The Kernel Brewery’s Export India Porter clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all grain)
OG = 1.060 FG = 1.015 IBU = 48 SRM = 40 ABV = 6%

This recipe is based on some of the Barclay Perkins (1855) and Whitbread (1856) porters that were sent out to India nearly two hundred years ago. Of course, elements of the ingredients, equipment, and processes are different, and tastes have also changed over time, so in keeping with The Kernel’s philosophy, they have made a beer that contemporary beer drinkers want to drink, rather than a blindly faithful copy of a 19th century recipe.

Ingredients

9.6 lbs. (4.3 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt (2.4 °L)
0.9 lb. (0.4 kg) brown malt (38 °L)
0.9 lb. (0.4 kg) chocolate malt (330 °L)
0.9 lb. (0.4 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
0.4 lb. (0.2 kg) black malt (500 °L)
5.6 AAU Bramling Cross hops (first wort hop) (0.7 oz./20 g at 8% alpha acids)
5.6 AAU Bramling Cross hops (15 min.) (0.7 oz./20 g at 8% alpha acids)
8 AAU Bramling Cross hops (10 min.) (1 oz./30 g at 8% alpha acids)
11.2 AAU Bramling Cross hops (5 min.) (1.4 oz./40 g at 8% alpha acids) 2.8 oz. (80 g) Bramling Cross hops (dry hop)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (10 min.)
White Labs WLP013 (London Ale) or Wyeast 1028 (London Ale) yeast
1⁄2 cup cane sugar (if priming)

Step by Step

Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.3 quarts of strike water to 1 pound of grain (2.7 L/kg) and a temperature of 154 °F (68 °C). Hold the mash at 154 °F (68 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Sparge slowly with 171 °F (77 °C), collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is 6 gallons (23 L). Add the first wort hops during the sparging process.

Total boil time is 60 minutes, adding the remaining hops at the times indicated. Add Whirlfloc with 10 minutes left in the boil.

Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch the yeast. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) until fermentation is complete. Dry hop 3 days before bottling or kegging. Carbonate the beer to around 2.4 volumes of CO2. Condition at 59–68 °F (15–20 °C), allowing time for the beer to carbonate fully.

The Kernel Brewery’s Export India Porter clone

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.060 FG = 1.015 IBU = 48 SRM = 40 ABV = 6%

Ingredients

6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Maris Otter liquid malt extract
0.9 lb. (0.4 kg) brown malt (38 °L)
0.9 lb. (0.4 kg) chocolate malt (330 °L)
0.9 lb. (0.4 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
0.4 lb. (0.2 kg) black malt (500 °L)
5.6 AAU Bramling Cross hops (first wort hop) (0.7 oz./20 g at 8% alpha acids)
5.6 AAU Bramling Cross hops (15 min.) (0.7 oz./20 g at 8% alpha acids)
8 AAU Bramling Cross hops (10 min.) (1 oz./30 g at 8% alpha acids)
11.2 AAU Bramling Cross hops (5 min.) (1.4 oz./40 g at 8% alpha acids)
2.8 oz. (80 g) Bramling Cross hops (dry hop)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (10 min.)
White Labs WLP013 (London Ale) or Wyeast 1028 (London Ale) yeast
1⁄2 cup cane sugar (if priming)

Step by Step

Steep the crushed grains in 6 gallons (23 L) of 154 °F (68 °C) water for 30 minutes. Remove steeping bag and add liquid malt extract with the heat source off. Stir until completely dissolved. Add the first wort hops and bring wort to a boil.

Total boil time is 60 minutes, adding the remaining hops at the times indicated. Add Whirlfloc with 10 minutes left in the boil.

Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch the yeast. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) until fermentation is complete. Dry hop 3 days before bottling or kegging. Carbonate the beer to around 2.4 volumes of CO2. Condition at 59–68 °F (15–20 °C), allowing time for the beer to carbonate fully.

Tips for Success: Chocolate malt and crystal malt has replaced some of the black malt, which can sometimes produce burnt or astringent flavors. This recipe calls for lots of late hops and dry hopping and The Kernel brewery experiments with a number of different varieties. Bramling Cross (used here) give a traditional British character, but Columbus can also work well if you want more of a New World character.