For my next batch of brew, I would like to make a nice smokey porter. I want something with a hint of smoke and a slight chocolate aftertaste. Nothing really heavy in either department. Has anyone put together a good recipie or found a good kit? I don’t do all grain or yet, but I do like the affects and flavors that I get with the extract and grain brews as opposed to the all extract brews.
I recently had some that was given to me, no recipie or kit name was provided. It was really good but it hit you like a ton of bricks with the initial smokey flavor and then kind of mellowed out after the second or third gulp. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
“Never argue with a fool in a crowd cause after about 2 minutes the crowd can’t tell who the original fool was.”
I would try steeping a little smoked malt (maybe 0.5-1 pound depending on how fresh it is) together with other specialty grains and base malt you’d use for your porter (look at some NB recipes and see what one you like). That’ll give you some smoke.
I recently used 1 pound of peat smoked malt in an IPA with 8.5 pounds of other grains (probably same as ~5-6 pounds of extract) and the smoke was pronounced. Not very strong or in your face, but definitely there.
As for chocolaty taste, age your porter on cocoa nibs in secondary. I’ve done that and it was unmistakably chocolaty.
I appreciate your response. I realized after I posted that there was a better place to have made my post. I am going to try your suggestion with my next brew.
I guess it is like the old saying “Think before you speak”, it Could also be “Read before you post”
Northern Brewer’s Bourbon barrel porter is really good simply as a porter- even without the addition of the oak cubes or bourbon. You might check out the recipe at the link below and tweak it/scale it back a little. If you did not want something quite that heavy, you could scale back a touch on the malt extract. Add some smoked malt to the steeping grain (I would use weyerman, personally, I am not a fan of the peated malt - although I have not used it as a “steeping” grain - just in full mash) and use the “medium toast plus” oak cubes in secondary for 2-4 weeks to add some roast/smoke flavor. This is among my favorite beers. Can take a little longer to mellow out - but it is really a great beer.
