My first stout

Not only is this my first stout but it is also the first brew served from my kegerator. The stout is called Black Love.





Recipe:
15# 2 row
1# German Caraffa II
.75# Dark Chocolate Malt
.92# Crystal 40 (supposed to be .75)
1.5oz Chinook at 60
.5oz Chinook at 10
1oz Amarillo at 5
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Overall I am happy with the results. I love the body and mouthfeel. I probably could have skipped the Amarillo.

Looks good, man. Looks kind of like MY first stout, of which I have 4 more. When did you brew that? I learned a lesson from that batch: I bottled it at ~ 5 weeks, started drinking and giving them away a week or ten days later. It was okay, but just - a little too much charcoal from the roasted barley, a little too sweet, not much head. I left the last 1/2 dozen bottles alone mainly from lack of interest. Flash forward to Friday night, 3 months out from brew day, popped one just for s#$tz and grins - it was awesome. The charcoal had mellowed, the sweetness had receded, and the head was out of this world - comparable to draft Guiness. It took me 20 minutes to finish it, still had 1/8th of an inch of head going. Stout is far from my favorite, but I'll definitely be brewing this recipe again. My only tweak will be a tad more bittering. I agree about the Amarillo - I love it, but not late in a stout. I'm dubbing this one The Velvet Hammer. Sorry, no pictures.
10# Rahr 2-row
1.5# Simpson's xtra drk
1#Briess 20L caramel
8 oz Briess Roasted Barley
8 oz Franco-Belges Coffee Kiln
3/4 oz EKG FWH
2 oz Challenger 65 minutes
1.5 oz EKG 45 minutes
3/4 oz EKG 20 minutes
Wyeast 1056 OG 1.065 FG 1.018
What's the story with Carafa? Is it tasty, or is it for color or body?

That looks like a good recipe. Velvet is a good description for the mouthfeel of Black Love. It is viscous yet very smooth. The karafa really darkens the beer but also adds a light roasty taste on the finish. It goes well with the 59 ibu and 7.1 abv. My OG was 1.074 and FG was 1.020 so it also has some sweetness incorporated with it. I have it pretty low carbed and love the way the head forms. It reminds me of the way a beer on nitro forms it's head.

That looks really good! I've never heard of or used dark chocolate malt before. I noticed you don't have any roasted barley in your stout. Did you use the DCM in replacement? Does the dark chocolate malt give the beer better flavors than the RB? It sounds delicious. I'll definitely order some the next time I get ingredients.

The caraffa is actually made from dehusked barley. Description from Williams Brewing: "This malt is produced from de-husked barley which helps reduce the harshness usually present in highly roasted grains, while retaining the color, aroma, and body." The DC adds coffee and cocoa. I think it's the same as regular chocolate malt but with more roast and a higher lbv.

If I had to guess I would say the caraffa is the difference maker for this brew. A normal roasted barley has a much stronger roast to it. This one puts the roast in there more subtly and hits on the finish instead of up front.

I'm going to have to put that on my next grain buy. It almost sounds like my recipe would make a decent porter if I subbed carafa for the roast barley.

I bet that would be good. You'd probably want to use a small amount. It can range from 413 - 450l. It will turn your brew dark quick.

I was looking over your recipe and it is looking really good. The next time I brew a stout I am going to use your grain bill.