What Do you Think of My Stout Recipe

[RichardM]

I'm planning a stout to use up a variety of grains, hops and other odds and ends. What do you think of this?

It will be a 20 litre batch 1047 SG, 32.7 IBU and 73 EBC
My plan is to add the roasted barley for the last 15 minutes of the mash, 68c for 1 hour, mash out at 78, sparge and then boil for 1 hour

 

[lupinehorror]

i'm afraid the image, being so small, means that each letter occupies around 3 pixels and can't be read (at least on my monitor).

 

[RichardM]

i'm afraid the image, being so small, means that each letter occupies around 3 pixels and can't be read (at least on my monitor).

Is this any better?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I would put some flaked barley at 300g or rolled oats.

 

[RichardM]

I would put some flaked barley at 300g or rolled oats.

If you'd asked me I would have said they were already there, but they aren't! I'll add rolled oats, although I do have some flaked wheat to use up? What would that do?

 

[Zephyr259]

I've never used cacao nibs but I'd be worried that they're not going to be able to make it past the 15% of roasted malts. That seems like quite a lot of roast malts in what appears to be a fairly moderate gravity beer?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Cocoa nibs are fine used them a few times. I've only used flaked barley on stouts and oats on other beers but wth both will work.

 

[RichardM]

I've never used cacao nibs but I'd be worried that they're not going to be able to make it past the 15% of roasted malts. That seems like quite a lot of roast malts in what appears to be a fairly moderate gravity beer?

You may well be right. When I was researching stout recipes I thought I would need more cacao nibs but that is all I have left from an earlier brew and if I buy more then I will have more left overs which would defeat the point of the recipe.

 

[Zephyr259]

Cocoa nibs are fine used them a few times. I've only used flaked barley on stouts and oats on other beers but wth both will work.

It's amusing as I'm the opposite, flaked barley in my bitters and oats in my stouts. As you say, both work nicely, flaked barley is traditional in a dry stout and oats for oatmeal stout, I've twice made a clone of Brewdog's Jet Black Heart and it has both lactose and oats, very nice beer.

 

[The Hound]

If you'd asked me I would have said they were already there, but they aren't! I'll add rolled oats, although I do have some flaked wheat to use up? What would that do?

Flaked wheat might improve the head, maybe make it paler as well? Agree on the oats, I use flaked oats and sometimes malted oats too in porters, stouts and milds. I usually chuck in some wheat DME for the head.

 

[RichardM]

Flaked wheat might improve the head, maybe make it paler as well? Agree on the oats, I use flaked oats and sometimes malted oats too in porters, stouts and milds. I usually chuck in some wheat DME for the head.

I might go for oats and flaked wheat

 

[iz_g]

I think Zephyr has a point about the % of dark malts here. Half as much will still get you a very black stout, and you could make up the difference with some crystal.

 

[RichardM]

I think Zephyr has a point about the % of dark malts here. Half as much will still get you a very black stout, and you could make up the difference with some crystal.

It's a week until I will be brewing it, so I have time to reconsider and reformulate it.

 

[BeerCat]

If you roast the nibs it will bring out more chocolate flavour. I buy the nibs raw and put them in the over at 100c for 15m turning often. Crushing them would improve extraction but i have never bothered. I use about 150g in 25l.
15% is a lot if your going to boil it. Depends what your after, i would swap a bit for some crystal and get some adjuncts in there. Flaked barley or oats. Boiling can increase the astringency of roasted malts.

 

[RichardM]

If you roast the nibs it will bring out more chocolate flavour. I buy the nibs raw and put them in the over at 100c for 15m turning often. Crushing them would improve extraction but i have never bothered. I use about 150g in 25l.
15% is a lot if your going to boil it. Depends what your after, i would swap a bit for some crystal and get some adjuncts in there. Flaked barley or oats. Boiling can increase the astringency of roasted malts.

I have been working on the recipe. I've reduced the amount of roasted barley and chocolate malt and am thinking about not adding them until the last 20 minutes of the mash.
I've got some flaked wheat to use up, so will go for that instead of flaked barley or oats.
I've been reading about roasting and grinding the nibs. I was planning to do that then add them to the fermenter.

 

[RichardM]

I brewed this yesterday. This is what I went with
3.07kg Maris Otter
0.40kg Flaked Wheat
0.227kg Chocolate Malt
0.25kg Roasted Barley

I mashed for 60 mins at 68 centigrade and then mashed out at 76 for ten minutes. The chocolate malt and roasted barley were added with ten minutes of the 68 centigrade rest remaining.

I then boiled for 60 minutes, adding 17g of Target at 60 minutes, 250g of Lactose at 10 minutes and 5g of Target at 5 minutes.

I roasted the 125g of cacao nibs for 5 minutes at 150 centigrade and then added them to the fermenter.

O.G. was 1050, which was my target so I am pleased with that, I should get about 20 litres bottled.

It's now fermenting at 20 centigrade on the yeast cake from a batch of a bitter recipe based on a Jail Ale recipe that was on a thread here a few weeks back.

I'll report back on how it turns out in a few weeks.

 

[RichardM]

I brewed this yesterday. This is what I went with
3.07kg Maris Otter
0.40kg Flaked Wheat
0.227kg Chocolate Malt
0.25kg Roasted Barley

I mashed for 60 mins at 68 centigrade and then mashed out at 76 for ten minutes. The chocolate malt and roasted barley were added with ten minutes of the 68 centigrade rest remaining.

I then boiled for 60 minutes, adding 17g of Target at 60 minutes, 250g of Lactose at 10 minutes and 5g of Target at 5 minutes.

I roasted the 125g of cacao nibs for 5 minutes at 150 centigrade and then added them to the fermenter.

O.G. was 1050, which was my target so I am pleased with that, I should get about 20 litres bottled.

It's now fermenting at 20 centigrade on the yeast cake from a batch of a bitter recipe based on a Jail Ale recipe that was on a thread here a few weeks back.

I'll report back on how it turns out in a few weeks.

It's time to try it and I have to say that I am very pleased with it.

 

[Zephyr259]

I had a first taste last night, and it was pretty good, a bit too cold but it has a good body, not too roasty since I didn't use very dark roast malts and the bitterness balanced it nicely. Nice enough to drink now and should age into something very nice.