Highly disappointed...AGAIN.

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Dude

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Just racked over the oatmeal stout, missed the target once again. :mad: I'm getting a real overpowering roasted flavor.

I'm stumped. This is the third stout I've tried and all of them have been off the mark. The last 2 are too "roasted", IMHO, and it is overpowering everything else.

Granted this is at 1.019 and needs some time to mellow, but usually my beers out of primary are quite good.

:(

I also racked over the SNCA, it is @ 1.024 so it has some more to go. It is cloying sweet right now--hopefully that goes away. First impression on this is it is WAY not bitter enough for SNCA. Hopefully it is getting hidden by the sweetness. Hopefully this will come around too.
 
sorry to hear. i've been a little dissapointed in my last few brews too. good, but missed my target points. that's the deal w/ AG though, hu? many variables to deal with. just keeps me humble and trying new things to keep me moving ion the right direction!
 
i just thought of something. have you tired not mashing the darker roasted grains on those stouts/porters you've been dissapointed with? just add them into the tun prior to sparging......
 
Have you posted the recipe elsewhere? Let's have a look at your mash bill (as the whiskey traders say) and then I can make a bunch of inane philosophical comments about it. :D :D
 
Orrelse, Sorry to hear that man.

Are the roasted grains with or without husks? From what I have read so far is that the husks contribute most of the roast-bitterness and that's why some malters (like Weyermann) offer dark roasted grains w/o husks. If you are using less then 10% in your grain bill, the missing husks shouldn't be a problem.

But I have never made a stout so I can't really contribute much.

Kai
 
Without seeing the grain bill, I don't know if I can offer any advice. I love dark beers, my oatmeal stout is dead on, exactly what I want. No wonder I've only got 11 bottles left. I mash the roasted grains right along with the pale malt and I never have a problem. Some questions though, (asking the obvious)

1) what temp is your sparge water. If it's too high, you might be getting tannins and bitter compounds that taste kinda roasty.

2) My dark brews usually contain up to a two thirds of a pound of black patent malt, roasted barley, or chocolate malt. When I err on the high side, I always add more chocolate malt, because its not so bitter/roasty. What kind of dark malt are you using, and in what quantity?

3) You're not scorching your wort on the bottom of the brew kettle are you?

I've got a Scottish ale that turned out a bit on the bitter/roasted side. But I know exactly where that came from. Stupid me... I forgot to put the chocolate malt in the mash. I forgot to put it in before the sparge, so I put it in a grain bag and put it in the brew kettle. SMART... Really smart. Nothing like extracting all the bitterness I can possibly get from the grain. In spite of that, the beer is pretty damn good.

Good luck. Sorry I can't be of more help.
 
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