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Beer Recipe of the Week: Baltic Porter

This recipe is featured in Stan Hieronymus' article "Amateurs, Pros Connect at GABF" in the January/February 2007 issue of Zymurgy.

In October 2005, Tom Nolan brewed a Baltic porter that would go on to be one of his most successful beers to date. At a monthly homebrew competition held by the Winston-Salem WortHawgs, Nolan's recipe was chosen by Foothills Brewing to scale up and brew in their facility. Small adjustments were made to the homebrew recipe, resulting in a higher gravity and slightly lower IBU, but it was still noticeably Nolan's creation.

After spending a hard day brewing with the Foothills crew in June 2006, which to Nolan's surprise was quite similar to his homebrewing routine (complete with boil-over), the beer sat in fermenters getting ready for competition. The collaborative effort of Nolan and Foothills Brewing was rewarded with a gold medal at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition as well as silver in the Baltic porter category in that year's commercial competition.

All Grain/Extract w/ Specialty Grains:  5 U.S. gallons (19 liters)

Ingredients:

Statistics:

Original Target Gravity: 1.083
Final Target Gravity: 1.020
Estimated Efficiency: 67-70% **
ABV: 8.2%
IBUs: 53
SRM: 43 **

**Starred values were not provided in original published recipe or altered from values provided for accuracy. Values were determined via homebrew recipe calculator.

All Grain Directions:

Mash at 148-152°F (64-67°C) for 90 minutes. Boil wort 90 minutes, adding hops as noted. Tom pitched yeast at 77°F (25°C). Ferment at 61°F (16°C) in primary one week, lager in secondary for six weeks at 35°F (1.7°C). Bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar or force carbonate.

Malt Extract with Specialty Grains:

Substitute 10.25 lb (4.7 kg) of quality name-brand canned light malt extract and 0.75 lb (0.34 kg) 40 L CaraMunich for pale, Munich, Vienna, and wheat malts. Steep grains in two gallons (7.6 L) of water at 150°F (66°C), bring to 170°F (77°C) and rinse with 0.5 gallons (1.9 L) of hot water. Remove from heat, stir in extract, and bring to a boil. Boil wort 90 minutes, adding hops as noted and increasing Perle hop addition to 2.75 oz (78 g). Strain into fermenter with enough cold water to make five gallons. Ferment at 61°F (16°C) in primary one week, lager in secondary for six weeks at 35°F (1.7°C). Bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar or force carbonate.