Porter No.2

[ShackNasty]

I am preparing to brew an experiment batch of 1 gal. really just to see how this would turn out. Well I also wanted to attempt a dark beer using Light DME as the base.

1.3 lbs Light DME
-------------------------
4.0oz Chocolate (250L)
3.2oz Biscuit (24.5L)
1.6oz Flaked Barley
1.0oz De-bittered Black
-------------------------
0.1oz Nugget (9-11% AA)
0.2oz Centennial (9-12% AA)
0.2oz Cascade (4.5 - 7% AA)
-------------------------
WLP007 with a 500mL starter (24hrs)


My thought process on the specialty grains was to get it REAL dark (hence de-bittered black), but get that mild flavor from the chocolate. Is this necessary to use both and maintain a REAL dark beer? Flaked barley I like to use for body/head retention. I have never used Biscuit, and want to know what it tastes like... again this is kind of an experiment batch for a relatively new brewer.

Ideas and opinions are much appreciated.

 

[Calder]

Biscuit and flaked barley need to be mashed to get anything from them.

Black and chocolate are different. The black will contribute roastiness. I prefer to leave it out since I don't care for it. It should get plenty dark from the chocolate.

I'd probably throw in some dark crystal, or even special B for some added complexity.

When are you adding the hops. If the nugget is the bittering, I think it will be low, and you should increase it.

 

[ShackNasty]

Whoops!!!! Forgot hop times !
It will be:
60min
15min
2min

Should I double the bittering?
What if I am just using the flaked barley for body, and am not using for any source of fermentables ? Do I still need to mash?


Thanks for the reply.

 

[ShackNasty]

After some research on mashing I think I have answered my own question. So it looks like this batch will be my first attempt at a partial mash. Haha.

 

[Calder]

You have a 1.060 beer, and the nugget will only get you 19 IBUs (varies with calculators). I would say you need twice that.

You may want to add 4 to 6 ozs of 2-row for the enzymes. With mashing you will get a lot more out of the Chocolate too since it has a lot of starches that can be converted.

Just a caution, mashing only a pound is difficult. It is hard to maintain the temperature due to the small volume. You might find it easier to replace the DME with 2 lbs of 2-row and do an all-grain. 3 lbs of grains is a lot easier to work with in a small mash than 1 lb.

If you go for a full mash, I recommend taking a sample and measuring the gravity before/while boiling, to see how much you have extracted to see if you need to add any extract to get to your recipe OG.