Dark Inception Imperial Porter

This is the Big Brew Day Recipe for 2022 - all grain version. Please note that grain bill is calculated for a brewhouse efficiency of 65%, adjust as needed. Mash at 151°F (66°C) for 75 minutes. Marcus recommends a 180-minute boil for the all-grain version of this recipe, but a 90-minute boil may be sufficient.

Dark Inception Imperial Porter was contributed by Marcus Baskerville of San Antonio’s Weathered Souls Brewing Co., and the leading force behind the Black Is Beautiful collaborative brewing project. This recipe was inspired by 2013 AHA Homebrewer of the Year Annie Johnson. Seeing an African American woman win Homebrewer of the Year provided Marcus with a bright hope for his future in homebrewing and inspired his love of brewing big dark beers. Dark Inception Imperial Porter is a thick-bodied, flavorful beer that features additions of raspberry, cacao, and vanilla, and is bursting with notes of toffee, caramel, coffee, chocolate, malt, liqueur, and fruit. It’s a perfect pairing with rich desserts or as a standalone finale for your evening.

Once you’ve pitched the yeast, you can create the vanilla bean tincture. Slice the two vanilla beans lengthwise, and place in a pint-sized canning jar. Add 1 cup (235 ml) of your preferred bourbon. Seal jar, set aside, and allow the beans to macerate (soak) for at least a week, shaking jar occasionally. The vanilla beans will be added to the fermenter 1 week before packaging (2 Tbsp of Pure Vanilla Extract can be substituted in place of the vanilla beans just before bottling or kegging).

Ferment at 64-72°F (18-22°C) for 14-21 days.

On 6th day of fermentation: Add 1½ tsp Yeast Nutrient, and 2 Liters of fruit puree to your fermenter. Gently swirl fermenter, if possible, to rouse yeast.

1 week before kegging or bottling: Pre-heat your oven to 300°F. Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper and spread the cacao nibs out evenly in a single layer. Place sheet on middle rack and bake for 10-12 minutes until aroma is released from cacao. Remove, and allow to cool for a few minutes. Place vanilla beans and cacao nibs in muslin bag, add to fermenter, and infuse for 7 days before packaging (if using vanilla extract add it just before packaging).

I was only supposed to have 2.25 pounds of Weyermann Munich Malt, but I bought 3.5 of German Munich Malt.