Recipe critique - Schoolnight Porter

I just read this experiment about cold steeping roasted grains if you're interested in trying that out.

http://brulosophy.com/2017/12/04/roasted-grains-pt-4-cold-steeping-vs-full-mash-exbeeriment-results/

 

Not a big fan of Black patent malt in a porter. Mild Malt = British Vienna? Very interesting! Good luck!

 

Are you sold on the yeast? I've had good results with Wyeast 1968 in porters, leaves a hint of fruity character that complements the porter well. It is lower in attenuation than safale 05 though, so you would want to consider dropping the mash temperature slightly if you are targeting a specific FG. I think it would be excellent with a mild ale base malt.

I think your chocolate to black malt looks reasonable, I really only use black to color in porters it's easy to get more roast than you want. For the rye crystal, I'd bump that up a touch or it might get lost, I think that it would end up pretty subtle at your current ratios. Unless that's what you want.

Also, I find that cold stepping tends to smooth out the flavor from the roasted grains. I've been happy with it when I've used it. Just for reference.

 

Firstly let me state that I think the recipe as is will make a fine Porter.

Permit me to discuss a few topics:

Hop Schedule

Adding two ounces of hops towards the end (5 min. of boil and flameout) is pretty ‘heavy’ for the Porter style but I recognize that you are looking for contributions from Bramling Cross hops. If it were me I would be a bit more conservative and use 0.5 ounces for these two hop additions but you should follow your personal instincts here.

Specialty Malts

Black Patent Malt has a reputation for contributing acrid/ash-like flavors to beer but IMO this is a function of a number of variables: how much is used, how it is used (e.g., cold vs. hot), specific malting company,… I use 0.25 lbs. of Black Patent Malt in brewing my Oatmeal Stouts and this is the limit to how much I would use for this style of beer. My suggestion would be to ‘bump up’ the Chocolate Malt (I prefer Simpsons Chocolate Malt but that is just me) and ‘tone down’ the Black Patent Malt. Maybe something like 0.2 lbs. Black Patent Malt and 0.75 lbs. Chocolate Malt. I recognize this is a subtle difference from the original recipe. Maybe ‘tone down’ the Black Patent Malt down to 2 ounces (0.125 lbs.)?

Yeast

US-05 is a neutral yeast and maybe that is your goal for this beer? My preferred yeast for brewing my Porters is Danstar Windsor fermented warm (e.g., 70 degrees F). This yeast produces pleasant esters (fruity) flavors which for my palate very nicely complements the dark malt flavors. Maybe you just want the Bramling Cross hop flavors to ‘shine’ in this beer, in which case just stick with the US-05. If you decide to use Danstar Windsor just be aware this yeast strain is a low attenuator so your FG values would be higher in comparison to US-05 (which is a good thing IMO since I enjoy my Porters to be ‘chewy’).

Best of luck in brewing your Schoolnight Porter.

Cheers!

 

If you have access to it, Wyeast 1084 might go really well with the Bramling Cross. I've received some feedback that my porter with 1084 has nice fruity esters that complement the roasted notes well. I would also echo @JackHorzempa's suggestion that you drop the black patent to .15 or .2 pounds and up the chocolate to get the dark color. If you're looking for dark, you don't need the BP -- my porter is 40 SRM according to Beersmith without any BP in it -- roasted barley works just as well to darken things and has plenty of roasted flavor to it. Use a similarly small amount, around .2-.25 pounds.

Separately, what's your efficiency? With no-sparge BIAB, I hit 74% routinely without much difficulty, just some bag squeezing with silicone gloves on.

 

Porter = chocolate rye...if you want some roasted rye characteristics

 

Although this grainbill will get you a porter, IMO porters are all about malt complexity, so I tend to add a neutral highly kilned malt for color and then add some different crystal malts for additional complexity. I prefer Carafa malt for color and then a medium and dark crystal for additional malt complexity. I also like the Chocolate malt that you have. Depending upon the taste that you're going for, Special B malt and/or dark candi syrup might be of interest.

Again, I like to highlight the malt in my porters, so if you're of the same mind I might reconsider the late kettle and "whirlpool" additions.

Not that Chico is a "bad" choice, but, as others have said, there are more characterful options. S04 might be something worth considering.

 

But ironically you are selecting an American yeast strain. I sorta recognize why but I am just saying...

Cheers!

 

+++++ to Windsor.

 

I bet yer beer tastes great!

 

As long as you keep in mind that the brown malt of today is nothing like the historically accurate brown malt that porters used to be brewed with, you'll be just fine.

 

Be sure to report back with your observations and let us know how it turns out!

 

I think I would like this, but I might prefer a more standard English crystal to a Cara rye type.