, Dry finish, Mildly astringent (from the smoked?)

 

Overall For those who read the notes before tasting - this beer is definitely better when warmed up and agitated to blow off some of the excessive carbonation.  Got lots of flavours going on but in fairly small quantities.  I would ditch the black in favour of roast barley or one of the Carafas, and bump up the chocolate and dark crystal to beef the whole profile up.  Already a reasonable beer but certainly a good starting point for developing a great recipe.

[Adam Barnes]

Appearance - Good head, dissipated quickly, light tan, pours well.

Aroma - Slight smoked notes, but not overpowering. It balances well with the chocolate and some subtle roast.

Flavour - I get a nice, not overpowering smoke flavour, but quickly get something tart/tangy. It's a much bigger hit than was expected based on the subtle aromas.

Mouthfeel - Sharp and quite a light body.

Overall - A nice beer. Smokey initial hit, which then mellows and balances out. Thanks