George Washington's Porter (All Grain, AG)
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BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: George Washington's Porter
Brewer: George Washington
Asst Brewer:
Style: Robust Porter
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)
Recipe Specifications
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Boil Size: 7.19 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.062 SG
Estimated Color: 43.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 51.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 82.4 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.6 %
12.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.0 %
9.6 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.8 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.0 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.0 %
5.0 oz Molasses (80.0 SRM) Sugar 6 2.5 %
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 42.9 IBUs
0.75 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 8 8.3 IBUs
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 6.6 oz
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Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 16.13 qt of water at 162.9 F 152.0 F 60 min
Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.14gal, 3.72gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
I added the molasses the last 5 minutes of the boil.George Washingtons Porter.bsm12K -
I'll also add the story of how I got to this recipe.
I learned that not only was George Washington a distiller but also a home brewer. He commonly brewed batches of beer for his officers. I learned that he had a porter recipe and so after some research I found the recipe on line. Here is his original recipe:
"To Make Small Beer
Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. -- Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Melasses into the cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yea[s]t if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[et] & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask -- leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working -- Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed."
I continued to research and learned that a brewery by the name of Yards Brewery had been commissioned to brew the original recipe. I emailed Yards and while they didn't have a 5 gallon batch recipe they did provide me a list of ingredients. Here is Yards response:
Here is what they responded with:
"I was forwarded your e-mail by Steve Mashington. As a rule we don't give out exact recipes to our beers, but I'd be more than happy to point you in the right direction. The beer starts at 17 plato, and finishes between 4.5 and 5 degrees, using a fairly common English Ale yeast. There is about an fluid ounce per gallon of molasses (not black strap) in the beer, and we use crystal 65, black malt, roasted barley, and chocolate for color and flavor. There are no aroma hops in the beer, and we use bittering hops fairly sparingly. Hope this helps, and if you have anymore questions, please don't hesitate to ask."
A friend of mine helped put our recipe together and when brewed it turned out great.
Enjoy -
i love the heritage recipes. a lot of the founding fathers were brewers and there is a restaurant in in Philadelphia that has a great assortment of these classic recipes on tap. I need to remember the name of it, but it's right in the historic area near the bell and other points of interest.The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
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Tasting notes on this @JLW ?"On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
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I drank the last one a long time ago. It was a great beer. Alot of people really enjoyed this porter. I suck at tasting notes but I can say I really enjoyed it. I will be making it again maybe this winter and let it age for awhile.
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I've had a couple porters that seemed sharp. Like a little too bitter. I'm no good at tasting notes either. But if you say really good, I'll probably at least like it."On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
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the difficulty in balancing a dark beer is in staying away from the acrid bitterness from the roasted malts. the water quality is really important for this.The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
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Lakewood said:
the difficulty in balancing a dark beer is in staying away from the acrid bitterness from the roasted malts. the water quality is really important for this.
Water is something I never think of. Ever. I haven't had my well water tested yet, what about RO or mountain spring water?
"On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants -
CB said:Lakewood said:
the difficulty in balancing a dark beer is in staying away from the acrid bitterness from the roasted malts. the water quality is really important for this.
Water is something I never think of. Ever. I haven't had my well water tested yet, what about RO or mountain spring water?
you'd probably need to add a little calcium to those for a porter. other than that, it should work well.The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake -
FromZwolle said:CB said:Lakewood said:
the difficulty in balancing a dark beer is in staying away from the acrid bitterness from the roasted malts. the water quality is really important for this.
Water is something I never think of. Ever. I haven't had my well water tested yet, what about RO or mountain spring water?
you'd probably need to add a little calcium to those for a porter. other than that, it should work well.
Do you have hard water or is the well water soft? My water out here is very hard, loaded with minerals, it seems to work good for dark beers. Your water just may be a bit too soft to brew stouts and such, spending a few dollars on a water test might be one of the best things you do for improving your brewing.Jesus didn't wear pants -
azscoob said:FromZwolle said:CB said:Lakewood said:
the difficulty in balancing a dark beer is in staying away from the acrid bitterness from the roasted malts. the water quality is really important for this.
Water is something I never think of. Ever. I haven't had my well water tested yet, what about RO or mountain spring water?
you'd probably need to add a little calcium to those for a porter. other than that, it should work well.
Do you have hard water or is the well water soft? My water out here is very hard, loaded with minerals, it seems to work good for dark beers. Your water just may be a bit too soft to brew stouts and such, spending a few dollars on a water test might be one of the best things you do for improving your brewing.
The straight well water is hard/irony. Be we use a softener that takes a lot of that stuff out. I'd like to test the softened water and the straight well water. I might have two useable profiles. Either way right now I use 5-10 gallons of mountain spring water and the rest from the tap. But that adds about a dollar a gallon for the bottled water.
"On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants -
Iron hardness is different (sharper) than calcium hardness (which to me smooths out the acrid roasted flavors)
And it sounds like you are adding soft water to softened water so...The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny -
Iron bad
calcium goodNever attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. -
ceannt said:
Iron bad
calcium good
Yeah I need a water test."On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants -
I'm brewing this today. Just mashed in. Going to make a couple fo tweaks. 1) mash a little higher (156). 2) Boil the first runnings.
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I should say I'm going to boil down about a gallon of the first runnings.
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jlw said:
I should say I'm going to boil down about a gallon of the first runnings.
If you cut back the crystal or what it sweeter."I don't have TP, but I do have ammo."
-Some guy in Ohio
