porter recipie

[dreadskin69]

Hi guys, gonna be redoing my porter recipie. The idea is for a chocolate orange porter. From memory the last batch had 6% choc malt 6% black malt along with Munich crystal and wheat malt on a base of pale. Can't remember the % for the other malts. It turned out more coffee like. We also add cocoa powder and orange peel at the 80 steep. Basically it's not chocolaty enough. I read Seymour said to get a bigger chocolate hit add choc malt at 8%. Anyone got any other experience of this?
I'm thinking reducing the black to 4-5% and raising the choc malt to 8% like Seymour suggests.
I'm also considering adding cacao nibs at the dry hop stage along with home dried navel orange peel too. But I'm not sure on quantities? Any suggestions?
How long does it take the nibs to come thru in the beer at the secondary stage? Is a week enough? I've aquired a cask to play with too and was thinking of adding nibs and peel to that too.

What do u guys recon?

[Matt12398]

Does it come out very porter like without brown malt?

[Dave S]

Does it come out very porter like without brown malt?

I did a porter a while back using MO, Dark Crystal and 125 g each of Black and Chocolate Malt in a 23 l brew. Came out out very Porter-like. Not used Brown Malt yet but I have a kilo of it, so will be using it quite soon.

[dreadskin69]

Yes, very much so porter like. Definitely a 'robust pporter' rather than a brown porter.

So... what about the chocolate question then?

[Kp2]

Not to sure if will help. I don't know even if you would class it as a porter. But this is what I done over the weekend. I found the chocolate malt scents were losted in boil. Plus it's a dark brown. The orange is coming from masses of Summit hops and Curaco. If I had more coco nibs I would be adding 300g not just 100g in the secondary tub. And I am going to prime with Marmalade. If you can wait I'll let you know how it turns out.

Is not Terry's it mine, 23L, 1.048 5.3% ish

Pale Malt - 75.32%
Pale Choc Malt - 14.94%
Pale Crystal malt - 7.41%
Chocolate Spelt Malt - 1.47%
Carafa 2 - 0.86%

Hops
Pioneer 8.37 / 46.00g / 90min
Pilgrim 9.45 / 21.00g / 30 min
Summit 18.50 / 20.00g / 15min
Summit 18.50 / 25.00g / 0min

Herbs

Curacao - 10g 15min
Coriander - 5g 15min
Coco nibs 100g Secondary bake at 110c for 10-15min

[MashTim]

I've just kegged a chocolate porter that I dry nibbed with 100g of cacoa nibs (from the MM). Dry nibbing lasted a couple of weeks, but flavour developed after about a week and stopped, it has made the Porter very smooth with a smooth roast, very Porter like (made with Brown malt, special B, crystal and pale), a nice chocolate background on the flavour but not too much, not too much in the aroma, once it's carbonated and matured a bit more I'll be able to give it a better appraisal.

[MTW]

I bottled my own porter a couple of weeks ago. It had vanilla-infused vodka added, but if you forget about that bit, it was tasting great just as a porter before that hit it. Yet to condition and turn creamy (maybe a touch of wheat next time would speed that up!) but delighted with the deep porter taste. US-05 is great for this too.

7 grains! Ignore the attenuation/ABV figure here. I was hoping for quite a high finish and got it: nice full body at 1.015.

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 5.153
Total Hops (g): 70.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.050 (°P): 12.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.11 %
Colour (SRM): 26.9 (EBC): 53.0
Bitterness (IBU): 37.1 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 73
Boil Time (Minutes): 75

Grain Bill
----------------
3.864 kg Maris Otter Malt (75%)
0.309 kg Chocolate (6%)
0.258 kg Brown Malt (5%)
0.206 kg Crystal 60 (4%)
0.206 kg Munich II (4%)
0.155 kg Caravienna (3%)
0.155 kg Special-B (3%)

Hop Bill
----------------
30.0 g Northern Brewer Leaf (6.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.3 g/L)
20.0 g Willamette Leaf (4.4% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)
20.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (6.7% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)

Single step Infusion at 68°C for 90 Minutes.
Pitched 17.5C later up to 23C with 3xSafale US-05
Recipe Generated with BrewMate

[Dave S]

Why 3 packs of Yeast? Seems a bit overkill. I've dallied with 2 packs when mixing 2 different yeast types but never three.

[MTW]

Why 3 packs of Yeast? Seems a bit overkill. I've dallied with 2 packs when mixing 2 different yeast types but never three.

us-05 has only 6 billion cells per g, according to Fermentis. When I punched that into one of the online pitch rate calculators (EDIT: Brewer's Friend, corrected for cell density) with the details for this brew, 2 packets would have been less than the ideal'pro' rate, or whatever it is called(EDIT "Pro Brewer 0.75"). I wanted a nice clean ferment, so didn't want to compromise. To be honest, I might risk just two next time, just to see, but as I say, it would be an under pitch in the view of at least one calculator.

[Matt12398]

Mr. Malty suggest one pack.

[MTW]

Mr. Malty suggest one pack.

The Mr Malty calculator doesn't allow you to adjust the cell density for the dry yeast you are using. Mr Malty recommends 214 billion cells for 6 US gallons (22.7L) of 1.051. Brewer's friend 218 for 23L, so they're making the same calculation.

[seymour]

You're right, for over-the-top undeniable chocolate flavour, cacao nibs are the way to go. The most chocolatey beers I've ever tasted were brewed by Schlafly, who adds 160 lbs of roasted cacoa nibs to a 30 bbl bright tank. If I calculated correctly, that's something like 2.75 oz or 78 g per gallon.

I'm telling you though, that's bewilderingly chocolatey. As Ditch says, "mental" levels, not just a subtle layer of complexity.

[dreadskin69]

That must be an expensive commercial beer to make. Cacao is not cheap!

On an interesting note, I was talking to a cocktail guy I know. He has played with nibs extensively. Apparently if u soak the nibs in neutral spirit (aka vodka) you change the characteristics, loosing some chocolate, but also a smokey element. He recons even more than 1 g per ltr could be over powering?
And thoughts on grams per ltr (or gallons in ur case Seymour )?