Fat Head’s Brewery
Dear Replicator,
As a new brewer I find that I have had better results brewing dark beers compared with some of the lighter styles, especially lagers. I tend to like the bigger, more robust dark beers, such as imperial stouts and porters. I remember having a delicious imperial porter from Fat Head’s Brewery when I was visiting friends in Cleveland, Ohio. The beer was rich, complex, and full of flavor. I’d like to take a shot at brewing one myself if you can help me out with some intel. Cheers!
Serena Clark
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Fat Head’s Brewery of Cleveland, Ohio has created quite a reputation for its hoppy beers, such as Headhunter and Hop Juju, but the malty offerings are equally impressive. The Imperial Porter is a specialty (i.e. not part of the regular menu offering) that packs a punch in both flavor and alcohol percentage. Before diving into the beer, let’s talk about Fat Head’s, its key personnel, and how this award-winning brewery came to be.
The brainchild of Brewmaster/Co-Founder Matt Cole and Restaurateur Glenn Benigni, Fat Heads’ story crosses state lines and is a testament to determination and dedication. Matt Cole crafted award-winning beers at notable breweries such as Baltimore, Great Lakes, and Rocky River Brewing for over a decade. Like many driven Brewmasters, Cole had the vision to open his own place and when the itch grew strong enough, he called on longtime friend Glenn Benigni to see if he wanted to get into the craft brewing business.
Benigni is Owner/Operator of Fat Head’s Saloon, a wildly popular craft beer bar in the heart of Pittsburgh’s South Side entertainment district. Opened in 1992, it became known for its huge sandwiches coined “Headwiches” — said to be as big as a person’s head. Fat Head’s Saloon was one of the early torchbearers for Pennsylvania craft beer bars. Combining Benigni’s business expertise and Cole’s brewing magic, the two embarked on creating a brewery that would focus on equal parts great atmosphere, hearty food, and of course, world-class beer.
In 2009, the first Fat Head’s Brewery opened in North Olmsted, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Success was almost instantaneous, with two-hour lines on weekdays becoming the norm. No matter how hard Cole and his right hand man, brewer Mike Zoscak worked, demand quickly outpaced production, making a separate production facility a necessity just three years later.
During this extreme growth period, noted brewer Chris Alltmont joined the team, having spent time brewing at Wallaby’s, Brew Kettle, Willoughby, Crooked River, and Gordon Biersch. Alltmont completed the brewing leadership team that continues to produce award-winning beers that have captured medals at prestigious competitions such as the World Beer Cup (WBC) and Great American Beer Festival (GABF).
A second Fat Head’s Brewpub opened in Canton, Ohio, and another in Portland, Oregon (no longer operating as a Fat Head’s) before the team went all-in on a world-class beer hall/biergarten/production facility. A $13 million endeavor located just outside of Cleveland, the new facility produces all the Fat Head’s beer sent into distribution. The massive brewpub seats 275 inside and another 75 on the extensive patio. Fat Head’s Brewery plans are to produce upwards of 45,000 barrels of beer in 2021.
Fat Head’s has a reputation for crafting some of America’s best IPAs, but the brewery has also been highly successful with its lagers and malt-forward beers. Its flagship IPA Headhunter is a two-time WBC and GABF medalist as well as two-time grand champion of the National IPA Challenge. Hop Juju Imperial IPA is a three-time GABF winner and has also captured gold at the WBC. Goggle Fogger Hefeweizen was the gold medalist at the 2020 GABF awards. In fact, Fat Head’s has medaled at the Great American Beer Festival every year since the brewery’s inception!
Their Imperial Porter showcases Cole’s talents for packing a punch with flavor, while creating balance and a true depth of flavor. The recipe utilizes a whopping eleven different malts, many of U.K. origin, to create its complex flavor profile. The wort is boiled 90 minutes to ensure rich flavor development of the malt, as well as to ensure any potential dimethyl sulfide (DMS) from the Pilsner malt is driven off.
A combination of Magnum, Simcoe®, and Mosaic® deliver the appropriate amount of hop bitterness and flavor to complement the rich malt flavors. Good porters benefit from a relatively hard water profile. Enhancing with calcium chloride (which will accentuate the malt character) and calcium carbonate (which will help balance the acidic dark malts) is advisable for soft water. Alternatively, holding the dark malt additions from the mash until you are ready to lauter/recirculate will help. This will reduce potential astringency from the highly-kilned dark malts in the grist.
Keeping fermentation temperature steady during primary fermentation is key when brewing a beer of this strength in order to avoid production of fusel alcohols. Letting it free rise a couple degrees after it’s about ⅔ fermented will help achieve the final gravity numbers and finish the beer nicely.
