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Thirsty Dog Old Leghumper Porter Clone

5 gallons, extract with grains; OG = 1.067; FG = 1.024; IBUs = 24

 Ingredients:

• 6.6 lbs. John Bull plain light malt extract syrup
• 1 lb. malto-dextrin
• 10 oz. crystal malt (20° Lovibond)
• 10 oz. crystal malt (80° Lovibond)
• 10 oz. crystal malt (120° Lovibond)
• 1 lb. chocolate malt
• 1.5 lbs. Munich  malt (20° Lovibond)
• 12 oz. flaked barley
• 8 AAU German Northern Brewer hops (1 oz. of 8% alpha acid)
• 5 AAU Liberty hops (1.5 oz. at 3.7% alpha acid)
• London Ale (Wyeast 1028) or Burton Ale (White Labs WLP023) or (seasonal) London Ale (WLP013)
• 1/2 teaspoon isinglass for fining
• 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Steep the 6 grains in 3 gallons of water at 150º F for 30 minutes. Strain out the grains, and add the malto-dextrin and malt syrup and return to a boil. When the wort begins boiling, add Northern Brewer hops and boil for 60 minutes. Add the Liberty hops for the last 5 minutes of the boil.

Cool wort in an ice bath or with wort chiller. Transfer to primary fermenter and add enough cold water to bring the volume up to 5.5 gallons. Pitch yeast and oxygenate-aerate well. Ferment this beer on the warm side, at 72º F as per the brewer’s instructions, for 7 to 10 days. Add the isinglass to the beer after fermentation is complete to help achieve clarity. Prime, bottle and age for about two weeks.

All-Grain Option:

Replace the malt syrup and malto-dextrin with 6.5 lbs. of pale malt and 1.25 lbs. of dextrin malt. Mash the grains together.  Fred says Thirsty Dog uses a simple single-infusion mash at 155º F for this beer. I would suggest 60 minutes. Change the boiling hops to 6 AAU German Northern Brewer hops (0.75 ounce at 8% alpha acid).  Note that the boiling hops are slightly lower for the all-grain batch, due to greater hop extract efficiency from a full boil of the entire wort. Ferment and condition as described in the extract-with-grains instructions.