Home Brew - Smoked Porter

Thanks to iRob and Karate Hotty, I got the book Smoked Beers by Daniels and Larson.  So, first brew of 2013?  Smoked Porter.  I didn't use the recipes in Smoked Beers but rather opted for the clone recipe of Alaskan Smoked Porter in Clone Brews.  The smoke malting technique was taken from Smoked Beers, but changed to match the use of my Big Green Egg.  Home Brew and egging - the ultimate hobby merger!

Smoked Malt:

Step 1: soak a combination of alder and apple wood chips in distilled water (about an hour)

Step 2: take 2 pounds pale malt.  Used a blender to crack the malt.  This resulted in a bit too much powder.  Soak for about 10 minutes in distilled water

Step 3: build a charcoal fire in the Egg.  Add wood chips.  Place the damp malt in a aluminum cooking tray, the bottom of which I perforated with a small nail

I smoked the malt in the Egg for about 3 hours.  Egg temp was about 350.  Sometimes I put the malt directly over the heat, sometimes indirect.  Added soaked wood chips as needed.

Even after 3 hours the malt was still slightly damp.  I left it out over night, and the next day gave it about 1.5 hours in the oven at 200.

Brewing the beer:

Steep at 150 for 30 minutes:

10oz light (40L) crystal malt
7 oz black malt
8oz chocolate malt
1.5 pounds smoked malt (see above)

Bring to a boil.  Add:

2kg light DME
3.4 lbs light DME
0.8 oz Columbus hop pellets (15% AA)

Boil 45 minutes.  Add:

0.5oz Willamette hop pellets
1 tsp Irish moss

Fill to 5 gallons.  When cool, add Safale US-05 American Ale Yeast (dry).