Marchfest ’23 Porter

Based on the LOB adaptation of the ‘Nick Danger’ porter recipe (original by Denny Conn) which I previously brewed at Marchfest in 2019. This turned out to be a really nice porter when I made it before so I thought it was time to do it again. My main deviations from the LOB version are hops, yeast and mash temperature. I used a smaller amount (50g) of a higher alpha hops, Waimea, instead of  the low alpha Tettnang hops for the first 2 additions. For yeast I chose Voss Kveik because it’s ideal for Marchfest brewing as it’s not possible to get the pitching temp down to ideal pitching temps for the usual ale yeasts by water cooling alone. I went with a very high mash temp, ~74°, as that worked out great in my previous low alcohol brew as a strategy for reducing alcohol.

Brew Notes

Strike water: 20L @ 78°
Mash: 74.5° (start) – 71.5° (end) – let mash run for about an hour
Sparge water: 13.5L
Vol in kettle after mash: ~32L
SG after mash: 13.2 Brix, 1.053
30 min boil
koppafloc 1/8 tsp @15 min

OG: 14.3 Brix, 1.058
Cooled to 24° and pitched Voss Kveik dry
Fermentation going strong next morning when I picked it up from Founders
No temperature control – was around 24° on Sunday and fermentation at full throttle. Pressure rose to almost 40psi before I attached spunding valve!
By Monday fermentation had slowed down and temp dropped to 22°.
Sampled it Monday night – already drinkable beer, tasting good!
Tuesday – put temp up to 28° to help finish it off.
Saturday – start cold crash
Monday – kegged. I was having some problems with closed transfer similar to previous beer. Problem was the tap washer under the post. After I removed the tap washer, the transfer went fine.

Final gravity ended up at a whopping 1.030! (as a result of the high mash temp). But tastes great and not at all like a lower alcohol beer.

Style Information

Name: Robust Porter
Recipe Type: All Grain

Grains & Extracts

Name Amount Notes
Pale Ale Malt 4.5 kg
Gladfield Munich Malt 0.675 kg
Gladfield Medium Crystal 0.45 kg
Gladfield Light Chocolate Malt 0.34 kg
Gladfield Dark Crystal Malt 0.18 kg
Gladfield Shepherds Delight 0.09 kg
Gladfield Roast Barley 0.06 kg

Hops

Name Amount Alpha Acid % AAU Time Notes
Waimea 0.02 kg 14.6% 0.292 30
Waimea 0.03 kg 14.6% 0.438 15
Cascade 0.05 kg 7.8% 0.39 8

Adjuncts

Name Type Use Amount Time Notes
Baking Soda Water Agent Mash 1g minutes
Calcium Chloride Water Agent Boil 2g
Gypsum Water Agent Boil 2g minutes
Koppafloc Fining Boil 1g 15 mins

Yeasts

Name Amount Notes
Lallemand LalBrew Voss Kveik

Mash Steps

Name Step Type Step Time Temperature
Saccharification Rest Infusion 45 67 C

Boil

Amount: 27.3 liters
Water Description:
Time: 30 minutes
Target Batch Size: 26 liters

Profile

Estimated OG: 1.058
Estimated FG: 1.015
Estimated ABV: 5.64%
 
Actual OG: 1.058
Actual FG: 1.030
Actual ABV: 3.68%
 

Tasting notes

Tasted great, like the porter I brewed in 2019 as far as I remember. No obvious impact from the high mashing temp and high finishing gravity.

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