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I am preparing some beer Porter style, Are there any recommendations you could share to avoid acidity on the final product, because some time ago I added oats wafers but got bad result, the filter was capped.

For you what attributes a porter should have?

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I am by no means an expert on Porter, but I will tell you that my dark beers got better once I understood that those very dark roasted grains (chocolate, roast barley, etc) can pull down your mash pH too low, and give off chalky, astringent, dry flavors.

To get around this, I suggest cold-steeping your dark grains separate from your mash (or steep, if you are doing extract). Soak the grains in room temp water for a few hours or up to day, and then strain and pour the liquid into the boil fairly near the end. You'll get the color of the grains, and some flavor, but not as much as if you mashed them.

Oats in a Porter sound like a good idea, since their creaminess might help cut any acidity, but I'm not positive. Other things I know would help would be (1) low color Crystal Malts (10-60) to add some creamy caramel flavors, or (2) Malto Dextrin, which would increase the body of the beer (so don't add too much, Porter should be drinkable). Both those would cut the acidity slightly.

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For most of my darker beers, I am adding those darker grains at sparge, not during the main mash. All you really want from them is the color and some roast flavor. Its not really bumping up your gravity that much. Everything from chocolate, to carafa, to darker crystal malts. Add them later when you sparge with water <170 degrees.

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  • You can sparge with water much hotter than 170F. I regularly sparge with 190F water. It won't extract tannins becasue of temp. Tannin extraction is dependent on pH.
    – Denny Conn
    Nov 1, 2012 at 19:58
  • But when using such heat as 170F, you kill all enzimes, don`t you?
    – edgarmtze
    Nov 1, 2012 at 23:38
  • If the grain bed temperature reaches 170 F, then yes, the enzymes are deactivated. But that's a good thing, since the mash has ended.
    – FishesCycle
    Nov 2, 2012 at 1:47
  • I have heard that this method is quite effective as well.
    – GHP
    Nov 2, 2012 at 12:48
  • @ Denny what benefits do you get from such hot water? I had always thought from my grain-steepin' days that temp affected tannin extraction as well.
    – Pietro
    Nov 2, 2012 at 14:50

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