Lucky for me I had just picked up the ingredients to make a smoked porter. With dry yeast to boot since I was not expecting to brew and so had not made a liquid yeast starter. I've been wanting to brew this recipe for a while now - it is essentially the "Fireside Smoked Porter" I made a few years ago that turned out spectacularly. I tweaked it slightly this time around - Chinook hops instead of Columbus (which was my original idea the first time except that back then I couldn't get any Chinook), more smoked malt, and just a touch more black malt (partly to darken it up a tad more, but mostly because doing so completed a numeric pattern in the grain weights...see recipe below...yes, I am that kind of guy).
Brew day went pretty well, except that my mash pH came out on the low side unexpectedly. I use store bought spring water and have been using an old water report I got from the company as the basis for my salt additions. It is possible the water has changed enough over the years to make a difference here. I'll have to ask for a new report. I am not overly concerned about this, though my efficiency was a little lower than normal. I also ended up with 1 little more volume than I intended, leaving my OG a little lower than I was shooting for.
I have to admit that I wish I had brewed this beer a couple months ago - it would be nice to be drinking something like this during the current "arctic outbreak".
Snow Day Porter (Fireside 2.0)
brewed on 1/22/14
Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 4 gal
Estimated Color: 30.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 49.1
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.013
ABV: 5.1%
Grist
4 lbs Pale Malt - 50.8 %
2 lbs Smoked Malt (Weyermann) - 25.4 %
1 lbs Munich I (Weyermann) - 12.7 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Wheat (Weyermann) (415.0 SRM) - 6.3 %
4.0 oz Honey Malt - 3.2 %
2.0 oz Black Malt (500.0 SRM) - 1.6 %
Hops
6 g Chinook [13.90 %] - 60.0 min
14 g Chinook [13.90 %] - 30.0 min
14 g Willamette [4.80 %] - 15.0 min
14 g Willamette [4.80 %] - 1.0 min
Misc
0.5 oz oak cubes (medium toast, Hungarian) - in primary
Yeast
Safale American (Fermentis #US-05)
Mash Schedule
Single infusion, 152°F, batch sparge
