BeerSmith Forums user recipe collaboration idea.

[Brewmex41]

Hmm... right now, this is massive beer, with a ton of malt character, potentially rather sweet, and somewhat lacking in portery-ness. I'm at an OG of 1.074 and an SRM of 19.9, calculated for my system. I fear the pale chocolate (never brewed with it, so I'm not positive) is going to be a bit stepped on by the heavy-handedness of all the malt. Don't get me wrong--I'm way more of a malthead than a hophead--but I think there needs to be enough other things going on to have this assert itself as a porter, and not just a malty brown ale.

I think I'm the only dissenting voice so far, but I'll acquiesce to the majority. Interested to see what specialty #3 will be, as that's going to dictate the nature of this beer.

What is your extract efficiency? I'm around 70% and getting 1.060

[cmbrougham]

I'm calculating at 80% efficiency for a 5 gallon batch; I fly sparge my 5 gallon batches. This is why we'll have to adjust in the end based on percentages rather than avoirdupois once the ratios are settled.

Are you calculating for a larger batch? Even if I set my efficiency to 70%, I'm still at 1.065.

[all grain]

well this is interesting. with my software I get .070. 75%E. I think that this is all part of the group experience/ collaboration thing. we all do stuff a little differently. in the end  we may have to reduce some of the amounts a little to keep in style for robust porter.   

[Brewmex41]

I should have mentioned I plan for 5.5 gallons, giving me 5 gallons in the keg.

[cmbrougham]

OK, that makes more sense.

For the purposes of designing this recipe, it might be a good idea for everyone to set the same batch size and efficiency (and maybe we should be sure to use the same malt profiles, etc.); when it comes time to implement the recipe, you can then scale appropriately to your system and efficiency. This is helpful because, especially when it comes to the hop schedule, if Hop Person 1 is looking at a 1.058 recipe and Hop Person 2 is looking at a 1.074 recipe, they are likely to make very different selections for hop variety, amount and time.

[brewfun]

I just talk to my suppler of grains about M.O malt. he gets crisp and the D.P is 140 on that so no problems converting there.

Quick note: I think you were given a Kolbach number, which isn't the same as Lintner. To be fair, there are pro brewers that don't realize there's a difference. MOPA malt is only fair to good for diastatic content. Current malt analysis for Thomas Fawcett is 63 Lin. Bairds is 55 Lin. Crisp states a minimum of 50 Lin.  This is enough to handle up to 30% non diastatic malts, as long as pH of 5.2 to 5.4 is achieved. Longer conversions can be expected outside of that range.

Edit: Crisp Malt spec sheet attached.

[Brewmex41]

Maybe once we pick the grain bill, we should jump to the mash temp.
Since that would actually come before the hop additions.

And maybe before we pick the mash temp, we should decide what we as a group want for expected original gravity and Srm with the given malts.


Do we want to assume a 5 gallon batch size then? Then I can scale my recipe up to 5.5 if I want.

[all grain]

I just talk to my suppler of grains about M.O malt. he gets crisp and the D.P is 140 on that so no problems converting there.

Quick note: I think you were given a Kolbach number, which isn't the same as Lintner. To be fair, there are pro brewers that don't realize there's a difference. MOPA malt is only fair to good for diastatic content. Current malt analysis for Thomas Fawcett is 63 Lin. Bairds is 55 Lin. Crisp states a minimum of 50 Lin.  This is enough to handle up to 30% non diastatic malts, as long as pH of 5.2 to 5.4 is achieved. Longer conversions can be expected outside of that range.

Edit: Crisp Malt spec sheet attached.

yes, I was not sure what kolbach  and lin was nor do I yet. but I'm going to brush up on the terms. when I looked at the crisp spec I did not know what it all stood for. oh well that's why were here. thanks

[Scott Ickes]

My main goal when I came up with this idea was to help both new and experienced brewers learn.  It appears we're learning.

As for the batch size, I think most of us aim for 5.5 gallons into the fermentor.  Thus, I suggest we set 5.5 gallons for the batch size.

I think having a target OG and SRM is also a good idea.  As for what those targets should be, I don't have an opinion on that. 

[Brewmex41]

Do we all agree with what we have so far?
5.5 gallons
I propose we all estimate 65% extraction efficiency because that's what Brew Your Own uses for all of their recipes and im sure there are plenty of us that subscribe to the magazine.

So far we have
Maris otter
Pale Chocolate
German Munich malts
We good?

[Scott Ickes]

I think we're good so far.  We'll give it a little more time before we move on to the third grain.

[all grain]

I'm good so far,

[Roadrocket]

I'm good so far but I'm thinking we might need to add two more grains to get a robust porter. We'll see.

I'm brewing a simple blonde ale tomorrow using Belgian Pilsner malt, a touch of carapils and some willamette. I need to take my mind off the suspense.

I've filled my HLT and I'm finishing a good shot of Laphroaig before I go to bed.

[drb1215]

+1 on the Munich

As far as the recipe goes, we can create a baseline equipment profile that everyone can use to "build" the recipe.  From there, once everything is plugged in (grains, hops, yeast) we will be able to see the SRM, OG, IBU, and most importantly the percentages of each grain.  All this will allow for ease of scaling to your particular setup.

Since I'm throwing out the idea of a "baseline" equipment profile...here are some suggestions:

Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Loss to Trub and Chiller: 0.5 gal
Batch Volume: 5.5 gal
Fermenter Loss: 0.5 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Calculate Boil Vol Auto: Checked

The other values ( Mash/Lauter Tun, Boil off, etc) you can plug in from your own experience.

Thoughts?

-Dan

[Scott Ickes]

Time to move on.  I did take the suggestion to move the Mash Profile up in the order.

About possibly adding other grains, we'll debate that after we lock in Brewmex41's grain selection.

Here is where we're at:

DRB1215                           Style of recipe to be designed.                            Chose Robust Porter
Road Rocket                      Base Grain and quantity.                                    Chose 10 lbs. of Maris Otter Malt
All Grain                            Specialty grain and quantity.                              Chose 1 lb. of Pale Chocolate Malt
Scott Ickes                       Second specialty grain and quantity.                    Chose 1.5 lbs. of Munich Malt
Brewmex41                      Third specialty grain and quantity.
Grathan                            Mash Profile.
WinnepegFats                  First hop type, quantity and time added.
Billy Brew                         Second hop type, quantity and time added.
Bucknut                           Third hop type, quantity and time added.
CMBrougham                   Yeast selection.

Brewmex41:  You're up!