Mocha Porter - do I have too much going on?

Hi.

I'm working on a Robust Mocha Porter recipe, and I'd like some feedback. I'm not sure whether I have too much going on or if the different elements will combine in harmony.


Batch Size (fermenter): 18.93 l
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 31.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 31.4 IBUs

8.25 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter
8 oz Chocolate Rye Malt (250.0 SRM)
8 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
5 oz Carafa II (412.0 SRM)
5 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
5 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)
1 lb Molasses (80.0 SRM)

0.75 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.50 oz Cluster [7.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min
1 item Star Anise (Boil 20.0 mins)
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min

1.0 pkg PC Thames Valley II (Wyeast #1882) yeast

100.00 g Cocoa Nibs (Secondary 14.0 days)
2.00 Cup Coffee, Cold Brewed (Secondary 7.0 days)

Been thinking a little more about this and I've already decided to change as follows:

• Remove the Victory malt. The MO should provide enough biscuity character
• Remove the Chocolate Malt and use a little more Chocolate Rye
• Use WY1450 rather than 1882 (which isn't available right now)

Any other feedback would be appreciated

Short answer: Yes, you have waay too much stuff going on here. Honestly, I'd just ditch the recipe altogether and start from scratch if you really want to brew a coffee-flavored porter.

I would recommend you take a look at some of the coffee/chocolate type recipes posted on this site before you brew, as you have a mishmash of ingredients and flavors that are not really "harmonious" together. Also, if you can find it, the Rouge Mocha Porter clone recipe is fantastic. That would be a great starting point...

Good luck.

the great thing about the additions you have planned is you can split them up. do you have a few fermenters? maybe a few gallon ones?

try half with nibs, half without. add coffee to all at bottling.

1lb of molasses is a lot. I'd probably half that.

I agree with bribo on cutting the molasses, you do have a lot going on, but that's what homebrewing is all about (to me at least). I am having trouble imagining precisely what this might taste like. I say- give it a shot- just don't forget to post the results. Enjoy

Thanks for the feedback.

I was quite disappointed with Rogue Mocha Porter so I'm not really interested in the clone recipe. Also, I'm making a deliberate effort these days to come up with my own recipes from scratch. That way I feel I'll learn a lot more (especially when the recipe doesn't quite work).

Cutting down on the Molasses seems like a good suggestion and I will do that and up the MO a little. I've already changed the hops I'll be using - Progress and Bramling Cross instead of Northern Brewer & Cluster.

Flavour-wise, what I am going for is chocolately with some smooth coffee notes with some supporting dark fruit maltiness and a very subtle hint of liquorice and blackcurrant.

A few things.

Breaking the recipe down, you have around 10% chocolate malt(s), 7% munich/victory, and 9% molasses. While that amount of roasted malt is fine, you really don't need the munich or victory if you are using a good quality MO. Also, 9% molasses is a lot by any standard and contrary to popular belief, it does not add much residual sweetness... which you'd probably want to help balance the roast/chocolate/coffee. If I were brewing this, I'd drop the molasses altogether and use in its place some dark crystal, no more than 10% of the grist. If you want dark fruit type flavors, C75L is a good choice, as would be using a mix of lighter (40L) and darker (120+L) crystal. Special B and English Extra Dark crystal (150L) is a good choice for crystal malt too, in lower amounts.

Hopping is fine, but you may want to rethink the amounts if you want some flavor contribution. Bramling cross will give a blackcurrent flavor, but it is pretty tame in small amounts and will likely be overwhelmed with the spices, roast, coffee, and chocolate.

Regarding the spices/additions, I would drop the star anise or at least wait to add it to the secondary. A little goes a long way...