Better Know a Beer Style: Robust Porter

Beer Style 12B: Robust Porter

Appearance: Medium to very dark brown with ruby highlights. Full, tan head with retention.

Aroma: Roasty, grainy, bready, toffee, caramel, coffee, chocolate. Low to high hops aroma. Fruity esters are moderate to absent.

Flavor: Lightly burnt black malt, coffee, chocolate. Roasty, dry finish, and dry to medium-sweet overall. May have sharp roasted malts, medium to high bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full. Low to high carbonation, no extremes though. Strong versions may have alcohol warmth. Slight astringency from roasted grains.

Overall: A big, complex dark ale. Lacks strong roasted malt of a stout. Stronger, dryer, and more bitter than a brown porter. Weaker than a Baltic porter, but still dryer and more bitter.

OG: 1.048-1.065
FG: 1.012-1.016
IBU: 25-50
SRM: 22-35
ABV: 4.8-6.5%

Recipe:
8# American 2-Row
12 oz. Crystal 60L
8 oz. Chocolate Malt
4 oz. Black Malt

1.5 oz. Cascade @ 60 min (6%AA)
American Ale Yeast

OG: 1.055
FG: 1.012
IBU: 45
SRM: 31
ABV: 5.6%

Case Study: Dead Reckoning Porter

This beer is like the Shakespeare Stout of porters with a big juicy citrus punch to go along with the chocolate grains and cocoa. The appearance gets marked down as this beer is noticeably murky, but at the same time there's also decent lacing to help make up for it. The smell is hops-dominated with a pine a grapefruit, and like I said the flavor is big on hops (especially as it warms), almost to the point of being a black IPA. Maybe it is. Either way, this is a tasty porter. I only wish it was prettier to look at and that there was a little more malt character.