# Brown malt and roast barley in a porter?



## stuartf (25/3/17)

Planning my first crack at a porter to brew over Easter ready for the colder months. I've never used either brown malt or roasted barley before so I'm thinking
85% ale malt
5% brown malt
5% Crystal 70L
3% roast barley
Northern brewer or fuggles to 35 IBU. Does that sound a reasonable % for the dark grains?


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## stewy (25/3/17)

Depends whether you are looking for a brown porter or a robust porter. Typically a brown porter will contain brown malt/crystal/choc. Having said that, your grain bill looks like it would produce a very nice porter with a bit more roast/coffee flavour than a typical brown. Brew it and report back! I love porters and am always looking to mix them up a bit


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## stuartf (25/3/17)

Was aiming more for the robust porter. Ok I'll stick on this version for now, just need to get the time to brew it now then I'll post a review


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## stewy (26/3/17)

If you're aiming for a robust Porter I would consider adding some choc & black patent also... but like I said, yours will make a tasty porter


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (26/3/17)

I went amber, choc and Rb in my last porter.

Ended up with two very tasty beers (split batch on two yeasts)


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## goatchop41 (26/3/17)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> I went amber, choc and Rb in my last porter.
> 
> Ended up with two very tasty beers (split batch on two yeasts)


Any chance of a recipe on this please my Lord? I've been hanging out to brew a porter, and I have a heap of amber and some choc malt that I need to use up


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (26/3/17)

goatchop41 said:


> Any chance of a recipe on this please my Lord? I've been hanging out to brew a porter, and I have a heap of amber and some choc malt that I need to use up


Coffee Vanilla Porter
Robust Porter
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 38.0
Total Grain (kg): 8.350
Total Hops (g): 40.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.051 (°P): 12.6
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.01 %
Colour (SRM): 26.1 (EBC): 51.4
Bitterness (IBU): 28.3 (Average - No Chill Adjusted)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
5.000 kg Pale Ale Malt (59.88%)
2.000 kg Vienna (23.95%)
0.200 kg Crystal 60 (2.4%)
0.200 kg Shepherds Delight (2.4%)
0.200 kg Toffee Malt (Gladfields) (2.4%)
0.150 kg Chocolate, Pale (1.8%)
0.100 kg Black Malt (1.2%)
0.100 kg Carafa III malt (1.2%)
0.100 kg Carared (1.2%)
0.100 kg Chocolate (1.2%)
0.100 kg Roasted Barley (1.2%)
0.050 kg Amber Malt (0.6%)
0.050 kg Biscuit (0.6%)
Hop Bill
----------------
20.0 g Super Pride Pellet (13% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (First Wort) (0.5 g/L)
20.0 g First Gold Pellet (7.9% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
1L Coffee, Cold Brewed @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract (real)@ 0 Minutes (Boil)
Step 1: 52 degrees 15m
Step 2: 64 degrees 1hr
Step 3: 72 degrees mashout


Fermented:

19L on Nottingham Yeast Cake at 20 degrees C
19L on Danstar Abbaye Yeast at 21 degrees C
Recipe Generated with BrewMate


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (26/3/17)

Sorry mate, recipe more complex than I remember. 

About half of this disappeared into my wife who loved using it for porter pie.


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## stuartf (26/3/17)

Wow that's quite a grain bill!


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## Jack of all biers (26/3/17)

That's the understatement of the year. 2 base malts plus 11 specialty malts all in one beer! Must have been some good pie :beerbang:

Ok technically Amber malt is a base malt too, but don't quibble okay.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (26/3/17)

I have a feeling that I was using up loose ends. ☺


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## pcqypcqy (27/3/17)

The BYO style guide is always a good place to look for ideas. 

http://byo.com/mead/item/2506-robust-porter-style-profile

But like others have said, muck around with it and see how you go.


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## yankinoz (27/3/17)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> Coffee Vanilla Porter
> Robust Porter
> Recipe Specs
> ----------------
> ...





Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> Coffee Vanilla Porter
> Robust Porter
> Recipe Specs
> ----------------
> ...


Agree with others above, too much a grain potpourri. Much as I like and often use Toffee, it's not a big malt in site of its lovely aroma, and it's best at well over 5% in lighter-coloured beers. I wonder how much Carared and Biscuit add in those proportions.


