Cloning King Titus

I don't always clone beers, but when I do, I clone Dos Equis.

Actually, that's a lie: while I *don't* usually clone beers (it's only my second), I am certainly not going to clone Dos Equis. No offense to "The Most Interesting Man in the World," but we have radically different tastes in beer.

However, when I do decide to clone a beer, I try to look towards a beer that I consider a hallmark of the style. And when it comes to Porters, I cannot think of a better example than King Titus.

King Titus is a Robust American Porter brewed by Maine Beer Company. At 7.5%, it's big and full of tons of character. The brewer describes the beer as a "take on an American robust porter. Dark, thick, chewy, chocolaty, and of course, generously hopped." 

For a few more details, I cracked open a fresh bottle to give myself some current tasting notes:

Appearance: Pretty thick black with a tan head, little to no light penetration.

Aroma: Full of chocolate. I'm not getting a much for hops in the aroma at all.

Flavor: Dark chocolate with an almost lacto (milky) presence; super smooth. A little bit of roasted coffee in the background, balanced with faint candied orange peel. Leaves a long bitter finish. The hops are clearly there as they balance out the sweetness of the body, but I wouldn't say this is a hoppy beer.

Mouthfeel: A thick milkshake with lots of body.

When it came to designing the recipe, I thankfully wasn't totally in the dark as Maine Beer Company generously lists their ingredients for King Titus on their website. They write:

King Titus Vitals:

Color – Dark Chocolate

ABV – 7.5%

O.G. – 1.075

Malt – American 2-Row, Caramel 40L, Caramel 80L, Munich 10L, Chocolate, Roasted Wheat, Flaked Oats

Hops – Centennial, Columbus

In terms of my own recipe, I wanted to stay as close to the original recipe as I could though I did make a couple small changes that I expect will complement the final product nicely. The grain bill was easy enough, though I changed the percentages several times before finally deciding. In an effort to replicate the bigger body of the beer, I tried to mash in a little higher than usual (154°) using a single infusion mash (which is typical for my home system).

Freshly roasted wheat

When my homebrew store didn't carry Roasted Wheat, I decided to roast my own. I found the process so tremendously easy and pleasing that I'm fairly certain I will roast my own grains from now on. I simply put a pound of un-milled wheat on a cookie sheet and baked in the oven at 400° until they were nicely browned and I could smell them. They smelled absolutely fantastic and had a most wonderful nutty flavor. I let them cool overnight, milled them the next day, and added them to the mash.

I got a little stuck when considering the hops. The last tagline of the brewer's description ("generously hopped") sort of threw me off. The hop presence of the beer is minimal at best, with only a vague earthiness in the background of the mouth. It is my estimation that the hops primarily serve to balance the beer and prevent a boozy character.

Thus, I opted for roughly 68 IBUs with hop additions at 60, 20, and 15 thinking that this would serve to balance the beer, while leaving some faint hop flavors without being described as "hoppy." Though MBC doesn't list the IBUs on King Titus, Founders lists their Breakfast Stout (a comparable porter/stout in my opinion) at 60 IBUs, thus leaving my beer a little more generously hopped. I opted for Magnum  as opposed to Columbus for the simple reason that I mixed up when I bought them (Magnum is used in their stout, Mean Old Tom.) Considering I'm using these hops as bittering hops anyhow, I expect no major change in the finished product. 

For yeast, I decided to try a simple yeast blend with of both 1054 and 1272 (WYeast American Ale and American Ale II). My hope is that they balance each other out, bringing out the best characteristics of both the hops and the malts in the finished product.

The Psalmist

4 Gallons – 90 minute boil

OG: 1.080

60%  American 2-Row

9%  Chocolate Malt

8%  Munich Malt

6%  Flaked Oats

6%  House-roasted White Wheat

4%  Caramel 80L

4%  CaraStan (37L)

1 oz. US Magnum (13.5% AA) - 60 minutes

1/2 oz. Centennial (8.7% AA) - 20 minutes

1/2 oz. Centennial (8.7% AA) - 15 minutes

American Ale (WYeast 1056)

American Ale II (WYeast 1272)

Single infusion mash at 154° for sixty minutes.

And the name of the beer? King Titus (named after an ape) reminded me of King David (don't ask!), who is credited with the authorship of most of the Psalms. 

Stay thirsty my friends!

Prost!

-keith