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So I have been trying to make a good stout. It's been a goal to get this right, but so far after 5 stouts I haven't been really that successful. Can you take a look at this recipe and see if I should alter anything? It's based off of Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout, but I wanted a slight dark fruit taste to the stout so I added some Special B.
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 7.22 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
End of Boil Vol: 5.72 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.22 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
End of Boil Vol: 5.72 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 5.00 gal
12 Lbs Pale Malt 2 Row UK
3 Lbs Munich Malt
1 Lbs 12 Oz Crystal 60
1 LBS 4.5 Oz Chocolate
1 LBS 4.5 Roasted Malt
1 LBS Oats
6 OZ Special B
.85 Columbus Hops at the 80, 25, and 10
California Ale Yeast
I also will alter my water to be closer to a Dublin Water profile.
Thoughts?
Posted 34 days ago.
First, why don't you tell us what you think a good stout should be. Either list some commercial examples you like or just think about what that perfect stout tastes like in your mind and talk about that.
The only thing I'll say right now is no one is ever going to notice that special B under 2.5+ lbs of roasted malts.
Posted 34 days ago.
The recipe is based off of 10 Fidy by Oskar Blues. That is one of my favorite stouts. It's roasty and has chocolate tones. So I do enjoy that. I also like Serpent Stout by Lost Abbey and Avery's The Czar, Fremont Dark Star, and several others. I really enjoy a stout where I can taste the special b in it. I'm a big fan of Stouts and Belgian Dark Strong ales, so I think a combo of the two is always nice.
If I wanted that dark fruit flavor to shine through the roast and chocolate should I raise it to a pound? Maybe I should up the Crystal 60 to 120 to get more of the raisin and prune flavor as well?
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by enobale
It seems quite heavy on the roasted malts for my taste. Also, I'd say that California ale is awfully boring for a stout.
Posted 34 days ago.
So, you've made a few stouts and are not happy, that's the moment to go back to basics.
The most basic Stout is just Pale & Black malt, no more. Get the ratio right, with the right expressive English yeast and hop, you're done. Works for a small 1045 Porter to the biggest 1120 Stout and beyond.
(Even more basic would be 100% Brown malt, but that's fiddly with enzymes from a bottle)
Next step, London Stout, Pale & Brown & Black, by playing with the ratio you can make it more or less chocolaty. Even more chocolate? Replace a part of the Black by (pale) Chocolate, but then you are in the danger zone, four malts.
There are two big brewing nations that are not adverse of the use of sugar England and Belgium. You like the Belgian Dark Strong ales, here's your chance, instead of Special B use the darkest Candy Syrup you can get. I like Belgosuc Candymic 78 Extra Dark (PDF) 1800 EBC for that, but it may not be available for you. Use a fair amount of it, brewing sugars are no stranger to a stout.
The beer will be dangerously drinkable ;)
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by ingoogni
ingooni's advice is spot on. Special B can be difficult to use in proper ratios, I find it gets overwhelming quickly, or isn't there at all. Almost always the former.
Posted 34 days ago.
I'd agree with most of what ingoogni says here. The only caveat is that by the stouts you've named, you want something akin to motor oil. Perhaps sugar additions aren't what you should try on your first go. Do a simple stout with pale&black, a pound or so of oats, and an English yeast.
Trying to turn all the knobs up on specialty malts as in ...
"If I wanted that dark fruit flavor to shine through the roast and chocolate should I raise it to a pound? Maybe I should up the Crystal 60 to 120 to get more of the raisin and prune flavor as well? "
... is just a recipe for muddy flavors. Start small and work up, never start complex and pile more on.
Posted 34 days ago.
Ah, I know none of the mentioned Stouts and yes, with candy your stout will be "thinner".
Recipe for "motor oil" :
IIRRS (Intergalactic Imperial Russian Rye Stout)
OG 1102
27,5% Pils malt
27,5% Rye malt
23,2% Home roasted Rye Malt ~80EBC
10,9% Crystal Rye malt
10,9% Chocolate Rye malt
80 IBU Pilgrim
Windsor+Nottingham
FG 1028
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by ingoogni
Thanks everyone for the advice. I think I will go back to the drawing board and figure out a more basic stout. I really appreciate the advice and criticism it's what I was looking for :)
I'll repost the recipe once I re-work it.
Posted 34 days ago.
I look forward to it!
And yeah, these guys are right... too many specialty grains is asking for nothing to shine.
Posted 34 days ago.
|... too many specialty grains is asking for nothing to shine.
Drew Beecham's Brewing on the Ones is one of the best presentations on brewing.
It also describes how I had to brew when I started, there was only Pilsner malt and sometimes I could get hold of a bit Muenchner. So toasting & roasting was the first obvious thing to do, smoking the second. Then boiling a part of the wort down to syrup, later I also made dark brewers invert. Making Caramalts never occured to me :( and there was no information on it. Only available yeast was in the bottled Belgian and some German beers, we also blended them and reused them forever. This "forced" minimalism still has a big impact on my brewing some 30 years later (also in equipment)
Posted 34 days ago.
I'm very glad that I had this discussion with everyone. I have been thinking about it all day and it really had an impact on how I want to be a brewer. I really need to get down the basics before I venture out into the experimental side. I'm going to make a Dry Stout first and go from there. I'm working on the recipe now. Thanks again everyone!
Posted 34 days ago.
I wanted to thank everyone for the good feedback. Since my last post I have now made three different stouts (a dry stout, american stout, and now a RIS) and so far I have been happy with all of them. I went back to basics per ingoogni's suggestion and that was the best advice that I could have gotten.
Thanks Brewunited!
Posted 34 days ago.
I wanted to thank everyone for the good feedback. Since my last post I have now made three different stouts (a dry stout, american stout, and now a RIS) and so far I have been happy with all of them. I went back to basics per ingoogni's suggestion and that was the best advice that I could have gotten.
Thanks Brewunited!
Posted 34 days ago.
I wanted to thank everyone for the good feedback. Since my last post I have now made three different stouts -a dry stout, american stout, and now a RIS- and so far I have been happy with all of them. I went back to basics per ingoogni's suggestion and that was the best advice that I could have gotten.
Thanks Brewunited!
Posted 34 days ago.
