Late Shift Porter

It's winter, so we wanted a comfy, malty beer. We decided on a porter, but didn't want to be limited to the lighter British style, so we chose the American Porter as our base target. We both love the character and depth of Maris Otter as a base malt, and James has used it in a porter with good results. The Cara 90 was chosen to add additional malt depth and character. The Chocolate Rye was included to add a rich chocolate character without excessive roastiness (suggested by Austin in Brew 130). A bit of Black Patent included for that "classic porter" roast and edge, but only a small amount as we did not want it to dominate. Midnight Wheat was added for color without additional astringency, and our research has indicated that it would compliment the Chocolate Rye as well. Chinook hops were chosen for it's spicy/piney character, and since we were looking to accentuate the malt, we're keeping the perceived bitterness to the lower end of the style scale. However, because this is an American Porter, we're going to whirlpool 1/4 of the hops after cooling to below 180, in order to bring out more of the hop aroma without additional bittering. For our yeast we chose Denny's Favorite, which, according to Wyeast, "produces a big mouthfeel and accentuates the malt, caramel, or fruit character of a beer without being sweet or under-attenuated," and that's exactly what we're looking for. For the fermentation, we chose a temperature (65º F) that was in the middle of the recommended range, but had room for a diacetyl rest (68º F).