Smoked Porter NHC Re-Brew/Smoking Malts

So I finally got around to re-brewing my Smoked Porter that placed 3rd in the South Regional of the NHC.  My buddy gladly home smoked me some Munich malt.  While my original was smoked with Alder, I had to settle for Apple wood smoked malt this time.  I tried ordering Alder from a place in Washington State but it did not get here in time.  So lets hope the judges don't notice or care that I had to switch it up.  I switched up the recipe just a bit on the notes from the judges in the 1st round.  So I hope that is kosher as well.  I really don't see how they will notice anyway.

So to go into a bit about how the malt was smoked I can describe it here.  Basically I told my buddy to cold smoke the malts where you have the wood sitting over some kind of burner or small fire in a separate grill.  Then you run duct over to your main smoker and let the malt sit on that till you think it's done.  Here are some steps there were described and he went by to accomplish this.  Most if not all of this was published in the April issue of Zymurgy Magazine, if you have it.

1. Make sure the smoker is clean.  Clean it with Alcohol.

2. Either soak your wood or don't.  The author suggested that you don't cause it "works better"

3. Low and slow, make sure the wood isn't on fire.

4. stir malt regularly for even coating

5. 1 hour of smoking provides an intense manageable character for large batches.  10-15 minutes for small batches

6. You will need to De-gas the malt by leaving it out in a bucket covered with a mesh screen for 2 days

So what I really liked about this process is that the Munich was "pre-soaked" and it crushed up real nice with almost a full husk intact.  Smelled really smoky and real fruity so I was pretty stoked about getting this brewed.  I went with an extra 1/2 lb of smoked malt and cut back on the Black Patent malt just a bit.  I also added another pound of 2-Row malt and cut back on some hops and both judges said there was a lingering hop bitterness. What came out of the cooled wort was simply amazing to taste.  I really can't wait for this to be done.

Smoked on the Porter (NHC Re-Brew)

Malt:

10 lbs: Canadian 2-Row

4 lbs: Alderwood Smoked Munich Malt

1 lb: Munich

.75 lbs: Crystal 60L

.5 lbs: Chocolate Malt

2 oz: Black Patent

Hops:

1.0 oz: Chinook 11.5aa @60m

.50 oz: Willamette 4.2aa @15min

Misc:

Target OG: 1.074

Target FG: 1.019

IBU: ~39

Actual OG: 1.070

Actual FG: 1.019

Apparent Attenuation: 71.1%

ABV: 6.8%

ABW: 5.3%

Yeast:

White Labs English Ale Yeast (WLP002)

Hopville Recipe

Update 6.2.2010: Neglected to update anything on here for this beer.  Brew day was typical fermentation was typical.  I was scared that I wouldn't get it out the door in time for the NHC.  Good news is that the beer has been kegged and after force carbing it, it was bottled and 3 bottles were shipped off for the NHC final round in 2 weeks.  I will post back after the 19th to show how I did.

Update 6.25.2010:  Got my score sheets back from the NHC second round.  Beer did not place but it was looked on favorably by the judges.  Beer received a score of 38.5.  Score sheets will be posted later.

Update 6.27.2010: Score Sheet