Blue Eyed Baltic Porter

This is the recipe I brewed for SFBC x TWB “The Beer Neighbourhood” Competition. It took Gold in the collapsed category of Baltic Porters and Imperial Stouts and was among the 3 favourites in the Best of Show Round. Discussion about this recipe can be found here.

Recipe Details

Batch SizeBoil TimeIBUSRMEst. OGEst. FGABV
18.9 L45 min40301.0851.0198.66

Style Details

NameCat.OG RangeFG RangeIBUSRMCarbABV
Baltic Porter12 C1.06 - 1.091.016 - 1.02420 - 4017 - 300 - 05.5 - 9.5 %

Fermentables

NameAmount%
Munich Light (DE)3.629 kg44.44
Bohemian Pilsner (DE)3.629 kg44.44
Carafa I (DE)453.6 g5.56
Crystal 45L (UK)226.8 g2.78
Extra Dark Crystal 120L (UK)226.8 g2.78

Hops

NameAmountTimeUseFormAlpha %
Magnum (DE)28.3 g45 minBoilPellet14.7

Yeast

NameLabAttenuationTemperature
Saflager W-34/70Fermentis70%0°C - 0°C

Notes

385 g of the Carafa malt was cold steeped in 2L of water, strained out and "batch sparged" with more cold water. This liquid was used in the mash water. The wort wasn't quite dark enough, so I capped the mash with the rest of the 1 pound bag of malt during vorlauf. I wanted to use less carafa special (dehusked) and mash it normally, but I couldn't get any, which is why I did this cold steeping thing. The actual crystal malts were Simpsons Crystal Light and Double Roasted Crystal.
I took a bunch of second runnings around 1030-1040 range and froze them in 2L tubs for starters.
The yeast pitch was 3/4 of a yeast cake from a pilsner that I racked off 2 days before. I used pure oxygen and pitched cold at 8C and maintained temperature for 6 days. Krauesen began to fall, and I ramped temperature up 1 C per day until 11 C. On day 10 I moved carboy to my basement at 16C to finish fully fermenting and D-rest. On day 14 I started lagering at ~2C. On day 20 I got impatient and added 20mL Biofine, thinking I might bottle condition it, but ended up just kegging it a few days later.