Feedback on an imperial porter recipe?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Xul, Aug 5, 2014.

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  1. Xul

    Xul Pooh-Bah (2,139) May 18, 2008 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'm looking to brew a coffee vanilla imperial porter in the vein of Ballast Point's Victory at Sea and haven't come up with a whole lot to go on from internet searches. A few threads on HBT/reddit, but I couldn't find any really good clone attempts that have been brewed several times over, just ideas. To that end, I'm not expecting an exact clone, moreso looking for a solid imperial porter base with which coffee and vanilla additions will work well:

    3 gallon batch (4 gallons post-boil/3.5 into carboy/3 clean gallons into bottles)
    60% efficiency

    13lbs Maris Otter
    2lbs Munich
    1lb British Crystal 50-60L
    .75lbs Black Patent
    .5lbs Pale Chocolate
    .5lbs Chocolate (350 SRM)

    60 - 65 IBUs of Magnum at 60 minutes

    White Labs 090 San Diego Super Yeast

    OG: 1.096
    FG: 1.024

    Am I headed in the right direction and if so, any suggested tweaks?
     
    #1 Xul, Aug 5, 2014
  2. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    I've never brewed it, but google for Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Porter (here is something to get you started http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f126/bourbon-vanilla-porter-ag-30185) , it is a highly regarded beer from a highly regarded homebrewer. That should give you a pretty good base brew to experiment with.

    Never had the Victory at Sea, so I have no idea for that specific beer.
     
    #2 wspscott, Aug 5, 2014
  3. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    Make a big starter and pitch cold. I'd go down to about 63F and let it warm up if you need to. Really make sure you're fermenting cold for the first week and let it warm up a little to finish off.

    As for the recipe, it looks tasty. I'd go easy on the coffee and the vanilla until you get a good idea of what the beer should taste like. Maybe wait for a whole month on primary and add to taste afterwards. Good call on the pound of chocolate and splitting it up into pale and regular chocolate. I've made some great dark milds this way.

    Magnum is a fine bittering hop, but if you're willing to spend the money, I'd go with an English hop for the bittering charge. A few oz of EKG or Fuggle should do the trick.

    Why is your efficiency so low? That's a hellovalot of grain for a 1.090 beer.
     
    #3 inchrisin, Aug 6, 2014
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  4. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Looks pretty similar to my Oatmeal Porter, which I've added chocolate AND vanilla beans to that turns out really well.

    Minus the munich, it's pretty damn close.

    If you want more coffee, I would skip the black patent, add some carafa III for the darker color and roast, and maybe even a pinch of roasted barley..

    Yes, yes, I know.. roasted barley for some, makes it a damn stout.. but still....

    A little roast barley in there, maybe.. half a pound, cut the black patent, cause the ash and cig butt note isn't prevalent, IMO.

    I think the pale and regular chocolate malt is spot on, it's something I do in most any beer I want a nice chocolate note from the malt, and I'm a huge proponent of it.

    Coffee wise, I'd cold press some, and add at packaging, or if worried about some issues with bugs ( which I can understand cold pressing), add it at flame out around 180*F. If the coffee is too weak, go with some whole beans for a couple days before packaging.

    That said, recipe sounds good to me. I'd maybe split some C40 and C80, to give a little more well rounded sweetness to the beer, but what you have would work just fine.
     
    #4 FATC1TY, Aug 6, 2014
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  5. Xul

    Xul Pooh-Bah (2,139) May 18, 2008 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    That was the plan on the coffee and vanilla - let it finish fermenting and then add cold brewed coffee and home made vanilla extract to taste.

    I was thinking about this, but is there a functional difference in the bittering character once I add the coffee and vanilla? I certainly don't mind springing for a few ounces of EKG, I just wasn't sure there would be any perceptible difference.

    That's just what I've found with my system when I brew bigger beers (cooler mash tun w/ batch sparging). I'm planning on buying a mill in the next few months and hopefully seeing some gains since the crush that MoreBeer does seems to run a bit coarse, but it hasn't been a huge priority.

    Something like 8 ounces Carafa III and 4 ounces roasted barley? I don't mind adding the roasted barley, I'm not a stickler for crossing over the perceived porter/stout barrier, although I do want to keep it more towards the porter side of things.

    Concentrated cold brew was the plan, and I'm not too worried about the infection issue on that one - I use bottled water and sanitize the container before doing it. I guess my coffee grinder could be harboring bacteria, as could the coffee filter I use after the cold brewing, but it seems to be a fairly safe process the majority of the time. Might dry bean as well to add a bit more depth, but I've been pretty happy with cold brew in the past.
     
    #5 Xul, Aug 6, 2014
  6. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    I think the 8 oz Carafa III and 4-6 ounces of roasted barley would be ideal for sure.

    As for the hops.. I'd say something like Northern Brewer would be pretty spot on, IMO.

    Sounds like your on the right track. Use some good fresh vanilla beans, cut, scrap and soak and add it all after fermentation and I think you are on track!
     
    #6 FATC1TY, Aug 6, 2014
    inchrisin and Xul like this.
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