Porter Recipe - Light Chocolate Malt?

[stakka82]

Hi guys,

quick question - i want to brew a porter on the weekend but dont have any choc malt. thinking about subbing for some pale choc i have, plus some caraaroma and a pinch of roast barley. i'm looking for a fairly rich, chocolate-malty taste. do you think the pale choc combo will work, or would it be best if i got off my ass and went to the LHBS?

cheers

 

[argon]

i think it'll work well. The paler choc to my palate has a more chocolate taste than the dark, which is a bit more robust and roasty. Kinda like milk chocolate vs dark chocolate. The caraaroma and RB will add some nice ruby highlghts too... added bonus

 

[stakka82]

thanks argon, exactly what i wanted to hear!

 

[stakka82]

two other questions, while i'm at it:

1. i currently have an ESB 3kg belgian smoked ale kit fermenting with saf brew t-58. i'm planning to chuck the porter on the yeast cake this weekend when its done. anyone ever used this yeast for a darker (non-specialty) ale? fermentis say it should produce peppery/spicy notes which could add a nice twist to a brown porter, however, they also say it produces a lot of esters and BJCP says porters should be very low ester-wise. thoughts?

2. since starting all grain brewing ive only brewed lighter ale styles and always use carapils. i love the added head retention it brings to the table. is there any similar grain that can be used in darker styles for the same purpose? i did one all grain red ale without c/pils and the head retention is poor. can i use carapils in a darker style without bastardising the flavour profile?

cheers

 

[cam89brewer]

two other questions, while i'm at it:

1. i currently have an ESB 3kg belgian smoked ale kit fermenting with saf brew t-58. i'm planning to chuck the porter on the yeast cake this weekend when its done. anyone ever used this yeast for a darker (non-specialty) ale? fermentis say it should produce peppery/spicy notes which could add a nice twist to a brown porter, however, they also say it produces a lot of esters and BJCP says porters should be very low ester-wise. thoughts?

2. since starting all grain brewing ive only brewed lighter ale styles and always use carapils. i love the added head retention it brings to the table. is there any similar grain that can be used in darker styles for the same purpose? i did one all grain red ale without c/pils and the head retention is poor. can i use carapils in a darker style without bastardising the flavour profile?

cheers

If you are doing all grain then you can still use the same base malts as your lighter beers and if you still have an adequate protein rest and maybe a slightly higher saccharification temp you will end up with a more full body and better head retention.

 

[Keith the Beer Guy]

Hi guys,

quick question - i want to brew a porter on the weekend but dont have any choc malt. thinking about subbing for some pale choc i have, plus some caraaroma and a pinch of roast barley. i'm looking for a fairly rich, chocolate-malty taste. do you think the pale choc combo will work, or would it be best if i got off my ass and went to the LHBS?

cheers

Pale chocolate will be fine, gives less coffee and more choc character, use it with some crystal. Yum, yum, yum.