Comment on my recipe? Desert Moon Stout

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socalboomer

socalboomer

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One of my first recipes - does it look okay? Trying to learn by looking at others around here. . .
(edited based on Yooper's input - second time to lessen crystal malts and add flaked barley)

Desert Moon Stout 10G - American Stout - using BrewTarget
================================================================================
Batch Size: 1000 gal
Boil Size: 12.394 gal
Boil Time: 1.000 hr
Efficiency: 70%%
OG: 1.066
FG: 1.018
ABV: 6.1%%
Bitterness: 42.3 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 43 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
. Name . . . . . Type . . . . . . . . Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain . . . . . 22.000 lb Yes No 79%% 2 L
Roasted Barley Grain . . . . . . . . . 2.000 lb Yes No 55%% 300 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 120L Grain . . 1.000 lb Yes No 72%% 120 L
Carared Grain . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.000 lb Yes No 75%% 20 L
Chocolate Malt (US) Grain . . . . . . 2.000 lb Yes No 60%% 350 L
Barley, Flaked Grain . . . . . . . . .1.000 lb Yes No 70%% 2 L
Total grain: . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.000 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Willamette. 5.0%% 2.000 oz Boil 40.000 min Pellet 12.3
Cascade . . 6.0%% 2.000 oz Boil 40.000 min Pellet 14.7
Cascade . . 6.0%% 2.000 oz Boil 15.000 min Pellet 8.3
Willamette. 5.0%% 2.000 oz Boil 15.000 min Pellet 6.9

Misc
================================================================================
Name Type Use Amount Time
Irish Moss Fining Boil 4.000 tsp 15.000 min

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
WLP023 - Burton Ale Yeast Ale Liquid 4.7 tbsp Primary
 
Am I reading that right? (It's very hard to read). 3 pounds of roasted and 2.5 pounds of crystal malt? If so, I'd cut both of those in half, at least.
 
3 lbs of roasted barley is certainly more than most people would use. I'd probably reduce it to 1 lb and andd .5 lbs of a 500L black barley to give it a bit more roasty sharpness. I'd probably also drop the CaraPils, 2 lbs of the other two crystal malts should give you enough body/sweetness.

Otherwise looks good to me, best of luck.
 
Yooper said:
Am I reading that right? (It's very hard to read). 3 pounds of roasted and 2.5 pounds of crystal malt? If so, I'd cut both of those in half, at least.
Click to expand...

yes and no. :D

Yes, on the roasted
16 oz of crystal

I'll look at dropping the roasted a bit. . .
 
socalboomer said:
yes and no. :D

Yes, on the roasted
16 oz of crystal

I'll look at dropping the roasted a bit. . .
Click to expand...

Ok, a pound of crystal is ok. It looks like the recipe had carared, carapils and crystal 120 (all crystal malts). Which two of those did you take out? If you took out the carapils, you could easily add 6 ounces of flaked barley to the grain bill to give great head retention and body to the beer.

A pound of roasted is fine, but I have usually used 8 ounces and then 8 ounces of something else, like chocolate malt or black malt.
 
Ooohh, sorry, I was only looking at the crystal 120. Sorry - my flub. I do appreciate your input!

Going to ask a couple of questions - I did make some assumptions and want to figure out how to fix them! :drunk:

So, can I ask why you would use flaked barley instead of the carapils? I do have it there for head retention. . .and the CP Brew Chart says it doesn't add flavor, just head and body.

Is there a limit to how much crystal varieties you want in the recipe?

Okay - will drop the roasted and put in some chocolate. I assume this is to balance the flavor out?

(revised recipe posted - it's BrewTarget and I'm figuring out how to make it readable. . . :D )
 
socalboomer said:
Ooohh, sorry, I was only looking at the crystal 120. Sorry - my flub. I do appreciate your input!

Going to ask a couple of questions - I did make some assumptions and want to figure out how to fix them! :drunk:

So, can I ask why you would use flaked barley instead of the carapils? I do have it there for head retention. . .and the CP Brew Chart says it doesn't add flavor, just head and body.

Is there a limit to how much crystal varieties you want in the recipe?

Okay - will drop the roasted and put in some chocolate. I assume this is to balance the flavor out?

(revised recipe posted - it's BrewTarget and I'm figuring out how to make it readable. . . :D )
Click to expand...

I use crystal 80L in my oatmeal stout. 120L is pretty dark and raisiny tasting and I use crystal in a stout to provide some sweetness. I use 8 ounces (4.5%) in that recipe. Carapils is a crystal malt- so is carared. Any grain that starts with "cara" is a crystal/caramel malt. I'd stay under 5% total in a stout, unless you're making a sweet stout.

Roasted barley is very harsh and can be acrid in large amounts, that's why I suggested far less and then some chocolate malt or black malt for some depth along with roastyness. check out my oatmeal stout recipe to get an idea of some of the malts that can be used. But regardless if you want to add other grains or not, you can decrease the roasted barley to no more than 10%, and I'd cut it to much less.

Flaked barley provides great body and head retention! It's not used much in lighter beers because it can cause a haze, but in a stout you will want it in there. Definitely you don't need the carapils, and since you've got other crystal malts I wouldn't use it. But the flaked barley would be great in a stout!
 
Yooper said:
I use crystal 80L in my oatmeal stout. 120L is pretty dark and raisiny tasting and I use crystal in a stout to provide some sweetness. I use 8 ounces (4.5%) in that recipe. Carapils is a crystal malt- so is carared. Any grain that starts with "cara" is a crystal/caramel malt. I'd stay under 5% total in a stout, unless you're making a sweet stout.

Roasted barley is very harsh and can be acrid in large amounts, that's why I suggested far less and then some chocolate malt or black malt for some depth along with roastyness. check out my oatmeal stout recipe to get an idea of some of the malts that can be used. But regardless if you want to add other grains or not, you can decrease the roasted barley to no more than 10%, and I'd cut it to much less.

Flaked barley provides great body and head retention! It's not used much in lighter beers because it can cause a haze, but in a stout you will want it in there. Definitely you don't need the carapils, and since you've got other crystal malts I wouldn't use it. But the flaked barley would be great in a stout!
Click to expand...

Almost all cara-grains are crystal malts, but there are a couple exceptions to the rule like Carafa and CaraAmber. Good advice on keeping crystal malt low, especially in a big stout where you'll naturally have a lot of sweetness (I might go higher than 5% in something lower gravity).

The 300L Roasted barley from Briess actually isn't that roasty, since it is considerably lighter than even chocolate malt. I think it is a good pairing with some darker black/roasted barley (~500L) which is sharp/roasty.

Agreed on the flaked barley, stout is one of those styles that just doesn't look/taste right unless it has a big thick head.
 
Brewed this on Monday and it went smooth! LOVE my new mash tun plus manifold - first runnings were clear and sparge went so smooth!

I did a 10 gallon batch (just doubled everything)

OG was on the money at 1.066

Tastes nice right now... VERY rich and smooth.

I'm thinking of pulling one keg in a month and letting the other condition until my wedding in November. . . does that sound fairly reasonable? This is my first big beer so I don't really have experience with it - has been all ambers and reds and pales so far. :D

My buddy used to do all of the "control" stuff - I was just the flunky with the muscle! LOL
 

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