Mash Temps For A Porter

[SJW]

Just wondering if a Porter should be mashed at low 60 deg C or the higher end of 60 deg C ?
Over the past 12 or so all grainers I have done i have noticed a big diff. in the FG after mashing at diff. temps. I am sure we all understand the results of mashing at diff. temps. so I wont bore u all with that info. This is my recipe and i was thinking of mashing this one at a lower temp say 65 deg C.
Jayse will probably have the final say on this one.


4000.00 gm Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) (5.9 EBC) Grain 63.0 %
1000.00 gm Munich, Light (Joe White) (17.7 EBC) Grain 15.7 %
750.00 gm Chocolate Malt (Joe White) (750.6 EBC) Grain 11.8 %
500.00 gm Crystal (Joe White) (141.8 EBC) Grain 7.9 %
100.00 gm Black (Patent) Malt (985.0 EBC) Grain 1.6 %
65.00 gm Williamette [5.50%] (60 min) Hops 35.8 IBU
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale

STEPHEN :chug:

 

[jayse]

Hi stephen,
I wouldn't mash that low unless you have done a similar recipe before and found you didn't get the right balance.
Pretty much for any style like this i'd stick to 66c-68c. although porter should have somewhat of a dryness about it the final gravity should still be up around 1.015 and the body should be reasonable. You deffintly don't want it to be 'thin'.
So use a mash temp that you think will give you a FG of around 1.015.

Iam not saying mashing at 65c would be totally wrong, you could make a good beer like that just from a certain perspective it would be lacking in what is really should be.

The recipe looks good, i'd chuck 15-30g of willamette in at 10 mins before flame out aswell.


Anyway i think porter should be mashed at the higher end, around 68c should be perfect. I haven't used safale for over 3 years but i do seem to remember it highlighting any crystal malt sweetness, iam not sure if thats correct but somewhere in my brain i have a recollection of it doing that.
It shouldn't really have crystal malt sweetness you should mash high enough so the malt plays the most important role and the crystal and black malt doesn't stand out like GMK at a wyeast seminar! :blink:

One other thing i wouldn't use quite as much chocolate malt.

In short to answer your question i think its the high end of the 60s' you should be mashing at.
From a competion view it finishing thin/thinnish could mean losing as much as 5 or so points and with the tough competion we have in australia now this could be the difference between first and last place.

Jayse