Chipotle Imperial Robust Porter

This beer worked out in a marvelous way. I've been thinking about brewing it for quite a while, and now that it's done the chocolate and the roast and the smoke and the pepper all come together.

I bought 3 pounds of smoked malt a while ago, but it never seemed all that smoky to me. There was some vague smokiness, but not to the level I expected for putting my nose in three pounds of smoked malt. I also had some dried chipotle peppers that I bought at a Hispanic grocery store, they smelled smoky but I doubted their ability to add enough smoke to five gallons of beer. The two worked together to give me the level of smoke and heat I was looking for. My aim was not to make a beer that was hugely smokey or fire-breathing hot... I just wanted to build a nice interplay of flavors to work with an Imperial Porter.

Notes: The recipe says two ounces of chipotle but that's a guess, because I added 14 dried chipotle peppers to the boil without measuring their weight. I kept them in a hop bag and pulled the bag out of the boil when the wort was spicy enough. I was originally planning to use Black Patent instead of Carafa, but on brew day didn't happen to have any of Black Patent around, and I did have some Carafa.

Statistics
Brew Date:	November 25
Batch Size:	5.0 gallons
Original Gravity:	1.084 measured   (1.087 estimated)
Final Gravity:	1.024 / 6.1° Plato    (1.021 to 1.025estimated)
Color:	37° SRM / 74° EBC   (Black)
Mash Efficiency:	73% measured    (75% used for O.G. estimate)
Bitterness:	48.0 IBU / 11 HBU   ƒ: Tinseth
BU:GU Ratio:	0.55
Alcohol:	8.4% ABV / 6% ABW
Calories:	288 per 12 oz.

Malt & Fermentables
%	Lbs.	Oz.	Malt/Fermentable	PPG	°L
67%	11	0	American Two-row Pale	37	2
18%	3	0	Smoked Malt	37	9
7%	1	2	American Crystal 120L	34	120
3%	0	8	Special B	30	180
2%	0	6	Roasted Barley	25	300
2%	0	4	Chocolate Malt	34	475
1%	0	2	Carafa II	32	412

Hops
Use	Time	Oz.	Variety	Form	AA
Boil	60 mins	1.25	Northern Brewer	pellet	9.0
Boil	30 mins	0.75	Northern Brewer	pellet	9.0
Post-boil	10 mins	2.0	Cascade	pellet	5.5

Yeast
Type	Strain	Description
Safale	US-05	Dry Ale Yeast in dry form with low to medium flocculation and 73% attenuation

Miscellaneous
Use	Time	Amount	Ingredient
Boil	10 min.	2oz.	Dried Whole Chipotle Peppers