Help with my Stout

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rwillride17

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Ok, this will be my third batch, first is in the secondary, second in the primary, and third is my stout that is on deck. Ok, I bought a "kit" from my LHBS store. This is what was included:

8lbs. (2 cans) Alexanders Amber Liquid Malt extract
1/2 pound Chocolate grain
1/2 pound Black Grain
2.75 OZ Cascade 4% AAU Bittering Hops
1/2 OZ Tehnanger 5.3% AAU Finishing hops
irish Moss
1 pack "Dark-Munich-Beer" Vierka-Yeast

What do you guys think? Sound good? Can anyone tell me what the ABV will be? The guy I bought it from said I could decide what grains I want to steep and how much. Should I steep all of the black and Choc grain? Also, do I add the irish moss and finishing hops 15 minutes before the end of the boil? All input is much appreciated!

-Ryan
 
I really can't answer much about it, but I've made a few stouts now, and I find that fuggles hops do very well in them. That doesn't mean yours won't, of course.
 
Was this a prepackaged kit or one that he put together for you? I find it odd that he would suggest not steeping all the grains, if it's a prepackaged kit then the grains were put in there for a reason, and there should be an instructions sheet showing when to add your hops and what the ABV should be.
If it was something he put together for you I can't understand why he would sell you the grains if he didn't think you would need to steep them :confused:
 
add .5 lb of Crystal 120L
Up the tettnang hops to 1 oz

That will just cost you a few dollars more.


Steep the grains for 30 mins @ 158 degrees(I would throw in 1 cup of quaker oats with the steeping grains to help head retention)


Add the Cascade hops at the beginning of the boil (60 mins)

Add the irish moss with 15 mins left

Add the tettnag hops with 5 mins left
 
Ok, cool thanks alot guys! It was a kit that he put together for me. He called it a "sweet stout." I don't have any extra hops or grain. Also, my housemates and the other people who will be drinking this with me tend to like lighter/less bitter beers. So I think I'll not add any more hops too it. I will add the oats though. Thanks for the help, and I'll let you know how it goes.

When I picked up the kit, he said he included some extra grain, and I could alter it a I liked. So the general consensus is to steep it all and add some oats/
 
Looks like a pretty solid American Stout recipe - might be just a tad bitter to be called a Sweet Stout if you add all of the bittering hops at the beginning of a 60 minute boil.

Beer Smith came up with the following:
1.061 OG
1.015 FG
36.3 SRM (deep brown, almost black)
50.4 IBU (assuming a 60 minute boil for all bittering hops)
6.0% ABV
 
thanks all for your help. I look foreward to brewing it on Wednesday when the primary is free again. And thanks Yuri for posting the brewsmith stuff, very helpful.
 
Actually, I have one more quick question. How long should I age it? I will be kegging it. Should I just follow the 1-2-3 formula?
 
1-2-3 is always a good plan. The beer may taste better if it ages longer than 3 weeks thought. You will just have to taste it and see!


One word of advice on Hops.......You said your roomies don't like bitter beer so you would not want to add any more hops.

Well it depends on how long you boil the hops as to how much bitterness they add. I suggested adding tettnang hops to add more Aroma. If you add hops at the last few mins of the boil they add no bitterness.

If you really want to decrease bitterness, I would cut the Bittering hops(the ones that you add at the beginning of the boil.....2.75 OZ Cascade 4% AAU Bittering Hops) Down to 1 or 1.5 oz.

The thing about Stouts is that you use bitter roasted grains in them so they are going to have a bitterness to them. Increasing the aroma hops will help reduce the perceived bitterness.
 
ok, thanks. I might just do that. What do you think of cutting the cascade bittering hops to 2oz and adding the last .75oz in the last ten minutes?
 
I always thougt stouts were supposed to have very little hop aroma. Personal taste though.
 
well, thanks for all your help guys. Unfortunatly I finished brewing, checked the temp and pitched the yeast. After 2 days, I got nothing. So I called my LHBS and got a new pack of yeast. I poured it on top and left for Vegas for a weekend with my girlfriend. This time the yeast worked. I got a call from my housemate saying that my beer blew up. The krausen poured out the airlock, and not knowing what to do, he was unable to keep the airlock on. When I got back, the airlock was off and the beer was obviously infected. Oh well, time to start a new batch.
 
Well.... that was couragous..... :D Sorry... could not think of a better word.... although a few probably comes to mind :D
 
rwillride17 said:
well, thanks for all your help guys. Unfortunatly I finished brewing, checked the temp and pitched the yeast. After 2 days, I got nothing. So I called my LHBS and got a new pack of yeast. I poured it on top and left for Vegas for a weekend with my girlfriend. This time the yeast worked. I got a call from my housemate saying that my beer blew up. The krausen poured out the airlock, and not knowing what to do, he was unable to keep the airlock on. When I got back, the airlock was off and the beer was obviously infected. Oh well, time to start a new batch.

I guess that's one way to learn to use a blowoff tube.

What did you mean by "obviously infected"? How could you tell?
 
well, when I pitched the second pack of yeast, the beer was starting to have a little white film on top. But the real reason I thought it was infected was that it sat for an entire day with no airlock and when I checked it out, a fly flew out. It was also starting to smell a little sour.
 
Maybe you should re attach the airlock and see what happens. There is no harm in waiting a week to see if the batch is REALLY infected or if there is just a suspicion...it takes a lot to infect a batch
 
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