Well the experimentation has begun! *rubs hands together*
What I decided to do was go with an extract kit first, and if the results were decent enough to continue forward I would try again with a partial mash. I didn't go all-out with equipment like I had intended due to stock limitations at the LHBS and I wanted to start fairly soon, so I ended up getting just two 15L carboys to use with different measurements of Milo in each. I started out with an appropriate kit wort preparation, but decided to leave out additional malt extract since the purpose of this would be to see how the Milo performs. Instead I went with dextrose as the base fermentable.
(btw, For those that aren't familiar with this Aussie treat it smells, tastes, and essentially is hot cocoa with malt)
Milo Stout - Yield: 20L
1.7 kg Black Rock Reserve Miner's Stout kit
1 kg dextrose
10g licorice root @ 20 mins
Fermenter #1: 600g Milo, topped up to 10L (OG 1.057)
Fermenter #2: 300g Milo, topped up to 10L (OG 1.053)
I threw the root in the recipe because I wanted to compensate the possible loss of head retension caused by the heavy amount of milk solids/oil in the Milo and the fact that a portion may stay suspended in the wort after primary. In hindsight I might need to get a secondary for this batch but I'll worry about it later. I happen to love chocolate coated licorice so if 10g happens to be more pronounced than I'm anticipating it won't overpower the beer. BUT... it's an experiment. This was great fun to put together!
I pre-mixed the Milo in hot water to prevent clumping. After about 30 mins of frantically trying to fix an error in my maths, I managed to get the proportions correct without any unnecessary dilution of the wort, adding the right amount of Milo in each and topping up to 10L. The pictures don't do it justice, but the wort prior to pitching looked like molten chocolate! I think it was due to all the suspended solids and oils in it... but gosh it looked yummy
I will let you know how it turns out soon