Robust Porter
- OG = 1.050 to 1.065
- FG = 1.012 to 1.016
- IBUs = 25 to 45
- SRM = 30+
- ABV = 4.8 to 6.0%
Porter originated in London, England as early as the 18th century. It was popular at that time to mix three beers to create an “Entire.” The Entire consisted of an old, well-vatted or stale brown ale, a new, fresh brown ale and a pale ale. It was too time-consuming for the publican to pull from three casks for one pint of ale, so a new beer was created that mimicked the blended beers. This beer became so popular with the porters working in the Billingsgate and Smithfield markets that the name “porter” took hold. This style made its way across the ocean to America and into the heart and mug of our own George Washington.
Style Guidelines
There are two types of porters, robust and brown. Brown porter has a softer flavor and lower gravities. Robust porter is a hearty dark ale with complex roasted malt and hop character. We will only refer to the robust style of porter in this article. A roasted malt-grain aroma reminiscent of coffee or chocolate should be apparent. The hop aroma is low to moderate. Diacetyl and fruity esters are moderate to none. The color is dark brown to black with garnet highlights. The beer should be clear and the head retention should be moderate to good. Depending on the combination of grains in the malt bill, IBUs and attenuation, the flavor may finish from dry to medium-sweet. Robust porter is medium to full-bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Hops, Malt and Yeast
Our recipe is for an American-style robust porter but you can easily substitute English ingredients and make an English-style porter. An American porter could use Nugget, Centennial, Chinook, Northern Brewer or Cascade hops for bittering, and in some beers a small amount (not over one-half ounce for a 5-gallon batch) of Cascade, Willamette or a combination for flavor (if flavor hops are used). Usually aroma hops are not used, but if the brewer desires, he or she can use up to one-half ounce of Willamette or Cascade hops for aroma.
Use a U.S. two-row as the base malt. Specialty grains include chocolate, crystal, black, British brown malts and small amounts of roasted barley (1 to 6 ounces per 5-gallon batch). For extract brewers, British malt extract or U.S. brands such as Alexanders or Briess (light) can be used as the base malt. Malto-dextrin is sometimes added for body and mouthfeel.
There is a wide variety of yeast strains used to ferment this style. For American porters, try American Ale (Wyeast 1056) or Northwest Ale (Wyeast 1332). Some English strains can also be used to ferment American versions with much success.
AMERICAN ROBUST PORTER
(5 gallons, extract with grains)
- OG = 1.062 to 1.063
- FG = 1.017 to 1.018
- SRM = 93
- IBU = 38
- ABV = 5.8%
Ingredients
- 10 oz. U.S. chocolate malt
- 8 oz. Belgian cara-Munich malt
- 8 oz. U.S. crystal malt (60° Lovibond)
- 4 oz. British black patent malt
- 2 oz. roasted barley
- 4 lb. pale malt extract syrup
- 3.75 lbs. Muntons extra-light dry malt extract
- 6 oz. malto-dextrin
- 11.5 AAUs Northern Brewer (1.25 oz. of 9.2% alpha acid) (bittering)
- 1.25 AAUs Cascade (1/4 oz. of 5% alpha acid) (flavor)
- 1.25 AAUs Willamette (1/4 oz. of 5%
alpha acid) (flavor) - 1 tsp. Irish moss
- American Ale (Wyeast 1056) or California Ale
(White Labs WLP001) - 1-1/2 cup Muntons extra light DME
Step by Step
Bring 1 gallon of water to 160° F, add crushed grain and hold for 30 min. at 150° F. Strain grain into the brewpot and sparge with one gallon of 168° F water. Add the DME, malt extract syrup, malto-dextrin and
bittering hops. Bring the volume in the brewpot to 2.5 gallons. Boil for 45 min., then add the flavor hops and Irish moss.
Boil for 15 min., then remove the pot from the stove. Cool wort for 15 min. in an ice bath or with a wort chiller. Strain into the primary fermenter and add water to obtain 5-1/8 gallons. Add yeast when wort has cooled to below 80° F. Oxygenate-aerate well. Ferment at 70° to 72° F for 7 days, then rack into secondary (glass carboy). Ferment until target gravity has been reached and beer has cleared (approximately 3 weeks). Prime and bottle. Carbonate at 70° to 72° for 3 to 4 weeks. Store at cellar temperature.
Partial-Mash Option:
Acidify the mash water to below 7.2 pH. Mash 1.5 lbs. British two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 1 gallon of water at 150° F for 90 min. Sparge with 1.5 gallons of water at 5.7 pH and 168° F. Then follow the extract recipe, omitting 2 lbs. of Muntons extra-light dry malt extract from the boil.
All-Grain Option:
Acidify the mash water to below 7.2 pH. Mash 10.33 lbs. British two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 4.25 gallons of water at 154° F for 90 min. Sparge with 5 gallons of water at 5.7 pH and 168° F. The total boil is 90 min. Add 8.1 AAUs of bittering hops for the last 90 min. of the boil. Add the flavor hops and Irish moss as indicated by the extract recipe.