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## TheWiggman (27/3/17)

LRG if you weren't using up the last of s grain bill I sincerely hope you didn't order that recipe through a supplier. They might have removed you from the database after that.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (27/3/17)

It was leftovers, I grabbed a bunch of stuff on special both for specific beers and to keep my spec stocks diverse. 

I'm generally a simpleton when it comes to grain bills - one base two specs is my typical area. I'm a believer in too much weird bills causing muddled beers. 

This one, against my better judgement was excellent. 

Only my stouts tend to get 3 dark, one cara, one base and they are typically my most complex bills.

Conversely, my typical IPA is pale malt and dark crystal at 3% of the grain bill.


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## stuartf (2/5/17)

This is the final result, nice mild roasted flavours and so so smooth to drink. Definitely an easy winter drinker


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## Ducatiboy stu (2/5/17)

So whats your recipe


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## stuartf (2/5/17)

Added a bit of chocolate to my original plan and used nottingham yeast fermted at 16C


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## Ducatiboy stu (2/5/17)

Looks the business. 

Nice simple grain bill


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## stuartf (2/5/17)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Looks the business.
> 
> Nice simple grain bill


Yeah it's pretty good, might up the brown malt a bit next time but pretty happy with my first crack at one


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## Ducatiboy stu (2/5/17)

Try some Cararoma.... it is great in porter


If you want a bit smoother profile try Carafa III instead of RB


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## manticle (27/7/17)

Holy Christ. Why didn't anyone tell me about brown malt before?
Oh that's right, you did, Well it's fuckin' lovely in a porter or a stout innit guv?

Coffee and biscuits all in one. complements the roasts and gives them substance.

Yes


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## stuartf (30/7/17)

manticle said:


> Holy Christ. Why didn't anyone tell me about brown malt before?
> Oh that's right, you did, Well it's fuckin' lovely in a porter or a stout innit guv?
> 
> Coffee and biscuits all in one. complements the roasts and gives them substance.
> ...



Yep loving the brown malt. Need to up the % next time I use it but will definitely be a regular part of my stock.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (30/7/17)

Try some cold brewed coffee, complements brown malt and gives a subtle note to a good porter.


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## Edd Mather 6 (31/7/17)

Try a small mash of rb & brown malt and add the CLEAR wort to the end of the boil of your main wort


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## stuartf (7/8/17)

Edd Mather 6 said:


> Try a small mash of rb & brown malt and add the CLEAR wort to the end of the boil of your main wort



What's the benefit of doing the small dark grain mash? Is it similar to adding dark grains late in the mash?


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## Edd Mather 6 (9/8/17)

Hi Stuart , 
Sorry for the delay in replying , been a bit busy wi`t book !!.
Re : Dark wort (Brown , R/B etc) ; This was done in a few breweries to extend their product range / lines ,with the dark wort usually added with the sugar additions at the tail end of the boil ; IE: Pale, Darker & Stouts etc to get a few beers from one main extract mash . ( Allthough some brewers opted for a small ammount of Patent (Black) malt in the tail end of the boil to darken wort)
2nd ,the dark wort may have been added to the F.V to standardise colour at the end of primary fermentation (Again increasing the range if desired),
Cheers ,
Edd


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## stuartf (9/8/17)

Edd Mather 6 said:


> Hi Stuart ,
> Sorry for the delay in replying , been a bit busy wi`t book !!.
> Re : Dark wort (Brown , R/B etc) ; This was done in a few breweries to extend their product range / lines ,with the dark wort usually added with the sugar additions at the tail end of the boil ; IE: Pale, Darker & Stouts etc to get a few beers from one main extract mash . ( Allthough some brewers opted for a small ammount of Patent (Black) malt in the tail end of the boil to darken wort)
> 2nd ,the dark wort may have been added to the F.V to standardise colour at the end of primary fermentation (Again increasing the range if desired),
> ...



Hi Edd, thanks for that. Sounds like similar idea to adding dark grains towards the end of the mash to get colour and flavour without the harsher bitter notes they can add. 
Cheers a d good luck with the book!


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## manticle (9/8/17)

Been using just a teensy tad of brown in my bitters lately. I think I'll continue.

That and wlp 013 have changed my life.


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