Baltic Porter

[tennesseean_87]

I need a winter warmer for an upcoming club competition, and I have a 34/70 yeast cake from which I'm about to rack a Munich Dunkel. I figured a Baltic Porter would be a nice beer to do do--not too strong that it'll need to age a ton, not too roasty, etc.

Here's what I'm thinking:

75% Efficiency
OG: 1.078
35.7 IBUs

8 lbs....Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)...45.1 %
7 lbs....Munich Malt (6.0 SRM)................39.4 %
8.0 oz..Caramel Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)......2.8 %
6.0 oz..Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)..........2.1 %
6.0 oz..Choc Wheat Malt (400.0 SRM).......2.1 %
4.0 oz..Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM)..........1.4 %
4.0 oz..Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)...........1.4 %
1 lbs....Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM)......5.6 %
1.20 oz.Magnum [12.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min..35.7 IBUs
2.0 pkg.Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70) Yeast (actually, a yeast cake)

I'm planning to cold steep the dark stuff to get a hint of smooth chocolate flavor. I had originally planned on a half pound of each, but that made it too dark, so I cut back. I do want a bit of chocolate and don't mind going darker than recommended is need be. I also have roast barley, carafa II and III special, and black patent. I could also add/sub in some brown malt, honey malt, victory malt, if need be.

 

[thehaze]

I think it looks good as is, but I do enjoy more sweetness in Baltic Porters, but there is need for subtle roaty, chocolatey notes in there. Brown malt would work well, as long as you have the 60-70 L Brown malt. Special B works well in complex grain bills, so you could amp that up a bit. Maybe some Brown malt could lend some biscuitty roastiness/subtle roastiness- it's usually pretty smooth. I've used Crisp Brown malt in Porters and Brown ales and works really well. No harshness/astringency, even when used in higher amunts, like 10%.

 

[tennesseean_87]

I think it looks good as is, but I do enjoy more sweetness in Baltic Porters, but there is need for subtle roaty, chocolatey notes in there. Brown malt would work well, as long as you have the 60-70 L Brown malt. Special B works well in complex grain bills, so you could amp that up a bit. Maybe some Brown malt could lend some biscuitty roastiness/subtle roastiness- it's usually pretty smooth. I've used Crisp Brown malt in Porters and Brown ales and works really well. No harshness/astringency, even when used in higher amunts, like 10%.

I'm thinking of mashing at 154 to keep it from being too dry. I may bump the dark malts back up to 8 oz each after consulting some recipes I've done in the past, particularly a schwartzbier influenced by Jamil's recipe that used a fair bit of dark malts (even roasted barley!) and didn't come out too roasty. Maybe I'll bump up the special B a smidge, too. Thanks!

 

[thehaze]

I think most Baltic Porters have a relatively high FG, so mashing higher does make sense. For my palate anything between 1.017 and 1.025 does the trick.

Cheers and good luck! Do tell how it came out.

 

[snowtiger1987]

I would drop the Caramel and Melanoiden malts. I don't see why they would be needed. Brown sugar takes a while to mellow out. I would use Turbinado sugar for a straight fermentable or Belgian Candi syrup (dark) for color and gravity.

 

[tennesseean_87]

I would drop the Caramel and Melanoiden malts. I don't see why they would be needed. Brown sugar takes a while to mellow out. I would use Turbinado sugar for a straight fermentable or Belgian Candi syrup (dark) for color and gravity.

I've used brown sugar in a brown ale before and didn't notice this. It was only a half-pound, though.

From what I've read, this style should be fairly sweet. IIRC it's more of an Imperial Brown Porter than Imperial Robust Porter. The Austin Homebrew kit also uses a lb of caramel malts, and the Homebrewsupply kit uses 12 oz caramunich and 8 oz Special B. The BCS recipe has a half-pound each of C60 and Special B. BCS also uses a higher portion of Munich as the base malt, but I'm using what I've got on hand and thought Melanoidin would help boost the maltiness a little.

It's a hard style to find info on. There are a few recipes on here, but none have tons of feedback.

 

[snowtiger1987]

I am just commenting on what I would do. I don't make complicated recipes. According to the style guidelines the FG is 1.016 - 1.024. Your OG is pretty much in the middle of the suggested OG so I would expect the FG would be 1.020. The best examples I have had finish dry to me and have much more of a Munich malt sweetness up front than a crystal malt sweetness.

 

[toxdoc49]

I have a basic question about a Baltic porter I am making from a recipe kit. It called for initial fermentation temp of about 60 degrees, followed by diacetyl rest at 68 degrees near the end of primary, then lagering at around 40 degrees in secondary. I don’t have equipment to get to that low temp in secondary so I put the secondary fermenter in my garage where the temp for the next two weeks will be about 40 degrees. I know this is crude but wondered if this will ruin the recipe. Or if it is just ‘conditioning’ at this point since primary is completed.

 

[thehaze]

Baltic Porters are lagers, or should be lagers, and not ales fermented low and then conditioned. So find yourself a good lager strain, ferment low-ish, do a proper diacetyl rest and then condition the beer for a few weeks/months/years at anything up to 52F. Cheers.