Chocolate Vanilla Porter - a few questions...

[melhaer]

Hey, Guys,

After 5-6 extract "brews", it is time to do my first All Grain with my brand new Brew Monk Magnus.

I picked a Chocolate Vanilla Porter as it needs a longer maturing and I hope it will become great for the winter days and Christmas.

I took the recipe from brewers friend - https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/712830/chocolate-vanilla-porter - and scaled it to 35 liters with Brewfather as this is the capacity of my current feremnters.

However as I am not all grain experienced.

I have a questions about the mash steps (marked in orange):

Is it normal the second mash step to be at 100 degrees,

and what does the third step means - to volume - 8 gallons — 79.4 °C — 45 min

here is the recipe itself:


Chocolate Vanilla Porter - 2018
Robust Porter

5.9% / 14.7 °P


Recipe by

1-2-13

All Grain


Imported
73% efficiency

Batch Volume: 35 L

Boil Time: 75 min


Mash Water: 23.6 L

Sparge Water: 43.96 L

Total Water: 67.56 L

Boil Volume: 60.57 L

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.036


Vitals
Original Gravity: 1.060

Final Gravity: 1.015

IBU (Tinseth): 29

Color: 66 EBC


Mash


rest at 155-156 — 79.4 °C — 60 min

rest at 165 - mashout — 100 °C — 15 min

to volume - 8 gallons — 79.4 °C — 45 min


Malts (8.739 kg)
3.495 kg (35.6%) — Pale 2-Row — Grain — 3.5 EBC

2.098 kg (21.4%) — Brown — Grain — 128 EBC

1.398 kg (14.2%) — Munich - Light 10L — Grain — 19.7 EBC

699 g (7.1%) — Caramel / Crystal 10L — Grain — 19.7 EBC

699 g (7.1%) — Chocolate — Grain — 690 EBC

350 g (3.6%) — Carapils (Dextrine Malt) — Grain — 3.5 EBC


Other (1.084 kg)
699 g (7.1%) — Flaked Oats — Adjunct — 4.3 EBC

210 g (2.1%) — Corn Sugar - Dextrose — Sugar — 1 EBC

175 g (1.8%) — Brown Sugar — Sugar — 29.5 EBC


Hops (103.6 g)
38.2 g (16 IBU) — East Kent Goldings 5.4% — Boil — 60 min

32.7 g (11 IBU) — East Kent Goldings 5.4% — Boil — 30 min

32.7 g (2 IBU) — Willamette 4.7% — Boil — 5 min


Miscs
273.465 ml — organic cocoa powder — Boil — 15 min

7.598 ml — yeast nutrient — Boil — 15 min

45.58 ml — pure vanilla extract — Boil — 0 min

770.586 g — Vanilla bean — Secondary


Yeast
77.1 ml — Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale 1084


Fermentation
Primary — 20 °C — 14 days


Carbonation: 2.4 CO2-vol


1800 mil starter dissolve cocoa powder with 5 oz corn sugar in 1 qt hot water to make syrup.Add syrup 45 minutes into the boil. 2-3 vanilla beans soaked for a week in rum added to secondary. This beer finished at 1.020 due to the unfermentables and high mash temp. The F.G was 5.0 a bit lower than expected.Efficiency was way off. In my 14 years of brewing this is my personal favorite beer. Head retention and lacing last to the bottom of the glass. Batch #2 finished at 1.015 and shows in final ABV.This is where I want this beer to finish,it is more to the style. Brewhouse efficiency was around 62% in first batch.Batch #2 was 73% which is about right for my system. ABV 5.70 nice winter beer with some alcohol warmth.First batch was thin. Chewy,nice chocolate-coffee flavors with a touch of vanilla. I`ve made 4 batch`s of this and found that this last batch from 1-2-14 has hit it`s peak after 4 months. The longer it ages the better it gets. Batch 3 and 4 I made this year (2014) Jan. and April.I`ve got it dialed in at 5.70 ABV and recipe is solid at 70% efficiency.If you try this recipe I hope you have good luck with it.The rum and vanilla beans are what make this standout for the final taste and richness.I would recommend to age at least 2 months. Great Holiday brew - enjoy- - Cheers -

 

[Ben034]

I think the person uploading the recipe did not have the option to raise the mash temp with their system so the recipe indicates that they are adding boiling water at the end of the mash step (68c) to increase the temp to mash out temps.

"Mash out" is when you raise the temp at the end of the main mash step to end the breakdown of enzymes in he mash and makes it somewhat easier to wash all the sugars from the grains. I wouldn't bother with this if it's your first all grain brew. A lot of people don't bother with it at all.

However, if you have an all in one system you can set the temp to 76c after mashing at 68c for an hour. Hold for 10 mins and then continue with your sparge step.

Also - are you sure your system can hold 60l of wort before the boil? Not familiar with the system you're using but a quick search suggests it's 52l capacity max?

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Mel, I have only just got into ag brewing, that's is a big first recipe personally I would go for something a little less involved, no doubt others on here will guide you

 

[melhaer]

Also - are you sure your system can hold 60l of wort before the boil? Not familiar with the system you're using but a quick search suggests it's 52l capacity max?

