Porter recipes?

[vdog]

I'm keen to do a porter for my next AG brew but need a decent recipe that doesn't require more than a 2-stage mash (don't have the ability to heat the mash other than by adding hotter water).

Anyone got a good recipe like that which they're happy to share?

[Barry]

recipe I used for Robust porter (tweak from Jamil Zainasheff)

5kg maris otter
600gm munich
300gm crystal
300gm dark crystal
300gm pale chocolate
230gm black patent
single infusion mash - I go for 60 minutes

hopped to a tad under 30 IBU (one 60 minute addition)
can throw some earthy hops in at flame out too.

S04

[jt]

Try Stu's American porter .. recipe something like this .. rippa of a beer
Pale 79.00%
Munich 10.00%
55L Crystal 4.50%
Pale Chocolate 3.00%
Chocolate 2.00%
Black 1.50%
1.060 and 55IBU of Sauvin and cascade - but check the cascade thread for more hop detail.

[Stu McKinlay]

Thanks for the plug JT - US05 yeast (or Denny's Favorite 50 if you want to try something liquid and different).

Like the look of Barry's but I'd throw in a shade of brown malt, instead of one of Barry's specialties (I'm not sure quite what right now) because I'm so enamoured with Fuller's London Porter lately.

[vdog]

Maybe a silly question Stu but what's the mash schedule/temps you use for this? Appreciate your help, getting advice from you guys makes it a whole lot easier for we novices!

[denimglen]

Most malt nowadays only needs a single infusion/step. Just mash to the correct temp for the correct body/fermentability of the style.

You really only need multi-step mashes for under-modified malts.

[Stu McKinlay]

ALL of my mashes are single infusion - 66c - 68c (I'd go mid-to-high side for a porter).
If it is outside that temp it is a mistake (like my recent 60c summer-style bitter, which didn't convert fully and ended up flabby).

[jt]

Just kegged this mish-mash of recipes.
1.046 / 1.013 and 27 IBU of Willamette and Styrian Goldings

Pale 3.010
Munich 0.515
Pale chocolate 0.260
carahell 0.130
Medium crystal 0.385
Brown Sugar 0.215

I'd save the Brown malt for a Northern Brown - an essential ingredient for a Newkie clone

[jt]

Notes after tasting.
It's a bit sweet
Maybe I let it finish too high - or maybe the sugar was a mistake - but I wanted to bump the gravity up a bit
It's smooth
Pale chocolate is great, but this could've done with the addition of some regular choc, or some black.
The gravity and IBU were middle of the road for the style, but it could've done more bitterness - for my taste anyway

[denimglen]

What yeast did you use with this? Might be the reason for it being a bit sweet?

[jt]

W1275, but I bottled / kegged early. Went 1.046 to 1.013.
Perhaps I should have let it go to it's natural FG which should have been 9 or 10 for the yeast.
Overall I'm pleased with it after a few days in the keg

[vdog]

Thanks for the advice guys, in the end we went with this:

4.5kg Maris Otter
500g Munich
250g each of Crystal, Pale Chocolate, Chocolate and Black Patent malts
Hopped with Goldings and Cascade to about 35IBU
S-04 yeast

Looks good and dark, tasted good as it went into the fermenter, now I just have to wait and see how it turns out.

[Edward Siddle]

interesting thread - pity i missed out on it until too late. i've been thinking about a lot about porter grists of late, because i've been reading 'Amber, Gold and Black' - martyn cornell's history of english beer styles. buy it, it's great (and only 5 pounds - that about $13 right now), at www.cornerpub.co.uk. anyway, my favourite porter grist that i've actually made is this one:

5kg english pale malt
100g crystal
100g chocolate
300g black patent
500g muscovado sugar.

but what i'll probably do next is more like this:
4.5kg pale
750g brown
250g black. which is more or less a version of an 1850 porter. the fullers london porter which stu mentions says on the bottle 'pale, brown and chocolate' so it wouldn't surprise me if it was a similar recipe to this one above. a fantastic beer, as stu says.