Robust Rye Porter

The second beer of my first Salt Lake brewday was another dark beer to welcome the coming cooler months (which haven’t really made much of an appearance here yet).  I love porters with good chocolate notes and restrained but present roast; Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald and Founders Porter are always welcome in my glass.  Along with those specifications, I also wanted to include a (nearly obligatory now) significant portion of rye.  This is a recipe I’ve had on the books for quite some time, and I’m happy to have had the opportunity to finally brew it.

The base of this beer was equal parts 2-row and rye malt, with nearly as much brown malt for a “classic” porter toastiness.  The 2-row I got here is from Malteurop; according to my new LHBS, they preferred it in a side-by-side brewing with Rahr’s 2-row, which is a bit more expensive; at some point I’ll make something lighter and more pale malt-forward to check for myself, but for now it’s worked out just fine.  The small amount of black patent and American chocolate (lighter in colour and flavour than UK chocolate) add to that restrained roast presence.  Northern Brewer hops provide solid bitterness and perhaps a touch of mint, and the WLP007 ferments out well.

Other than some mash hangups in the second sparge, the brewing went well.  I got a late start with the starter--sadly, the pun is unintended--so in lieu of waiting too long after brewing to pitch, I picked up a second vial of yeast to start off things, then pitched the starter when it was ready to go.  The higher gravity (as compared to the dry stout) will help to pass the coming colder nights.  I love hoppy beers, but I’m looking forward to enjoying these dark, malty treats as the leaves change.

Robust Rye Porter
Batch size: 5 gallons
Projected OG: 1.060
Projected SRM: 33.3
Projected IBU: 45.6
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 80%

Grains
34.8% - 4 lb 2-row
34.8% - 4 lb Rye
26% - 3 lb Brown malt
2.2% - 4 oz Black patent
2.2% - 4 oz American chocolate

Hops
1 oz Northern Brewer (10.5%) (60 min)
.5 oz Northern Brewer (15 min)

Yeast
WLP007 Dry English Ale - 3.5L starter

Water additions (mash)
6 qts RO water

Brewday: 3 September 2011
Mash-in: 14.5 qts @ 154F for 2 hours - dropped to 148F
Pre-boil volume: 6 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 11.8P (1.047)

Into swamp cooler at 65F; waiting for starter to settle out for pitching.

Still waiting for the starter to finish out 20 hours later, so pitched a second (much fresher) tube of 007 for now.

Pitched the starter 27 hours after chilling.

Bottled: 24 September 2011
FG: 1.018

ABV: 5.5%
Bottled 4.8 gallons with 3.5 oz table sugar.