I've been thinking about brewing a smoked porter for quite a while. A couple of things that have been holding me back are trying to figure out exactly how much smoked malt to use and what type of smoked malt to use.
There are several types of smoked malt. I don't particularly care for the flavor of peat smoked malt, so that left me with two options based on the inventory at my local homebrew shop:
- Weyermann Rauchmalz
- Cherrywood smoked malt
I tasted both and decided the Rauchmalz was more of the flavor I was looking for.
Now I just needed to figure out how much to use. Recommendations were all over the board, from a few ounces, up to 50% of the grist. My goal with this beer was to produce a porter with a smoked flavor, but not be overbearing with the smokiness. Similar to my analysis of session IPA's, I decided to look at a database of recipes and see what others have done.
For my analysis, I specifically looked at all-grain recipes with "smoke" and "porter" in the title, and had some amount of non-peat smoked malt. I ended up with 391 recipes. In order to minimize variations in equipment and batch size, I decided to compare the percentage of the total grist bill that was smoked malt.
The statistics:
min: 0.451127819548872
max: 91.4285714285714
mean: 18.9657956023122
median: 16
standard deviation: 14.3171721907439
sample size: 391
And the distribution:
0: ▇ 1
1: ▇▇▇ 2
2: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 5
3: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 15
4: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 17
5: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 8
6: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 10
7: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 26
8: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 16
9: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 15
10: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 14
11: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 17
12: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 16
13: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 8
14: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 8
15: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 9
16: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 12
17: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 10
18: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 20
19: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 19
20: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 15
21: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 12
22: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 4
23: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 10
24: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 8
25: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 7
26: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 6
27: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 4
28: ▇▇▇ 2
29: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 6
30: ▇▇▇▇▇ 3
31: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 4
32: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 4
33: ▇ 1
34: ▇ 1
35: ▇▇▇ 2
36: ▇▇▇▇▇ 3
37: ▇▇▇ 2
38: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 5
39: ▇ 1
40: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 4
41: ▇▇▇ 2
42: ▇ 1
43: ▇▇▇ 2
44: ▇▇▇▇▇ 3
46: ▇ 1
47: ▇▇▇ 2
48: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 8
49: ▇ 1
50: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 6
51: ▇ 1
52: ▇▇▇ 2
53: ▇ 1
56: ▇ 1
58: ▇ 1
59: ▇▇▇ 2
64: ▇▇▇ 2
67: ▇ 1
75: ▇ 1
91: ▇ 1
Looking at the data, I decided I would use about 15% Weyermann Rauchmalz in my recipe. I figure at that amount, I should get a flavor that's a little bit more present than just blending into the background, but not so overbearing that it tastes like you licked an ash tray. If it turns out I guessed wrong, I'll at least know if I need to add or remove smoked malt on my next iteration.
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 13.61 gal
Post Boil Volume: 12.48 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 10.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG
Estimated Color: 27.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
12 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 47.2 %
4 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 15.1 %
4 lbs Smoked Malt (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 15.1 %
2 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 4 7.5 %
2 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5 7.5 %
2 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 6 7.5 %
2.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 25.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg London Ale (White Labs #WLP013) [35.49 m Yeast 8 -
Mash
----
Mash at 158 degrees F for 60 minutes, followed by a 10 minute mash out at 168 degrees F.
Fermentation
------------
Fermented at 18 degrees C for the first week, raised to 22 degrees C until cold crashing and packaging.
I brewed the above recipe on May 15, 2016. My OG was 1.060 missing my target by just a few points (not sure why). After four weeks the beer was down to 1.020, giving an ABV of 5.2%, apparent attenuation of 66.6%, and 205 calories per 12 oz.
The result? It's quite tasty. The level of smokiness is perfect for my palate. Plenty of mouthfeel. I don't think I'd change anything if I decided to brew it again. I was really impressed with how well WLP013 dropped out of suspension...I can't wait to try this yeast strain again in a lighter colored beer so I can see just how clear it can get on its own without the use of gelatin.