Chocolate Porter - Version 2

In celebrating my three-day Labor Day weekend, I decided to brew my first batch of beer in several months. The hiatus was brought on by the sweltering summer heat for which my locale is known. Truth be told, we are still hovering in the mid to upper 80's, but the humidity is gone and we can actually exist sans air conditioning.

When the weather starts turning like it is, I start getting a hankerin' for porters and stouts. I also start getting excited for the Asheville Brewgrass Festival (only 2 weeks left!).

I decided to revamp my first all-grain Porter recipe from last year, adjusting out the coffee malt and switching to a different chocolate malt (Carafa II). I also went with a considerably more tame bittering hop, Amarillo. I'm hoping for less hop character and more chocolate and caramel flavor.

The base was 12 lbs of 2-row pale malt:

The specialty grains included dark Munich, Crystal 120L, Black Patent, Roasted Barley, and these two and a half pounds of Carafa II German chocolate.

All told, I had just over 18 lbs of grain and was shooting for an OG of 1.081. Having the knowledge that my efficiency is terrible when working all-grain, I threw in a pound of liquid malt extract during the boil.

My actual OG was 1.073, which is not terrible. That should still put me around 6.9% ABV. I pitched the yeast (Wyeast 1056) yesterday evening and as of this morning, I have fermentation!