When it’s ready to drink, serve above refrigeration temperature, preferably 45–50 °F (7–10 °C) in a tulip or similar type glass. The Imperial Porter clone makes a great complement to a decadent chocolate fudge brownie or a medium-strength maduro cigar.
FAT HEAD’S IMPERIAL PORTER CLONE
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.086 FG = 1.024
IBU = 50 SRM = 56 ABV = 8.6%
INGREDIENTS
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) Golden Promise pale ale malt
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) Pilsner malt
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) Fawcett Pearl pale ale malt
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) chocolate malt
1.1 lbs. (0.49 kg) Munich malt (10 °L)
9.6 oz. (0.27 kg) brown malt
8.8 oz. (0.25 kg) Carapils® malt
7.2 oz. (0.2 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
2.9 oz. (82 g) Briess Midnight Wheat malt
2.6 oz. (73 g) debittered black malt
2.6 oz. (73 g) roasted barley
9 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 12% alpha acids)
6.9 AAU Simcoe® hops (30 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 13.8% alpha acids)
6.2 AAU Mosaic® hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 12.4% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP013 (London Ale), Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), or
Lallemand Nottingham yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
STEP BY STEP
Using a fairly thick mash, achieve a single infusion mash temperature of 150 °F (66 °C). Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes or until converted. It is advisable to hold the highly roasted grains (chocolate, Midnight Wheat, black malt, and roasted barley) until you are ready to recirculate to reduce astringency. Start lautering by raising the mash temperature up to 168 °F (66 °C), then hold for ten minutes. Add the roasted and crystal grains then recirculate. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear before starting to collect. Since you are doing a 90-minute boil, collect about 7 gallons (26.5 L) of wort. Add the hops as stated in the recipe.
Upon completion of the boil, chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C), pitch a healthy count of yeast and oxygenate thoroughly. When fermentation is about ⅔ complete (at 1.040), let temperature free rise to 67 °F (19 °C).
Total fermentation time should be at least two weeks so the yeast has time to clean up off-flavors. Keg and carbonate to 2.6 v/v or bottle.
FAT HEAD’S IMPERIAL PORTER CLONE
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.086 FG = 1.024
IBU = 50 SRM = 56 ABV = 8.6%
INGREDIENTS
3.3 lbs. (1.52 kg) Muntons Maris Otter light liquid malt extract
2.4 lbs. (1.1 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract
2.16 lbs. (1.1 kg) pale ale dried malt extract
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) chocolate malt
1.1 lbs. (0.49 kg) Munich malt (10 °L)
9.6 oz. (0.27 kg) brown malt
8.8 oz. (0.25 kg) Carapils® malt
7.2 oz. (0.2 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
2.9 oz. (82 g) Briess Midnight Wheat malt
2.6 oz. (73 g) debittered black malt
2.6 oz. (73 g) roasted barley
9 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 12% alpha acids)
6.9 AAU Simcoe® hops (30 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 13.8% alpha acids)
6.2 AAU Mosaic® hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 12.4% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP013 (London Ale), Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), or
Lallemand Nottingham yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
STEP BY STEP
Heat 3 gallons (11.4 L) of water in your mash tun and add only the Munich and brown malts (in a muslin bag) for mashing. Achieve a mash temperature of 150 °F (66 °C). Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes or until converted. With about 10 minutes to go during the initial mash, add all the roasted grains (in a separate muslin bag). These grains do not need to be mashed and adding them later may help reduce astringency from the highly kilned malts.
After mash is completed, let the liquid drain from the grain bags, remove bags, then increase temperature to near-boiling. Remove from the heat source and slowly stir in all the malt extracts. Be sure extract is fully dissolved, then return to the heat source and boil for 60 minutes adding hops as indicated in the ingredients list. (Note: a 90-minute boil is not necessary to drive off DMS since that takes place during the extract’s creation process.)
Upon completion of the boil, chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and top up your fermenter to a total of 5 gallons (19 L) with pre-boiled, pre-chilled water. Pitch a healthy count of yeast and oxygenate thoroughly. When fermentation is about ⅔ complete (at 1.040), let temperature free rise to 67 °F (19 °C). Total fermentation time should be at least two weeks so the yeast has time to clean up off-flavors. Keg and carbonate to 2.6 v/v or bottle.
Tips for success:
According to Brewmaster Matt Cole, the non-traditional addition of roasted barley adds a nice level of complexity to balance the chocolate flavors of the other dark malts.
He suggests Crisp and Simpson’s malts as the best choices for the character malts for this beer due to their high quality and flavor profile.
