Siberian Tiger Baltic Porter | Beer Recipe

April is officially the first month of Autumn so time to start brewing something malty, dark and warming for the coming winter.  April is also significant in the brewing calendar downunder as ANZAC day approaches and lest we forget the tributes to soldiers past and present with the popular 'raise a glass' campaign to toast the fallen and forgotten.  With these themes in mind I set about rebrewing an old favourite - my Siberian Tiger & Tigress Baltic Porter and Oaked Baltic Porter from yesteryear! Going to go more true to style and in the spirit of the ANZAC combine craft Kiwi and Aussie malt to partner the lord admiral's English noble hops - they did sent the ANZACs into battle into some seriously questionable strategic decisions - lest we forget!  And let's not forget somewhere close to the Baltics, at least closer than here - the Czech republic for some fine Saaz hops and a nobly made by the Belgians (Flanders Fields) Lager Yeast to close out the combination of armed ingredients!

Malt Bill

• 27% 2Kg Gladfield Vienna Malt
• 27% 2Kg Gladfield Munich Malt
• 27% 2Kg Gladfield Ale Malt
• 5% 0.4Kg Voyager Amber Malt (tx. Brad & Stu @VoyagerCraftMalt for the samples)
• 5% 0.4Kg Gladfield Dark Crystal Malt
• 5% 0.4Kg Voyager Brown Malt
• 3% 0.25Kg Voyager Chocolate Malt

100% | 7.45Kg Malt Bill - its a big Tiger! GRRRR

Hops

• 40g Fuggles (UK) 5% AA @60 mins into a 90 min boil
• 35g East Kent Goldings (UK) 6% AA @60 mins
• 30g Saaz (CZ) 3.5% AA @15 mins
• 270g Saaz (AU home grown - 2 year old 2015 Harvest) whole cones @0 mins flame out
• 150g East Kent Goldings (AU home grown - 1 year old 2015 Harvest) whole cones @0 mins flame out

Yeast

• Fermentis Saflager 34/70 - 2 x 11g Sachets

Mash:

• 90 mins for full extraction/conversion using a single step infusion mash (don't have the goodies to do step mashes yet, also not required for fully modified Gladfield Malt) @68C to give a good body / mouthfeel

Boil:

• 90 mins - really important as we are effectively brewing a heavy dark beer with a lager style ferment so wanted to make a good clear wort and drive off any DMS, not that I was expecting much if any.  If time poor 60 mins will suffice.

Water Treatment & Brewing Aids:

• 2 tsp of Gypsum (Calcium Sulphate) + 1 tsp of Calcium Chloride in the pre-mash boil water.  Possibly a bit hard but lets see.
• Brewbrite @10 mins for trub drop out in the boil
• Wyeast yeast nutrient 1/2 tsp @10 mins from flameout as this yeast has a lot of malt sugar to munch through!

Fermentation Control

• Pitched Yeast @11C and set temp controller at 12C allowing a slow 0.5C rise from day 5 up to 15C where I will hold for 2 days diacetyl rest before racking and lagering for a long as possible - ideally 4-6 weeks @2C.

Bottling

• Finally got around to bottling the Tiger & Tigress after an extended cold lagering at 2 degrees celcius for well over 4 weeks.  The Tigress was tasting mighty fine with the slick whisky oak flavours coming through very strongly and very impressed by the colour and clarity and chocolate notes of the beer at bottling. Time to bottle condition and then enjoy by the fireside :-)