Kitchen Sink Porter
I've brewed a number of variants of this recipe over the years; this is the original version, the "mother of them all". Believe it or not, this recipe actually took shape one day when I said to myself, "hmm... let's try and use up all these little open bags of specialty grains", hence the name -- i.e. everything but the kitchen sink! It subsequently won 1st place Porter at a small local competition (1996 Beer-In-A-Box), and has the distinction of being the first of my beers that ever took a ribbon in competition.
As usual, please note the non-standard batch size… scale everything up by a factor of 5/3 (1.7) for a 5 gallon batch.
Mike's "Kitchen Sink Porter", 3 gallons (all-grain):
Mash-in at 122F for 30 minute protein rest. Starch conversion rest at 154F. Total boil time 70 minutes.
OG = 1.065, FG = 1.016
Brewing Notes:
Based on subsequent experience, I would probably recommend doing the protein rest at 130F instead, or skipping it entirely. Protein rests at 122F can adversely affect head retention, and nobody's going to notice a little chill haze in a beer this dark anyway.
Ferment at approximately 70F.
"Cascades in a Porter?!??" you ask? Well, this is an unconventional Porter all around. US base malt, Belgian specialty malts, Scottish yeast, and Cascade hops for finishing... talk about culture clash! Some beer judges don't seem to be quite sure what to make of it; I've been dinged for the Cascade aroma once or twice, on recipes similar to this one. But then, this recipe was not intended to be a competition winner -- the BIAB ribbon was an unexpected surprise. And regardless of how well it fits some beer judges' preconceived notions of what a Porter should be, IMO it is a very tasty and complex beer.
(Posted to Web January 10, 2000)