Help darken my "table" Dry Stout

I'm fascinated by "session" and "table" beers lately, and would like to work out a low ABV Irish Dry Stout. My recipe currently comes in at about 9 SRM, but that needs to be much higher, between 25-40. I'm considering adding finely crushed Carafa Special III late in the mash, but don't know how much. I'm also not sure if there's enough roast malt to give that classic roast flavor, so if anyone can help me out I'd be eternally (more or less) grateful.

Here's the recipe so far:

6 gallons, 75% efficiency

5.5 lb Maris Otter
8 oz flaked barley
4 oz roasted barley
2 oz acid malt (for pH/slight sour flavor)

.5 oz Fuggle (4.5% pellet) 60 min
.75 oz Fuggle (4.5% pellet) 30 min

S-04 English Ale yeast (I prefer dry to liquid)

OG: 1.028
FG: 1.007
ABV: 2.7%
IBU: 17.5 (BrewTarget calls this "Slightly hoppy")
SRM: 9.3 (BJCP says 25-40)
BU:GU: 0.63
Cal/12 oz: 91

Could up the roasted barley. Quick head math says you're around 5 percent. Many recipes call for ten percent. Not sure what the color impact would be as I can't do that math.

BrewTarget says it's at 4%. I'm just concerned that if I put in much more it'll overpower everything else. I'm trying to avoid a "roast bomb." Though if I up the roast I can cut the acid malt out, as the roast will get the pH to the right range.

With 5.5 lb of Maris Otter (81%), 0.5 lb of flaked barley (7%), and .75 oz (11%) of roasted barley, it still only comes to 16.8 SRM.

Maybe a small amount of black patent. Maybe something in the ball park of 1% of the grist.

I actually think I looked at the IBU instead of the SRM. They're so close together!

.75 lb Roast Barley (500 SRM) gives me 24.3 SRM. Close. Close enough?

Sithdad said:

Maybe a small amount of black patent. Maybe something in the ball park of 1% of the grist.

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2 oz (2%) puts me at about 27. Any way to get to the upper end of the color range without boosting the gravity. I really want this to be a dry stout in every aspect except ABV (keep it < 3%).

I've imperialized things -- that was easy. It's the minimizing that's the hard part!

I have had success with grinding carafa special (the dehusked stuff) in a coffee mill until it is a powder. I actually over darkened my altbier that way, with not much roasty or toasty in the mix. Weyermann puts out a product called Sinamar which is used solely for coloring dark lagers without adding any flavor. I have heard of people adding it at bottling until they reach the desired SRM. Hope that all helps.

urbanmyth said:

I have had success with grinding carafa special (the dehusked stuff) in a coffee mill until it is a powder. I actually over darkened my altbier that way, with not much roasty or toasty in the mix.

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Do you mash the carafa, or add it at the end of the mash? I've read mixed reviews of Sinamar.

I added it with 30 minutes left in a 90 minute mash.

Awesome, thanks! Last question (hopefully): how much did you use, or is it "adjust as you go"?

Adjusted as I went.

Thanks!

Not a problem. Hope it turns out!