Opinions on a stout

I picked up a LME of Coopers Stout, along with some chocolate malt that I had cracked (1 lb). I absolutely LOVE Youngs Double Chocolate Stout, so was hoping to get something in the ballpark to that. It was suggested to steep a 1/2 lb of the chocolate malt for 20 minutes. Anyone with any experience in this? My plan is to add an additional 3 lbs of amber DME or 2 lbs of it and 1 lb corn sugar. I like the alcohol bumped up a bit and this amount with other brews has yeilded the results I liked.

So... should I stick with the 1/2 lb of the malt as suggested, use the full pound, or something other? I've only made beer from LME and never steeped any grains or even hops before, so I don't have a clue on this. Although I like a good dark beer, there comes a point, like Gueness Double Stout, that it becomes less like drinking a beer and nearly having to chew it.

Anyone?

Well, I think if you are worried about it being "to stout", go head and do the lesser this time. You certainly will make good tasting beer at that point and can always add more on the next batch. You can't take it away once it is in there.

OK, I incorrectly posted that I used Coopers stout, but it is actually Muntons Export Stout. I've never made beer with anything other than an LME and some added sugar, without ever worrying about temps or anything too much. I just pitched yeast when the wort felt just warm-ish. So here's what I just mixed up, hoping for something resembling a chocolate stout.


Muntons Export Stout
1/2 lb Chocolate Malt
1/4 cup Cocoa
2 lbs Briess Sparkling Amber DME
2 lbs Corn Sugar
Yeast starter made with Muntons yeast that came with LME, small dash yeast nutrient, and 1/4 cup of the amber DME 12 hrs. ahead of mixing time in @ 16 ounces water (Boiled down from 22 oz with the DME).

Steep Chocolate Malt in one gallon water at 150 degrees for 30 minutes. Rinse steep bag with 1 Quart 150 degree water through colander into pan. Turn off heat. Throw away malt.

Add Muntons LME with rubber spatula to clean can well. Mix well.

Add DME, cocoa, and corn sugar slowly while stirring. This yielded approximately 1 3/4 gallons plus 1 cup of almost black ,syrupy, chocolatey smelling goodness. Added enough water to get exactly 5.5 gallons in my 6.5 gal ferment bucket. My last batch using this much DME foamed up out of the air lock and made a mess. I ended up having to waste a half gallon to get it where it wouldn't foam out, so I just left a half gallon out this time.

OG reading is 1.054

Pitched yeast in at 78 degree mix, and sloshed the heck out of it until foamy with a wire whisk.

Wish me luck!

Adding Corn Sugar to a recipe is generally done to dry it out, lighten the body and boost the alcohol up without adding taste. I would consider all of those bad things in a Stout...but please let us know how it turns out!

Also it is not recommended to make a starter for dry yeast. I did that ONE TIME and ended up with the only bad beer I've ever made!

Jayhem said:

Adding Corn Sugar to a recipe is generally done to dry it out, lighten the body and boost the alcohol up without adding taste. I would consider all of those bad things in a Stout...but please let us know how it turns out!

Also it is not recommended to make a starter for dry yeast. I did that ONE TIME and ended up with the only bad beer I've ever made!

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??? Hmmm.. I've made a starter with dry yeast with every batch I've made... from beer, to cider. What's the difference, you think? I'm using some of the same ingredients that I'm putting in the wort to make the starter, so I wonder what the problem would be giving the little fellers a head start on dinner? Have I just been lucky so far, or not an educated enough taste to tell the difference? Many things I do, according to Beer Smith and such, say I'm not making a good beer, but tastes good to my little neanderthal brain? I've tasted some made with rocket science precision that I thought were terrible.

Boosting the alcohol up a bit was exactly the reason for adding the corn sugar. In my past mixes, by splitting equal parts DME and corn sugar, it seems I've gotten a good balance between the two, and seems to cancel each other out mostly, but the DME seems to help with a good head retention. I've had some stouts that, as I said, seemed like I should be chewing them before swallowing, so a little thinning may not be a bad thing. We'll see how it turns out. Probably sacrilegious to some, but if brings a smile to my dark foam covered upper lip, then "FOOEY!" I say to the nay-sayers! lol.

Thanks for the input!

There have been quite a few discussions on HBT about not making starters for dry yeast. My situation was probably a combination of things but it is generally not recommended. If it's worked for you I would keep doing it!

Just a warning... This recipe puked out of the air lock tonight. If for any other reason... maybe this is a good idea not to use a yeast starter on these dark heavily sugared brews? My Bock beer did this also.

Jayhem said:

There have been quite a few discussions on HBT about not making starters for dry yeast. My situation was probably a combination of things but it is generally not recommended. If it's worked for you I would keep doing it!

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Had a couple of exchanges on here with tre9er regarding this very subject.

I believe that adding dry yeast powder straight into wort tends to shock and damage a certain amount of yeast cells (something like 40 to 50% die or are damaged) , knocking down the viability a bit. Also, something was mentioned about dry yeast being packaged in such a condition that gives it a bit of a boost so it will be able to go to work really quickly (containing lipids with sufficient oxygen reserves for the initial reproductive cycle).

The best way of introducing a packet of dry yeast to your wort is to rehydrate 15 to 30 minutes before pitching. This supposedly means you'll get the greatest viability as the warm water will penetrate the yeasts' cell walls without causing shock, unlike a sugar rich solution (wort), and then pitching into your wort. Basically letting the yeast do some stretching before they have to go to work on the sugars.

The conclusion that Tre9er had reached, and that sounds reasonable to me, was that pitching rehydrated yeast into your wort to start fermentation, and pitching rehydrated yeast into a starter to multiply cell count, were essentially one and the same. Using a starter to grow one pack of, rehydrated, dry yeast into enough un-stressed, viable yeast for a higher gravity brew.