Mystery Batch of Beer

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hop_head76

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I was at the LHBS picking up the ingredients for brew day tomorrow and the guy asked if I would like some grains for free that were cracked for a customer which were combined when the customer wanted them kept seperate. Of course I said yes, who is going to turn down a free batch of beer! So after that long story here is my questions. What to do with this mixture?

10 Lbs - American 2-row
1 Lb - Crystal 60
1 Lb - Chocolate
1 Lb - Black Patent

I was all good until the 1 Pound of Black Patent. I can not mash anymore grains in my current set up, 13 lbs is maxed out. I will not be brewing this batch for a few weeks. So please throw some ideas at me. I am concerned about the roastiness not sure if sweetening it up a bit with maltodextrin, driving the hoppiness up to 60-70 IBUs or a combination of these/something else would help. If anyone has brewed with this much Black Patent before and can speak from experience on how this may or will turn out I would be glad to hear it?
 
That's no mystery batch. It's a stout. Hop it up with some Fuggles or EKG and enjoy the roasty goodness.
 
That would be too much Black for me too.

An option: split it into 2, add some other grains and make 2 beers. Different hops and different yeasts.
 
Are you game for more than one batch? I think that will be pretty strongly flavored with that much black so I might go get some more of everything else and mix the two batches of grain and make two batches from it. It will still be plenty strong with only half as much black patent.
 
i agree that it seems like too much black malt. I'd try to split that grain up and add some base grains and make two different beers. Could be a cool experiment to see how different hops/yeast in two somewhat identical batches.
 
I like the idea of splitting the grains and adding about 5 lbs of 2 row to each. I also like the idea of fuggles and EKG hops. Any suggestions for the other batch as far as hops? I'm used to writing pale ale and ipa recipes but not sure how that translates over to stouts. Also which yeasts would you suggest? I have a decent selections of washed yeasts ready to be turned into starters (Wlp001, wlp002, wlp007, wlp051, wy1272) but I'm open to others as well. Thanks to all so far for your suggestions and help!
 
If the grain is already mixed, it will be hard to split the roasted grain evenly. Still....do something with it. I like the parti-gyle idea
 
My mlt is a 5 gallon igloo cooler so I really am maxed out at 13 lbs. Which I think would make it tough to get two batches out. I wouldn't know exactly how much of each grain was in each grain per batch splitting it up, but I think it is a decent idea to cut the roasty flavors as I'm not a big fan of stouts that are over roasty. I like coffee/chocolate flavors but too much roasty flavors can turn me away. No matter what I'm sure it will be good as it was free and I'll be brewing it.
 
I like the idea of splitting the grains and adding about 5 lbs of 2 row to each. I also like the idea of fuggles and EKG hops. Any suggestions for the other batch as far as hops? I'm used to writing pale ale and ipa recipes but not sure how that translates over to stouts. Also which yeasts would you suggest? I have a decent selections of washed yeasts ready to be turned into starters (Wlp001, wlp002, wlp007, wlp051, wy1272) but I'm open to others as well. Thanks to all so far for your suggestions and help!

With those yeasts on hand, why not do American and Irish/English Stouts side-by-side? You could split that free grain, do the American version with a 2row base and 001/051/1272 and the English/Irish version with Maris Otter and 002/007
 
dcHokie - you say split what I have then mix one half with 5ish pounds of 2 row for an American stout then take the other half and add 5ish pounds of Marris otter? Do you have a hop selection ideas for one or both!? Like i said I'm good with pale ales and ipa but going off script with stouts is new for me. That seems like a great idea. The SWAMBO LOVES stouts so I would like to knock these out of the park!
 
I like the idea of splitting the grains and adding about 5 lbs of 2 row to each. I also like the idea of fuggles and EKG hops. Any suggestions for the other batch as far as hops? I'm used to writing pale ale and ipa recipes but not sure how that translates over to stouts. Also which yeasts would you suggest? I have a decent selections of washed yeasts ready to be turned into starters (Wlp001, wlp002, wlp007, wlp051, wy1272) but I'm open to others as well. Thanks to all so far for your suggestions and help!

I used wlp002 in my chocolate stout and I really like it..
 
dcHokie - you say split what I have then mix one half with 5ish pounds of 2 row for an American stout then take the other half and add 5ish pounds of Marris otter? Do you have a hop selection ideas for one or both!? Like i said I'm good with pale ales and ipa but going off script with stouts is new for me. That seems like a great idea. The SWAMBO LOVES stouts so I would like to knock these out of the park!

Yeah, if the 'free grain' is already crushed and mixed, then splitting that amount should theoretically split that full LB of black patent in half. IMO, hopping of American style stouts is all personal preference as there are excellent stouts ranging from only bittered to extremely hoppy (Rogue Shakespeare is all Cascade IIRC). I use East Kent Goldings and Fuggles as my go-to English hops, I tend to favor Fuggles for bittering and EKG for flavor/aroma. Also, you may want consider adding some carapils, oats or maltodextrin if you (or SWMBO) likes a lot of body/mouthfeel in stouts
 
Just pour the dry grain into a 5gal bucket, mix it REALLY well and then split it by weight if you want to make it into two batches. There shouldn't be any physical characteristics of the different grains which would prevent you getting a homogeneous mix.
 
Ok guys here is what I have put together. I am going to get the yeast starters going and would like to get these brewed this weekend. Any feedback you guys can offer would be awesome!

American Stout
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1272
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.066
Final Gravity: 1.016
IBU: 73.0
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 39.8
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 days at 65 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days at 61 degrees
Ingredients:
10.5 lbs. American 2-row
0.75 lbs American Chocolate Malt
0.75 lbs Oats Flaked
0.50 lbs American Black Patent
0.50 lbs Crystal Malt 60°L
0.50 lbs Carafoam
0.20 lbs Roasted Barley
13.7 lbs Total Grain Bill

.5 oz Simcoe (Pellets, 13.00 %AA) FWH
.5 oz Chinook (Pellets, 13.00 %AA) boiled 60 min.
.5 oz Amarillo (Pellets, 8.00 %AA) boiled 45 min.
.5 oz Centennial (Pellets, 10.00 %AA) boiled 30 min.
.5 oz Willamette (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 15 min.
.5 oz Chinook (Pellets, 13.00 %AA) boiled 10 min.
.5 oz Cascade (Pellets, 6.00 %AA) boiled 5 min.

Mashed at 155F for 60 min. 1.1 qt/lb

------------------------------------------
Oatmeal Stout
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WLP 004
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.064
Final Gravity: 1.017
IBU: 29.0
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 32.2
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 days at 65 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days at 61 degrees
Ingredients:
5.00 lbs. Marris Otter
5.00 lbs. American 2-row
0.50 lbs American Chocolate Malt
1.00 lbs Oats Flaked
0.50 lbs American Black Patent
0.50 lbs Crystal Malt 60°L
0.50 lbs Carafoam
13.0 lbs Total Grain Bill

1.0 oz Fuggles (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 60 min.
.5 oz Fuggles (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 45 min.
.5 oz East Kent Goldings (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 30 min.
.5 oz East Kent Goldings (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 15 min.
.5 oz East Kent Goldings (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 0 min.

Mashed at 155F for 60 min. 1.1 qt/lb
 
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