Need some recipe advice/critique for a dry stout

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Triple9

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My fathers birthday is coming up and I decided I would craft a beer to his specifications. We sat down today and came up with the following.

He wants a Dry Stout that meets these criteria: very dark, very dry, thick (I take this to mean a lot of body), low on the bitter side, medium to medium-high on the alcohol, classic stout flavor so no funny ingredients.

Here's what I came up with:

7 lb Maris Otter
1 lb Flaked Barley
1 lb Roast Barley
8 oz Chocolate Malt
4 oz Black Patent

Hops will probably be an ounce of Northern Brewer (9.5%) for 60 minutes or whatever I have on hand that would put it around 30 IBU.

Thinking of mashing around 155-156.

I tend to use dry yeast in the form of S-05, Nottingham or Windsor, just because I always have, but I have no problems with using liquid if it's justified. In this case, I would most likely use Nottingham.

Any thoughts to what I have in mind would be greatly appreciated.
 
He wants a Dry Stout that meets these criteria: very dark, very dry, thick

In that case, I'd double the flaked barley and mash lower, around 150 or so. Everything else seems good enough. Yeast choice probably isn't too critical, but the Irish ale yeasts sure would be the classic choice.

Small amounts of dark (80L) crystal could add some complexity, but that's optional, and may potentially cut into the perceived dryness. If you go that route, I'd say use nothing more than 4-8oz tops to give just a hint of something different.
 
awesome, thanks for the feedback. Doubling the flaked barley and mashing lower sounds like a great idea.
 
There is, imho, too much roasted grains, especially if your roasted barley and chocolate malt are rated 400L and above: in a much bigger stout (1.055+) it would probably turn out fine, but the low finishing gravity might lead to harshness.

I'd personally keep the roasted barley around 8-10% and drop every other roasted grains, especially if your roasted barley is rated higher. There's a world of difference between the 300L and 500L stuff, the latter being several times more potent. Maybe keep a few ounces of chocolate on top of that.

I usually mash my stouts low and for 90 minutes. The suggestion to add more flaked barley is a good one.
 
Hmm, what if I boost the Maris Otter a bit to 8.5 pounds and drop a couple ounces of the patent?

This would be
8.5 lb Maris Otter
2 lb Flaked Barley
1 lb Roast Barley
8 oz Chocolate
2 oz Patent

Should have an OG around 1.06 and FG around 1.012, while still maintaining a color above 35. The hard part I'm having is meeting the color requirement without using much chocolate and patent. I'd rather make it an extra stout than lighten it up.
 
depending on how much roast he wants, you could swap the chocolate and patent for Carafa III. its lighter on the roastiness, but it'll get you your darker color
 
Hmm, what if I boost the Maris Otter a bit to 8.5 pounds and drop a couple ounces of the patent?

This would be
8.5 lb Maris Otter
2 lb Flaked Barley
1 lb Roast Barley
8 oz Chocolate
2 oz Patent

Should have an OG around 1.06 and FG around 1.012, while still maintaining a color above 35. The hard part I'm having is meeting the color requirement without using much chocolate and patent. I'd rather make it an extra stout than lighten it up.

What Lovibond of roasted barley are you using ? This, imho, is more important than the starting gravity because it'll have a big impact on colour, but moreso taste. My LHBS carries Bairds' and a few other maltsters roasted barley, but the Bairds one is nearly 600L (called black barley, not to be confused with black patent). 10% of that stuff will get your brew plenty dark alright. I ran a test in Beersmith and with the lovibond of what I'm using, 3kg MO with 1kg flaked and 450g roasted barley 580L is 40SRM which is pitch dark and it'll be roasty. Oh yes it will.
 
The classic dry stout recipe is:
70% Pale Ale malt
20% Flaked Barley
10% Roasted Barley
Figure about a 1.040-44 O.G.

If you want something like a Beamish, swap some of the roasted for some chocolate.

A dry stout is one of those beers I tend not to stray too far from the classic recipes.
 
Unfortunately, the Lov on the roasted barley isn't listed, so I'm working off a baseline of 300. The Chocolate is 400 and Black Patent is 550. Maybe dropping the patent completely, lowering the chocolate to 4 oz and putting in 4 oz of Carafa III might work.

or else, maybe I should just make a test batch for myself. :) Thanks for all the help so far. I think I'll have to call Dad and find out how roasted he wants it.

PT Ray, that recipe was my starting point and what I've made in the past, but I wanted something much more personalized.
 
No clue, a lot of the specialty grains are broken up and repackaged. The make is not listed on the label. I'll have to ask next time I go into the store, but they seem to buy everything through Crosby & Baker, so I would guess it's either Muntons or Weyermann. Probably whichever is cheaper.
 
As best I can tell, Munton's is around 500L and Weyermann's is around 425L, in case that helps any.

If you make any changes to the roasted grain profile, I'd just drop the patent. It's not really going to do much for you in this recipe, I don't think. Toy with the chocolate to get the roasted flavor where you like it. 1.5lbs in a 1.045 or so recipe is a good amount, but you said you wanted it roasty.

The chocolate grain probably isn't necessary either, but it could add some extra complexity to the brew. Two types of grain in the same category usually doesn't leave the taste too confused, but I wouldn't go beyond that unless you really know what you're doing. Too many grains (or too many of any one type) can just make for a muddy and indistinct flavor.
 
Thanks again. I don't really brew stouts very often, so haven't worked very much with heavily roasted grains and I haven't worked with them at all since brewing all-grain. Using 500 or even 425 for the roasted barley puts the numbers much more in line with where I would like them to be without using the patent or chocolate.

I think I'm going to put a bit of chocolate (maybe 4 oz or so) in it, but the patent is out.
 
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