Scott Shurr's all-grain beer recipe page - porter

Courter Porter

• 9 lbs. Briess 2 row American Klages malt
• 1 lb. Munich malt
• 1/2 lb. American 6 row crystal malt (40L)
• 1/2 lb. American 6 row black patent malt (520L)
• 1/2 lb. American 6 row chocolate malt (400L)
• 1 oz. Willamette hops plugs
• 1 oz. Tettnanger hops plugs
• 1 tsp. gypsum
• Wyeast 1098 British ale yeast
• 8 gallons water, filtered or pre-boiled
• 3/4 cup corn sugar or 1 1/2 cups dehydrated malt extract, for priming

Activate the yeast so that it is ready to go 1 day before brewing. Add yeast to starter solution so that starter is ready to go on brewing day. Heat 2 1/2 gallons water to 135 degrees and add 1 tsp gypsum. Combine with crushed grains. Hold at 115-125 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Add another 1 1/4 gallons water at 200 degrees. Hold between 145-155 degrees for at least 60 minutes. Sparge with remaining water at 170-180 degrees. Boil for 60 minutes. Add Willamette hops at beginning of boil. Add Tettnanger for final 7 minutes. Cool, combine in carboy with yeast starter. After fermentation has slowed (no more than 1 week), rack to secondary. To prime, stir corn sugar or extract into 1 1/2 cups of boiling wort, and combine with the rest of the wort before bottling

O.G. 1.052
F.G. 1.014

Judge's comments

• Fruity nose- OK. Some roastiness.
• Good for style.
• Oxidation, some sweetness underneath.

• Good color: black/red. Good head and clarity.
• Good color. Nice head.
• Beautiful color, nice head, nice small bubbles.

• Malt is there, but fades quickly. Needs more hop bitterness and black patent character. Also, more malt. For short, more malt!
• Light on the hops and malt- good conditioning balance- is fair- again it could use more malt and hops.
• Tastes like a primarily an extract with a touch of chocolate. It's very sweet, but it lacks character.

• A bit thin for style.
• Good for style- perhaps some more malt.
• Medium to thin.

• Drinks well- no major flaws- but is too thin for style. Use more malt and more hops for bitterness.
• Nice beer. Lacking body.
• It's OK. It needs more malt adjuncts and hops. It's slightly oxidised, but otherwise, it's a recipe problem- more adjuncts, a little more attenuation.