Midnight Rider Robust Porter
Like Belgian dubbel, robust porter is another one of those styles that allows you to play around with a wide variety of dark specialty malts. The style is quite open to malt usage interpretation, allowing the rich complexity of these malts to shine through. This recipe utilizes five different dark specialty malts to add body, enhance head retention, and impart a deep, rich, dark flavor.
Midnight Rider Robust Porter
(5 gallons /19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.065 FG = 1.015
IBU = 35 SRM = 33 ABV = 6.5%
Ingredients
9.5 lbs (4.3 kg) pale ale malt
12 oz. (340 g) chocolate malt (350–400 °L)
8 oz. (227 g) roasted barley (500–600 °L)
8 oz. (227 g) crystal malt (80 °L)
8 oz. (227 g) Special B® malt
4 oz. (113 g) black malt (optional for dryness)
5 AAU East Kent Goldings hops (60 min) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acids)
2.3 AAU Fuggle hops (30 min) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Fuggle hops (5 min)
½ tsp. yeast nutrient (15 min.)
Wyeast 1098 (British Ale), White Labs WLP007 (Crisp English Ale), or LalBrew Nottingham yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Mash grains at 152 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes with 3.5 gallons (13.2 L) of water. Sparge with 3.5 gallons (13.2 L) water to collect ~6.5 gallons (25 L) pre-boil wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops and yeast nutrient on schedule.
Cool wort to 68 °F (20 °C), pitch yeast, and aerate thoroughly if using liquid yeast. Ferment at 68–70 °F (20–21 °C) until complete (~14-21 days). Keg and force carbonate or bottle with priming sugar.
Extract with grains version:
Steep specialty grains in 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) water at 152 °F (67 °C) for 20 minutes. Remove grains, turn off heat and stir in extract until dissolved. Proceed with boil instructions and recipe as above.