Thanks, you are right, I rescaled the original recipe with base Brew Monk 50, removed and edited the mash steps, so now the volume is 51.99, can you check please if now looks good?


Chocolate Vanilla Porter - 2018
Robust Porter

5.9% / 14.7 °P


Recipe by

1-2-13

All Grain


Hopcat / Brew Monk 50L
75% efficiency

Batch Volume: 35 L

Boil Time: 60 min


Mash Water: 29.27 L

Sparge Water: 22.72 L

Total Water: 51.99 L

Boil Volume: 43.82 L

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.052


Vitals
Original Gravity: 1.060

Final Gravity: 1.015

IBU (Tinseth): 29

Color: 62.5 EBC


Mash


Rest — 68 °C — 60 min

Mashout — 76 °C — 10 min


Malts (8.506 kg)
3.402 kg (35.5%) — Pale 2-Row — Grain — 3.5 EBC

2.042 kg (21.3%) — Brown — Grain — 128 EBC

1.361 kg (14.2%) — Munich - Light 10L — Grain — 19.7 EBC

680 g (7.1%) — Caramel / Crystal 10L — Grain — 19.7 EBC

680 g (7.1%) — Chocolate — Grain — 690 EBC

341 g (3.6%) — Carapils (Dextrine Malt) — Grain — 3.5 EBC


Other (1.065 kg)
680 g (7.1%) — Flaked Oats — Adjunct — 4.3 EBC

210 g (2.2%) — Corn Sugar - Dextrose — Sugar — 1 EBC

175 g (1.8%) — Brown Sugar — Sugar — 29.5 EBC


Hops (118.1 g)
52.7 g (18 IBU) — East Kent Goldings 5.4% — Boil — 60 min

32.7 g (9 IBU) — East Kent Goldings 5.4% — Boil — 30 min

32.7 g (2 IBU) — Willamette 4.7% — Boil — 5 min


Miscs
273.465 ml — organic cocoa powder — Boil — 15 min

7.598 ml — yeast nutrient — Boil — 15 min

45.58 ml — pure vanilla extract — Boil — 0 min

770.586 g — Vanilla bean — Secondary


Yeast
77.1 ml — Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale 1084


Fermentation
Primary — 20 °C — 14 days


Carbonation: 2.4 CO2-vol

 

[melhaer]

Hi Mel, I have only just got into ag brewing, that's is a big first recipe personally I would go for something a little less involved, no doubt others on here will guide you

Yes, I also feel the recipe is complicated as a first try, but I want to prepare some good beer for Christmas for home and also for the colleagues in the office, and as porter needs more time to maure, that's why I would like to do it now, so I will have about 4 months for secondary.

 

[JonBrew]

A word of warning about Brewers Friend: it you don't change your settings it defaults to all your recipes being shared so that anyone can see them online. So what you end up with a lot of possibly questionable recipes, i.e. you don't know if the person who's created it knows what they're doing or if they've just been tinkering etc. Don't get me wrong, there will be some good ones and it might be a good way of getting some inspiration but if you're new to AG and looking for solid recipes I'd suggest using books, online magazine sites - such as AHA, BYO, Beer & Brewing etc, and forums such as this one and homebrew talk (where you can see if the recipe has been well rated/tried and tested.

In terms of this recipe, I'm wary of the amount of vanilla bean suggested which I'm guessing is a typo but even if it was meant to be 77g that still seems like it could be a lot.

https://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/formulating-and-brewing-winning-chocolate-porter

The above link provides a really good breakdown of brewing exactly the beer you're looking to make. Alternatively, find a really good porter recipe and add cocoa nibs and vanilla to the secondary.

 

[melhaer]

@JonBrew thanks! I will check it!

 

[chrisb8]

Another thing to bear in mind is that many brew pots etc seem to quote an unrealistic maximum capacity given the fact that if filled to that level may be at risk of boiling over. I certainly wouldn't want to fill my boiler to the max line for the boil.

 

[melhaer]

Another thing to bear in mind is that many brew pots etc seem to quote an unrealistic maximum capacity given the fact that if filled to that level may be at risk of boiling over. I certainly wouldn't want to fill my boiler to the max line for the boil.

Yes, actually the Brew Monk Magnus is described as 45 liters batch size, 52 liters boil volume, but in the Brewfather app, the batch size is limited to 42 liters...may e because of the fact you mentioned.

In my case I will try to have 35 liters bath size as this is the capacity of the fermenters I have.

 

[melhaer]

Following @JonBrew advice I found a medal winning porter and it is already in the fermenters:)

For 35 liters I am planning to add for secondary about 60 grams cocoa, and and also vanilla extract (hard to find beans in the locals tores) soaked into rum.

However, I am not sure about the vanilla/rum proportions - any suggestions would more than welcomed:)

Cheers!

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

Mash temps all over the place here...

Try thick mash .....around 2.3/2.5 lit per kg

Mash temperature 68deg.

Mash out 76 deg +/_1deg.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Its been a while since the member visited


melhaer

Joined Jun 3, 2019

Last seen Apr 3, 2020