5 gallons, extract and grain

Ingredients:

• 0.25 lb. chocolate malt
• 0.25 lb. black patent malt
• 0.5 lb. crystal malt, 60° Lovibond
• 5 lbs. unhopped dark dry malt extract
• 0.5 oz. Challenger hop plugs (4% alpha acid), for 60 min.
• 0.5 oz. Fuggle hop plugs (2.5% alpha acid), for 30 min.
• 0.5 oz. Mt. Hood hop plugs (2% alpha acid), for 10 min.
• 10 to 14 g. dry ale yeast or Wyeast 1742 (Swedish ale yeast)
• 4 lbs. whole fresh or frozen blueberries
• 2/3 cup dark dry malt for priming

Step by Step:

In 2.5 gals. cold water, steep chocolate, black patent, and crystal malts. Heat water slowly, remove grains near 160° F, and sparge with a quart of hot tap water. Add to kettle the unhopped dark dry malt extract. Stir carefully and bring to a boil. Add Challenger hops and boil 30 minutes. Add Fuggle hops and boil 20 minutes more. Add Mt. Hood hops and boil 10 minutes more. Cool and top off to 5.25 gals. with pre-boiled, chilled water. At 70° F, pitch yeast. Ferment six to 10 days at about 65° F. Rack into secondary on blueberries. Condition at about 55° to 60° F for six to 10 days, then rerack into a third vessel to clarify for four to six days. Prime with dark dry malt, bottle, and age three weeks at 50° F.

All-grain brewers:

Mash 6 lbs. two-row pale malt, 0.5 lb. wheat malt, 0.5 lb. Munich malt, and 0.5 lb. brown malt in 12 qts.water at 149° F for two hours. Steep specialty grains from the regular recipe in runnings and sparge with an additional 15 qts. at 168° F. Continue with boil as above.

Yeast:

I really like this new Wyeast strain, 1742, for porters. It's clean and neutral, yet it seems to reinforce the dark malts without making them seem harsh. There's virtually no diacetyl and no other noticeable esters are produced. If you can't find it, the old standbys such as Wyeast 1968 or 1028 will do; if you can't use a liquid yeast culture, try using Coopers dry yeast.

Fruit:

Obviously, this brew is a seasonal one for me. Those of you not within fresh blueberry territory will have to make do with frozen or (shudder) canned blueberries. Four pounds of our local berries (the size of chick peas, roughly) give a noticeable blueberry flavor and aroma, even in a porter. I know of a Maine brewer who has used my recipe and only needed three pounds of the famous wild Maine berries (smaller than elderberries but oh so sweet and flavorful) to achieve the same degree of "blue." If you do get fresh berries, my advice is to freeze them in bags for the length of the primary fermentation and then microwave them to thaw and partially sanitize them. The skins will break open and the juice will flow. Blueberry aroma will dissipate quickly if the berries are in the active fermentation, so you will always get a more aromatic brew by putting them into the secondary fermenter. Blueberry essences and blueberry juice concentrate could be used in a pinch, but they're not the same.

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