Robust Porter with Munich.... doable?

[oglennyboy]

[SIZE=10pt]Gday all, it’s getting cold all right way down south, so I’ve been looking through the discussions on robust porters for some pointers on a recipe to put though my BIAB setup.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]After being totally overwhelmed by the range of recipes I’ve decided the simplest thing to do is a tried & true – Barry’s RobPo recipe, with some adjustments to suit what I have. I hope this will still turn out OK? Will the CaraAroma & Melanoidin fill in the gap between JW Trad & MO?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Barry’s RobPo for 24 litres[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]4.5 kg (75%) JW Trad Ale Malt[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]0.6 kg (10%) JW Chocolate Malt[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]0.4 kg (6.7%) JW Amber Malt[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]0.3 kg (5.0%) Weyermann Caraaroma[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]0.1 kg (1.7%) Weyermann Melanoidin[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]0.1 kg (1.7%) Flaked Barley[/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]So a minor sub of JW Trad for MO, Flaked Barley for Oat Malt, and EKG to 30IBU and Fuggles for the 5min @ 1g/l (just because I like the Fug, and not too bitter). Was also going to use WY1469 at 17deg that I’ve just cropped off a DSGA.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]But the other query I have is whether the recipe below would work, based on having not much MO, a lot of Munich, and really liking a dunkel I made with Munich, for the malty taste. I’m also keen on the roasty coffee that the Roasted Barley is said to give, and Flaked Barley for mouthfeel (maybe rolled oats instead?).[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]I Say, Porter! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]23L Batch[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Grain Amt %-age[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]JW Munich 3.00kg 49.2%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Simpsons MO 1.80kg 29.5%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]JW Crystal 0.65kg 10.7%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]JW Choc 0.35kg 5.7%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Flaked Barley 0.15kg 2.5%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Roasted Barley 0.07kg 1.1%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Black Patent 0.08kg 1.3%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Total 6.1kg[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]EKG 5.0%AA to 30 IBU @ 90min FWH[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fuggles @ 5min 1g/l[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]WY1469 at 17 degrees[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Does this look like it’s going to be in the ballpark? There's only a couple of recipes using Munich as the main base (Mad Fermentationist is one I've found), so I wondered how it might go.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]I was thinking of mashing low-ish at 65 given the Munich & crystal, so the dryness & higher attenuation against the maltier backbone balance out. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Plain numbers for proportions shown only, the detailed output from BIABacus is not included because there’s a bit of it to wade through.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]cheers![/SIZE]

 

[mr_wibble]

I was thinking this myself just last night.

Maybe take your normal porter recipe, and swap out 20% of the base malt with munich?

I added a bit of Special-B to my usual porter recipe, last batch.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

My most recent porter was 50/50 munich/vienna for the base, with a good whack of brown malt and a few other bits & bobs. Worked a treat.

 

[mje1980]

I've done a Vienna dark ale before which used Vienna as the base. God it was good. You could replace all base malt with Munich and get a great malty dark ale for sure.

 

[oglennyboy]

Ta for the replies, I was just talking to a chappy at the Hobart Brewers do last night who'd just done a porter with thirds pale, munich & choc (I think? damn the Torpedoes!) which he said looked like it was going to be nice. That gave me a bit more comfort.
So I'm gonna have a crack at both side by side, looks like rain all weekend anyway

cheers!

 

[oglennyboy]

So this weekend I did both versions as per the first post, ending up with on-target OG 1.058 and 22 litres into fermenter for both. Undershot vol by 1L for RobPo and overshot by 1L on the munich porter, so much amusement in juggling & transferring to the right size fermenter for the massive krausen 1469 has been giving me! It counts as my first foray into secondaries

A few weeks to go till tasting but some observations (Hop spider for both):
The RobPo milled grain smelled like an awesome chocolate muesli bar without the fruit, made me want to pop it in the oven instead. While mashing & boiling the smell was so chocolatey and sweet, amazing stuff. Cooled in 10 minutes to 35*C before sitting for a couple hours to settle after pulling out the IC. Amazing clarity and deep mahogany colour, but also a big mushroom of break that bloomed up after an hour, a good amount of which ended up in the fermenter. Tasted rich, sweet and chocolate. Hats off to Barry, what a cracker.

The Munich Porter was very different, strong malty and coffee smell in the grind, mash & boil, definitely sharper. Very dark, like espresso, with the tan edging when held to the light. Tasted like strong roasty coffee malt, the light astringency made it seem a little more bitter than the RobPo. Very clear drop in the urn, best trub yet. Huge foamy head on transfer to the fermenter.

So quite different early tastes, ferment has kicked off strong with stepped up 1L starters of 1469. Dropped a rubber grommet in the Munich tho', could be a problem
Looking forward to the next few weeks...

cheers!

 

[mr_wibble]

When I run off from the kettle, and it gets to the stage in the above photo (break material and hop coagulations nearing the tap); I put my brewing spoon (a huge 1m long catering wooden spoon) just in front of the tap inlet. Just this little bit of barrier inhibits a rapid flow to the tap, and prevents some of the break material getting sucked through to the chiller.