After judging the last BAM Style-of-the-quarter competition, we were discussing ideas for the next quarter, and I threw out smoked beer. Everyone liked the thought, so I have to enter. Running out of time, I figured let’s try a tried-and-true recipe and see what we make of it. This will also be the last batch on the stovetop system.

Brewer’s Notes

Mash was uneventful, stayed within 5F of 150F for 90 minutes. Mashed in at 160. Had to go with a very large grain bill in order to get the smoke flavor, so this meant low efficiency. 3 Gallons of wort came out to 1.035. Upped the DME from the scheduled recipe to 2lbs to compensate, and reduced the final volume to 4 gallons. Final OG should be about 1.059 (note: ended up at 1.062). At the end of the boil, the product was a lighter color than I remember, more dark brown / mahogany than black, with a large amount of solids. Some smoke in aroma. Don’t get much in the taste, but it is strong in the aftertaste, followed by the hops at the very end. A little bitterness burn, but not much. Val tastes tobacco, coffee. Balanced with sweetness. The wort did not cool down as much as desired, so let it sit for about 8 hours before pitching. Ran out of O2, so shook for a minute to oxygenate.

OG: 1.062 @ 80F, target 1.058
FG: 1.016 @ 75F, target 1.016

Fermenting Notes

Primary

Target Temperature range: 70F
Average: 73.00F
Standard Deviation: 4.37

smoked_porter_primary

8.10.2015 – 1.016 @ 70F – Racked to secondary. Light smoky aroma, sweet on first taste with smoke present, but not overpowering. Bacony finish. Aging will help quite a bit. Color is mohogany, ruby on edges. Beer needs at least 2 weeks of aging and appropriate carbonation to even it out. Should make for a nice beer when done.

Secondary

Target Temperature range: 70F
Average: 70.84F
Standard Deviation: 0.60

smoked_porter_secondary

8.18.2015 – 1.016 @ 74F – Racked to keg. Cherrywood really comes out in aroma. Lasting smoke flavor and aftertaste. Color hasn’t changed – dark red. Roast barley is totally overwhelmed by smoke, but not so much smoke as to be unappealing. Beer tastes one-dimensional, however, and needs more hopping to balance or layer on the smoke. Finished very dry with notes of beechwood rausch malt. In general it’s a good start to a beer, but needs additional flavors to be a good beer. Will age for a month and carbonate at 12.5psi for 2.3vols.

Tasting Notes

Recipe