English Robust Porter

[squirt in the turns]

A Pommie Robust Porter that I sent to Jello and Sonny as the prize for the "Southern Spring" and "Xmas in July" lottos:

To repeat what I wrote in the Xmas in July thread: "Personally, I get a lot of malt sweetness in the aroma, then in descending order of prominence: vanilla, chocolate, coffee, something marmalady (from late Challenger hops I would think), and a barely-there background of something spicy (probably just alcohol). Taste-wise, I find the coffee and dark chocolate flavours dominate, with a bit of that Challenger hop character too, with a bitter aftertaste."

I like the mouthfeel, too, which I think is helped along by the oats. It pours a dense, liquidy, tan head that persists quite well. Looks black but has tan and red hues when held up to the light. The examples sent to Jello and Sonny were fined with Polyclar and then filtered after about 10 days in secondary at 0-1C.

Type: All Grain
Date: 31/07/2011
Batch Size: 24.00 L
Brewer: Matt
Boil Size: 29.94 L
Boil Time: 90 min
Equipment: 36L Esky
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00

Ingredients:

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.50 kg Maris Otter (TF Floor Malted) (5.6 EBC) Grain 72.58 %
0.55 kg Chocolate Malt Pale (Thomas Fawcett) (650.0 EBC) Grain 8.87 %
0.35 kg Melanoiden Malt (70.0 EBC) Grain 5.65 %
0.30 kg Amber Malt (Thomas Fawcett) (120.0 EBC) Grain 4.84 %
0.30 kg Biscuit Malt - (Dingemans) (22.5 EBC) Grain 4.84 %
0.20 kg Oats, Flaked (2.0 EBC) Grain 3.23 %
4.00 gm Magnum [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 5.0 IBU
45.00 gm Target [7.00 %] (60 min) Hops 30.3 IBU
19.00 gm Challenger [7.00 %] (10 min) Hops 4.6 IBU
1.00 tsp Koppafloc (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.00 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc

1 Pkgs Ringwood Ale (Wyeast Labs #1187) [Starter 2000 ml - spent beer decanted before pitching]

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.062 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.062 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.018 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.73 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.00 %
Bitterness: 40.0 IBU Calories: 591 cal/l
Est Color: 59.1 EBC Color: Color

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 6.20 kg
Sparge Water: 22.48 L Grain Temperature: 22.2 C
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C TunTemperature: 22.2 C
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time 60 min
Step Temp 67.8 C

Mash in with 16.17L of water @ 74.4C (2.6 L/KG)


NOTES: I no-chilled this, so my 60 min hop additions were actually at 40 mins - YMMV. The Magnum is only there because I ran out of Target. I also did a 3L mini-boil for the 10 min Challenger addition. Arguably this is a waste of time for a for a Porter where the hops shouldn't dominate anyway, but I wanted some hop character and I've not been having a lot of luck with cube hopping lately, and I figured a hop-tea might result in too much aroma. I think the hoppiness turned out just about right. I reserved 3L on brewday for the mini boil, stored in the fridge in a sanitised container (not air-tight like a no-chill cube, but it's going to be sterilised by a 10 min boil on pitching day anyway).

Process I use to calculate IBUs for mini boils in Beersmith:
1) Remove the late hops from the recipe.
2) Duplicate the recipe, then in the duplicate, use the "scale" button on the toolbar to change the volume (3L in this case).
3) Add the mini boil duration (e.g. 10 mins) to the existing hop additions. So the 60 min hops become 70 min, for example.
4) Add the full quantity of late hops for the time they'll be boiled.
5) Divide the mini boil volume (e.g. 3L) by the total batch volume, and multiply the result by the calculated IBUs of the mini boil recipe. This is the mini-boiled wort's IBU contribution.
6) Divide the remaining batch volume (e.g. 21L) by the total volume and multiply by the IBUs of the original recipe which has had the late hops removed. This is the main wort's IBU contribution. Add it to the IBUs from step 5 for the overall IBU of the beer.

Thread on AHB by Argon detailing the mini boil process:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=55801