Day 4: Chocolate Maple Porter by Steve Latham

[Scott H]

Chocolate Maple Porter by Steve Latham

Recipe:
6 lbs Pale 2-row (US)
1.5 lbs Chocolate Malt
1 lb Black Patent
1 lb Caramel 10 Malt

Mashed at 152f

1.5 oz Fuggles @ 60 min
0.5 oz Fuggles @ 15 min
3 cups maple syrup at flameout

Wyeast London Ale III (1318)

Notes from the brewer:
Overall I'm not as impressed as I have been with this recipe in the past. This is the first attempt at all grain though.

This was supposed to be a Chocolate Maple porter but it ended up more like a Chocolate stout. This brew (last time) had a very pronounced chocolate flavor to start with a subtle hint of maple at the end. Pretty sweet, but not overly so. In this first attempt of this recipe as all grain there is plenty of chocolate, but I guess the maple didn't make it though the ferment process.

WARNING: I just opened one of these and it foamed pretty good. No bombs, but should be opened over a sink.

[Allen H]

Based on what you said going extract to all grain, I would keep the recipe the same but cut the black patent down to .5 lb, or even .25 lb. That stuff is potent especially with that account of chocolate. I think that might work but you need to brew it again before determining that. Only change 1 thing at a time.

I had a gusher as well and not sure if there was some mild infection going on, but I tasted mostly all of that dark malt. It seemed like a good base though and I'm interested to see what would come out of an adjusted rebrew.

I drank about half the bottle, which was what was left lol, and was just trying to figure out what to suggest. Now that I see the recipe it clears up my thoughts. Hell, I might adjust this and brew it myself just to see the final product or set up a trade with you later.

Cheers!

[jtbrewcrafter]

Overall I found this a good brew. I enjoyed it. I did note slight twang at the end but thats personal and I get it in pretty much all porters, due to the malt bill. Overall I enjoyed this one .

I drank half of this alone and then mixed the other half with the Ginger Snap Cookie Ale from yesterday. The affect it had on that was quite pleasing. Then I drank them both. Score for me. Two for one..

Overall it was enjoyable on two fronts. Great job.

[brackelby]

I had a little extra foam in the bottle, but it didn't over flow. Just slightly more carbonated than I would expect for the style, but still a nice brew never the less. For me, the amount of chocolate is perfect. Overall, very nice.

I also followed the earlier advice and did a mix with the Ginger Snap Ale. Great combo. I think I'm going to try mix and match those recipes for next year. Or maybe do half batches and mix them in a keg.

[Renee]

My bottle also didn't overflow, but was still overcarbonated. I really enjoyed the dark malts in this one. It also went well with the Ginger Snap Cookie beer.

[antonia]

Steve - thanks for this one. Definitely more stout than porter - it's dark, roasty and dry. I'm not sure I really get the maple, but the chocolate and black patent malts are very present, which I enjoy. Having read the overcarb comments, I poured mine carefully/slowly, and I let it sit for an hour before drinking, which helped with the carbonation a bit and allowed me to taste it better than I did in my first sip.

I'm enjoying this one! And may look into trying to brew this in the future.

[spidermonk]

I like this one a lot. Great job. It kind of reminds me of a mild stout, but then there is an extra fun kick at the end which I think is a mix of the over carbonation plus the maple syrup. Its kind of a light feeling on the tongue, which is nice for a stout. Mine only slightly overflowed the bottle and I was able to get most of it in the glass with a big head. Big malt flavor and lot of chocolate tones too.

[Chris Creech]

I like the recipe and the maple definitely comes through, but it's over carbonated for sure. There is something a little funky in the aroma that I can't quite place. My worry is that the over carbonation, the dryness, and the slightly spicy aroma could all be caused by a mild or early stage infection. But that is not necessarily the case. You may have just fermented at a slightly too warm temperature, resulting in the spicy phenols. And it could be the high % of black patent and chocolate malt that is causing the dry astringency - try reducing those a bit next time.

Upfront, the flavor is quite nice, thick, roasty, with a hint of maple. But the carbonation and astringency quickly rush that away and it finishes with a dry bite.

Try fermenting cooler, lowering the black and chocolate malts, give it plenty of time to age and finish carbonating, and be extra careful with all of your sanitation methods.

[Brandi]

Mine did have a little overflow and had to hold over the sink. I also could taste the chocolate but the lingering tastes lasted a little longer than the initial flavors. I think it is a rich beer.

I did the day 3 and 4 mashup experiment. Cool mix of bringing both beers to a new profile.
Thanks for sharing the porter and resurrecting some of the ginger snap.

Brandi.
.

[klinger]

I didn't get a gusher here but I was still glad I knew of the problem & had glasses ready -- it started to barely foam out of the bottle as I was beginning to pour.

I found this to be more of a dry stout than a porter -- super roasty, extremely dry. I didn't get much maple coming through, but my wife thought it was there, detectable. My personal guess is that if you left out the Black Patent completely, you'd end up with a beer that had lots of chocolate, but without the dry espresso/stout character -- something closer to a porter.

I enjoyed this beer a lot though as an amped up dry Irish stout.

Thanks,

Mark

[talb0t]

Thanks for all the info everyone!  I appreciate the tips and advise.

Being that this was the first attempt of this recipe as all grain I'm not terribly disappointed, but it wasn't what I was looking for by any means.

I don't get the over carb issue.  Everything was cleaned and sanitized properly, but an infection seems to be the most likely culprit.

I'm definitely going to tweak this a little more and give it another shot.

[bryan]

Steve - I only lost a couple ounces to overflow, which I was thankful for. I really enjoyed this beer.

As pointed out, it struck me more stout than porter, especially given the dryness. More Irish than anything else, I guess. The maple was hidden behind everything else, but I like the dry astringency.

I'd agree with the malt bill tweaks others suggest, but I don't think you're too far off from a great beer.

Thanks for making and sharing with us.

[Heiko R.]

I finally around to tasting your porter. As others I had a bit of gushing but was well prepared and saved it in a bowl :-)
I did not pick up that much of the maple, but enjoyed the chocolate which went well with the dryness. There were a few more roasted notes of a dry stout than in a porter. Overall I enjoyed your beer (especially after letting it sit for a little while). Thanks for sharing.