The best porter either side of a silver dollar can buy – but you can’t buy it because it ain’t for sale. It’s homebrew and it’s yours. Lucky for you because there won’t be enough to go around as it is.
A full-bodied, sharply bittersweet version of black heaven, this is the homebrewer’s best shot at duplicating the famous Anchor Porter of San Francisco fame.
This is my version of the recipe with just minor changes.
Ingredients for 6 gallons:
- 9.5 lbs. malted barley (American 2-row or 6-row)
- 1.2 lb. Munich malt
- 2/3 lb. crystal malt
- 2/3 lb. black patent malt
- 2/3 lb. chocolate malt
- 1 tsp. gypsum
- 1.5 oz. Northern Brewer or Perle hops (boiling): 9 HBU
- 1/3 oz. Cascade hops (boiling): 3 HBU
- 1/3 oz. Cascade hops (aroma)
- 1/4 tsp. Irish moss powder
- 2 pkgs. ale yeast
- 1 1/2 c. dried malt extract (for bottling)
This recipe calls for using a “temperature-controlled” procedure for mashing 10 lbs. of grains.
Combine the crushed grains and gypsum with 3 gallons of 130-degree F (54°C) water and proceed with a protein rest.
Raise the temperature by adding 6 quarts of 200-degree F (93°C) water and continue with starch conversion at about 150 degrees F (66°C) for 10-15 minutes. Complete conversion by raising the temperature to 158 degrees F (70°C) and holding for 10-20 minutes or until an iodine test indicates complete conversion.
Sparge with 6 gallons of 170-degree F (77°C) water.
Bring the word to a boil, add boiling hops and continue to boil for 1 hour. Add the Irish moss during the final 10 minutes of the boil. Add the finishing hops during the final 1-2 minutes of boiling. Remove the spent hops and sparge. Cool the word as quickly as possible.
Final yield should be 6 gallons of wort.
Pitch the yeast, ferment to completion and bottle.
