Baltic porter - oak ageing

ezraburke · Sep 16, 2015

Ok, next gambit is a Baltic porter with some bourbon soaked oak chips in the secondary. Recipe below, but my worry is lager yeast.... We've never used lager yeast and I'd appreciate some tips.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Big Bourbon

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Baltic Porter
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 10 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 13.5 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.057
Efficiency: 70% (ending kettle)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.077
Final Gravity: 1.020
ABV (standard): 7.42%
IBU (tinseth): 46.82
SRM (morey): 39.24

FERMENTABLES:
2.5 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (70%)
400 g - United Kingdom - Munich (11.2%)
200 g - United Kingdom - Brown (5.6%)
185 g - United Kingdom - Crystal 140L (5.2%)
100 g - United Kingdom - Chocolate (2.8%)
86.09 g - United Kingdom - Crystal 60L (2.4%)
100 g - German - Carafa II (2.8%)

HOPS:
12.5 g - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 44.66
5 g - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 2.16

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
20 g - Bourbon Chips, Time: 0 min, Type: Spice, Use: Secondary

rodabod · Sep 16, 2015

Looks good. I was just researching the Fullers London Porter ingredients earlier. I've not tried oak chips, but I've heard they are easy to overdo.

Why do you want to use lager yeast? Do you have the necessary fridge for lagering?

MyQul · Sep 16, 2015

rodabod said:
Why do you want to use lager yeast?

Baltic Porter is not like other porters. It's made with a porter recipe but brewed like a lager (using lager yeast and fermented/conditioned like a lager).

ezraburke · Sep 16, 2015

MyQul nailed it - I don't have the fridge so wondering what the next steps might be.

rodabod · Sep 16, 2015

A beer type I've never heard of. I'm excited! I'll have a read online about them. Let me know if there are any recommended examples for sale.

In the absence of facilities to lager, I'd guess you could try something neutral like everyone's favourite US-05, or maybe Koelsch yeast if you can ferment cool.

ezraburke · Sep 16, 2015

Koelsch sounds interesting - lagering without the temp control.

rodabod · Sep 16, 2015

It turns out I have had one, except I didn't realise. Had this at Ealing Beer Festival this year and it was lovely:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11031/40959/

Thornbridge seemingly made one too, and I didn't notice.

MyQul · Sep 16, 2015

rodabod said:
A beer type I've never heard of. I'm excited! I'll have a read online about them. Let me know if there are any recommended examples for sale.

In the absence of facilities to lager, I'd guess you could try something neutral like everyone's favourite US-05, or maybe Koelsch yeast if you can ferment cool.

You can make a pseudo lager with US-05 ( Dads_Ale [forum member] has succesfully done this a number of times he says) so I'm guessing it's not beyond reason to be able to make a pseudo baltic porter

ezraburke · Sep 16, 2015

I now read that Koelsch yeast might have problems with higher gravities - does anyone have any experience using it? (I've only worked with us-05 thus far)

MyQul · Sep 16, 2015

We have a forum member, Grizzlykolsch, whose keen on that beer style. Might be worth PMing him or contacting him through his blog (his blog address is in his signature)

ezraburke · Sep 17, 2015

Dropped him a line. I've added flaked oats to the mix to give mouthfeel to this recipe.

My worry is that the Kolsch yeast won't be able to handle the high ABV and carbonating the bottles will be treacherous. I read that people pitch other yeast (champagne in particular) along with priming sugar when they come to bottle - anyone any experience with this kind of secondary yeast exposure?

MyQul · Sep 17, 2015

The OG is high but it's not that high. It's only 7% or so and the Wyeast kolsch yeast has a tolerance of 10% ABV. Putting your gravity figures into a yeast calc, and you'll need to make a starter but only 1-2L seeing as your only making 10L. So you'll need approx 138bl cells and the wyeast smak packs are 100bl cells. Tbh I dont think you've got much to worry about

ezraburke · Sep 17, 2015

Normally I just pitch dry so this'll be a new method too. Kolsch yeast it is then!

rodabod · Sep 21, 2015

If you haven't got oak chips already, I see they were selling Jack Daniels barrel pieces for BBQ smoking on sale in B&Q. They don't have any additional ingredients, so I reckon they could be good for "real" barrel aging.

Baltic porter - oak ageing

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