Is it a Porter? – Maybe not, but it’s awesome

This recipe began as a porter, and ended up as something…. interesting. Don’t be misled, I don’t mean interesting in a bad way; this recipe was delicious from the first bottle that I cracked open. The recipe began with a random porter recipe that I found on www.beerrecipes.org, but when I got to the store I had to heavily modify the ingredients.. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the resulting brew was a big hit with everyone who tried it.

The recipe is as follows:

Steep grains in 3 gal of 150 degree water:

• 1 lb Crystal 80
• 1/2 lb Chocolate 225
• 1/2 lb Carapils

Mix in Malt and bring to a boil:

• 6.5 lbs Light LME
• 1 lb Amber DME

Make the following additions to the boil:

• 1 oz. Northern Brewer for the 60 minutes
• .5 oz. Cascade for 30 minutes
• 1 tsp irish moss for 10 minutes
• .5 oz. Cascade for the last 5 minutes

Cool with a wort chiller to below 90 degrees, add to a carboy, and fill to 5.5 gal with water.

Add yeast and mix:

• WYEAST 1272 (American II)

The resulting brew had a great taste after only 2 weeks in a bottle, but the longer it sat, the better it was. After a month, the beer had a nice smooth mouthfeel, with a malty finish, a toasted chocolate taste and a hoppy bite. Given the carapils and the Light LME, and the addition of the chocolate 225, the color was somewhere between an amber and a porter.