Boisterous Badger Porter 40L Brewing Journal

Started 29th March 2025

A tried and tested recipe that produces a very smooth Porter. This recipe is well-balanced and should produce a robust porter with a smooth finish.

Starting with 100g of Fuggles at the beginning of the boil will contribute a balanced bitterness and earthy, woody, and slightly herbal flavors—classic characteristics for a traditional porter. Adding 30g of East Kent Goldings in the final 10 minutes is an excellent choice, as their floral, honey-like, and slightly spicy notes will bring a lovely depth to the aroma and finish.

It seems like you're aiming for a beautifully balanced porter with a rich malt backbone and complementary hop flavors. This recipe has all the hallmarks of a classic with a smooth twist.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Recipe	Measure
Brew Length	40L
Pale Malt (EBC 6)	9000g
Crystal Malt (EBC 150)	1000g
Chocolate Malt (EBC 950)	500g
Rolled Oats	500g
Fuggles (Start of Boil)	100g
East Kent Goldings Pellets (Last 10 Min)	30g
Yeast (Using Starter)	WLP002
Mash Liquor	27.5 Litres
Strike Heat	72C
Mash Temperature	66C
Mash Time	1 Hour 30 Minutes
Sparge Temperature	77C
Mash Efficiency (estimated)	75%
Boil Time	1 Hour 30 Minutes
Fermentation Temperature	18C
Expected OG	1060
Actual OG	1053
Expected FG	1013
Actual FG

Water Treatment:

Recipe	Measure
CaCo3 Adjustments
Calcium Carbonate CAC03	154 ppm
Calcium Carbonate Required	120 ppm
Adjustment Necessary	34 ppm
CRS per Litre Required	1.5ml per 10l
Total CRS to add to Mash (29L)	4.5
Total CRS to add to Sparge water (31L)	4.5
*Chlorine Treatment*
Campden Tablets (half in mash, half in sparge)	1 tablet
Calcium Adjustment (using brupaks calculation)
Calcium in Water	110 ppm
Calcium Required	110 ppm
Adjustment	0 ppm
DLS (using GW Calc it suggests adding none)	1 Tsp

Water Schedule:

This brew is the first with a new new larger HLT and will be will be fly sparged, water scheduled as follows:

Mash = 27.5L + 1/2 Campden Tab
Sparge = 31.5L + 1/2 Campden Tab (7.5l Top Up)
Total water volume = 59L

Mashing:

Using SS Brewtech infussion mash tun.

Mash Tun cleaned an Tun pre warmed
HLT set for 78C
Water treated with 1/2 Campden tab.
27.5L of water added to the mash tun, which settled to 72.4C
Doughed in + 1 tsp of gypsum
Temperature initially at 66.2c.but rose slightly to 66.5C as grain absorbed heat.
Mash will now be left alone for 1.5 hours.
20 minutes left on the clock and mash tun thermometer is showing as 66.8C, recirc was started.

Sparging

Vorlauf recirc run for 10 minutes.
31L of sparge water was heated to 78C and treated.
7.5l Added to Mash Tun while recirc was running for 10 min.
Pumped wort into boiler, stopping once sight glass was empty
Added 22L for final sparge at 78c, stirred well and left recirc running for 15 Min
Pumped all remining wort into boiler.

Boiling

The Boiler was switched on as soon as first few litres of wort had drained from Mash Tun.
100g of Fuggles hops added at start of boil.
Last 15 minutes. Immersion coil inserted to ensure sterilised.
Last 10 minutes 30g EKG and protofloc added.
Post boil gravity = ??
Boiler switched off and Recirc started to sterilise pump and tbing.
Recirc was intermittently swsitched on during chilling to ensure no hot/cold spots formed.

Fermentation:

A 1.8L yeast starter of WLP002 was started 2 days before brew day.
As this is a strong beer I am not worried about pitching the entire starter, so i wil not try and remove any excess liquid.
Yeast was pitched on 29/03/25 at 14:00 at 24C. Fermentation temperature set at 18c.
30/03/25 - Fermentation is well under way and a thick Krausen has formed.
31/03/25 - Fermenting well and temperature is stable at 18C.
01/03/25 - Krausen has now dropped back into the wort and fermentation has slowed significantly.
02/03/25 - Brix reading is 7, which equates to SG 1013. This is the expected final gravity but I will leave for a few days for the yeast to clean up.

Tasting Notes:

This has turned out excellent, It is full of flavours but not too strong in any direction. Great mouth feel and malt/hop balance ,making this an easy drinking beer. Top brew!