BeerBorg

Hey guys! I need some help. My friends are getting married! It's quite a surprise, for one, so I am not prepared. They are having a small get together, just close family and a couple friends. The ceremony will be at a local wilderness getaway, and so the venue needs beer. Enter me (and you guys). The bride and groom really like porters, and have asked me to commission a wedding batch for the ceremony. It's at the end of December, so I need to get a move on.

So, here are my problems.
1. I don't have a porter recipe.
2. I don't even know what a porter really is. I have made a stout, but never a porter, and am not sure where to draw the line between the two.
3. I don't know where to start.

So, I am sure you guys won't let me down. They seem to like the, for lack of a better term, plain porters. Probably not a bourbon porter or anything. But I think a vanilla porter might be in their realm. If anyone out there has ever had Santa Fe State Pen Porter, that is their favorite.

Can the Borg help me out?

Years ago I found this to sound like it could be true---http://www.beerconnoisseur.com/porter-versus-stout but it really doesn't matter.
Let's get you brewing a porter. Do they want a straight up porter or something with added flavors such as vanilla, smoked?????
A great place to start is Beersmith. Take a look here: http://beersmith.com/beer-recipes/

I have two great porter recipes... one a straight rye porter, and the other a smoked imperial porter. These are recipes from a great brewer in town (if you know Nashville beer, you can likely figure out which two beers these are). Do you AG or Extract/grain? I can post either.

Their preferences would be toward a straight up porter. I think for their tastes, a smoked porter would definitely be out, but a vanilla porter might be in.

I do extract/partial mash brews, Swen.

OK, here's the base rye porter recipe converted to partial mash...

Fly Rye Porter - partial mash - 5 gallon

Type: Partial Mash
Batch Size: 5.00 gal

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 52.64 % (Northern Brewer and others have Maris Otter extract that would probably be great for this, but pale extract should work nicely if the MO extract is not available)
1.85 lb Maris Otter (4.0 SRM) Grain 19.48 %
0.87 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 9.11 %
0.86 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 9.07 %
0.56 lb Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 5.94 %
0.22 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 2.28 %
0.14 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.48 %
0.40 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
1.10 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (60 min) Hops 16.0 IBU
0.86 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) Hops 6.0 IBU
1.43 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.6 IBU

WY 1968 yeast

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.059 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.68 %
Bitterness: 28.0 IBU
Est Color: 29.1 SRM

That looks like a nice recipe.....got the AG recipe?
I see they have a very low ABV stout too.

Basically sub out the extract with MO and/or 2row and you have the recipe. The recipe I saw several years ago used 2row and no MO, but they now state that they use Maris Otter to some degree (not sure if it's for the entire base or a mixture). I have kind of just shot for 72% in total between 2row and MO, just based on what I have on hand (one time I did all 2row, but the rest were just a mix of the two).

The stout is quite nice, especially off of the nitro tap, but I don't have insight on the recipe.

This is a good search for Porters too. I have not brewed Black Pearl, but I have brewed 3 other beers by BierMuncher and all have been GREAT. I'll look through the recipe and see if it lists a extract/partial mash. I'm sure it will.

Awesome! Thanks guys!

I think I will give Swen's recipe a go, and hopefully it turns out good and the wedding party will love it!

The white house honey porter is a good simple recipe. Easy to brew and easy to drink!

Agree with Louie. White House Honey Porter is one of my core beers. White House Honey Ale is good too. I keep both in stock. [emoji6]

What's the difference between a porter and a stout?

WHP - 1lb Crystal 20, 12oz Munich, 6oz Black Patent, 3oz Chocolate Malt
Oatmeal Stout - 1lb Crystal 120, 1lb Chocolate Malt, 1lb Roasted Barley, 1lb Flaked Oats

Ignoring the honey and oats, more chocolate malt and a pound of roasted barley.

From Palmer:

These highly roasted malts contribute a coffee or burnt toast flavor to porters and stouts. Obviously these malts should be used in moderation. Some brewers recommend that they be added towards the end of the mash, claiming that this reduces the "acrid bite" that these malts can contribute. This practice does seem to produce a smoother beer for people brewing with "soft" or low bicarbonate water.

Chocolate Malt 400L Used in small amounts for brown ale and extensively in porters and stouts, this malt has a bittersweet chocolate flavor, pleasant roast character and contributes a deep ruby black color.

Black Patent Malt 580L This is the blackest of the black. It must be used sparingly, generally less than a half pound per 5 gallons. It contributes a roasted charcoal flavor that can actually be quite unpleasant if used in excess. It is useful for contributing color and/or setting a "limit" on the sweetness of other beer styles using a lot of caramel malt; one or two ounces is useful for this purpose.

Roast Barley 550L This is not actually a malt, but highly roasted plain barley. It has a dry, distinct coffee taste and is the signature flavor of Stouts. It has less of a charcoal "bite" to it than does Black Patent.

Go with WHP!

Hope that helps.

If you can search posts by user (brewer) you may be able to find a recipe from Ruskii. IIRC his Porter(s?) won BOS in several competitions.

I think one was barrel aged bourbon in style but the man is a master and I bet the base recipe is in the perfect category.

Good luck and don't forget you've got The Hat around to help you if you get the jitters.



EDIT TO ADD: IIRC Gymrat has a house Porter that he might share.

And hitting a bottle store for research purposes might be a bonus for your generosity.

Thanks for all the input guys. I met with the groom, the idea of a honey porter did not go over well. He seems to favor the straight up porter. I have the ingredients for Swen's recipe in my NB shopping cart, just need to order. Will probably order tomorrow or over the weekend with plans to brew next weekend.

That's funny - I haven't been on for awhile & just decided to read a thread & here we go. I'm brewing a Porter this weekend. This recipe is from Jamil & Palmer's "Brewing Classic Styles" book - Style is Robust Porter - Their recipe name is "Black Widow Porter"
5.5 Gallons - Mash at 153 degrees
11.75lbs American 2 Row
1.5lbs Munich Malt
1lb Crystal 40L
.75lb Chocolate Malt (350L)
.5lb Black Patent Malt
HOPS
Kent Goldings 1.75oz 60min
Fuggles .75oz 15min
Kent Goldings .75oz 0min
Yeast
White Labs WLP001 California Ale, Wyeast 1056 American Ale, or Safale US-05
OG: 1.064
FG 1.015
IBU 37
SRM 35
6.5% ABV

I'm going to add some brown candi sugar. Sounds pretty simple.

Just to clarify, adding a pound of honey yields NO honey flavor, maybe an expert would sense it. Honey does two things - raises ABV and thins the beer and adds a dry finish. It's a good porter with or without honey.

The impact of a pound of honey on the White House Honey Porter is 0.7% ABV.