All Grain Stout used wrong grain uggh!

[Rivcyclist]

Hi, wondering how bad of a mistake this is.
Brewed an all grain Guinness Clone yesterday, hit the mash temp perfectly, volumes, pitching temp for yeast were all great. After I pitched yeast I went back and looked at the grains I had purchased and milled at the homebrew store, and realized I probably made a mistake trying to exchange part of the recipe.

Here's the original recipe:
5.0 lbs. (2.3 kg) English 2-row pale ale malt
2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) flaked barley
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) roasted barley (500 °L)
12 AAU East Kent Goldings hops (60 min) (2.4 oz./68 g of 5% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale) or White Labs WLP004 (Irish Ale) yeast (2 qt./2 L yeast starter)
0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

The store only had 300L for Roasted Barley and looked somewhat brownish, and I noticed another darker grain was rated 500L called Black Malt. So I chose 1lb of Black Malt thinking it was more appropriate for color instead of buying the roasted barley. A wort sample tasted rather bitter before I pitched yeast, now I'm worried I'll have to dump it all. How bad is this going to be? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[beermanpete]

I suspect your beer will be ok. Even if it is not exactly as you expect it will likely be good beer. Let it ride and see what you get.

 

[MaxStout]

Never give up on a beer until you've determined there is nothing that can be done to save it. In the case of your beer, it's way too early to throw in the towel. It might taste a little more roasty than expected. You never know, you just might like it even better and that's how new recipes are born.

 

[Metalhead_brewer]

Don't worry black malt you used is almost 12% in the grist as the recomended quantity is 10% i dont't hink your batch deserves to be throwed away, your stout will just be darker and a more bitter than expected, but it'll be delicious, just give it it's time everything is gona be ok .

 

[Gameface]

Your sample would have tasted bitter if you had the 500L roasted barley, or if you had used the 300L roasted barley.

And your beer would have been plenty dark with the 300L stuff, lol.

The biggest difference here is that black malt is fermentable where roasted barley is not. That's the biggest difference here.

So your final gravity will be a point or a few points lower than it would have been. It'll be even a little more dry than it was going to be. That will accentuate the hops a little more, but this isn't a huge hop-forward recipe. So that's not even going to hardly be noticeable as a difference. The body will be a bit thinner... not too big a deal, honestly. (EDIT: after reading more I am not at all sure this paragraph is true)

A Guinness clone is going to have a good deal of roasted bitterness. That's what it is.

I've never done a Guinness, but don't the use Black Patent? And isn't "black malt" Black Patent?

 

[Gameface]

This should put your fears to rest, OP

http://brulosophy.com/2016/05/30/ro...ley-vs-black-patent-malt-exbeeriment-results/

 

[Rivcyclist]

This should put your fears to rest, OP

http://brulosophy.com/2016/05/30/ro...ley-vs-black-patent-malt-exbeeriment-results/

Great! Thanks for the link, that's a fun read. Learning more every batch, and having fun too!

 

[Calder]

The biggest difference here is that black malt is fermentable where roasted barley is not. That's the biggest difference here.

Where do you get this from. Both provide a combination of fermentable and unfermentable sugars, and both have the potential for 25 gravity points. Yes, there will be a difference in the amount of unfermentable sugars each contribute to the beer (they are different grains after all), but the difference has to be so small that it will make no noticeable difference to the beer. Got to be talking about 2 to 3 points in a pound, which could impact the FG of 5 gallons by half a point.

I don't know, but I would have thought the darker roasted grain would have had the higher amount of unfermentable sugars. Different processing of the two grains will convert sugars differently, so they are not comparable as say a lighter and darker sugar.

 

[Gameface]

Where do you get this from. Both provide a combination of fermentable and unfermentable sugars, and both have the potential for 25 gravity points. Yes, there will be a difference in the amount of unfermentable sugars each contribute to the beer (they are different grains after all), but the difference has to be so small that it will make no noticeable difference to the beer. Got to be talking about 2 to 3 points in a pound, which could impact the FG of 5 gallons by half a point.

I don't know, but I would have thought the darker roasted grain would have had the higher amount of unfermentable sugars. Different processing of the two grains will convert sugars differently, so they are not comparable as say a lighter and darker sugar.

I posted a little edit where I said after reading a little more I wasn't sure if what I said was accurate. So where I got it from originally was my behind. But after posting I tried to verify I was correct and I found out I was not, then posted an edit to that effect.

 

[applescrap]

Haha, thanks for the brulosophy link, I was going to comment that I preferred black patent. Seems like not something to worry about that much. I suspect the beer will taste good.

 

[Rhaop]

My next stout I’m planning to brew in the coming week or so i’m splitting the roasted grains 8oz roast barley and 8oz debittered carafa, generally i was under the impression roasted barley for stouts and black patent for porters but who cares about guidelines anyways lol

 

[Gameface]

My next stout I’m planning to brew in the coming week or so i’m splitting the roasted grains 8oz roast barley and 8oz debittered carafa, generally i was under the impression roasted barley for stouts and black patent for porters but who cares about guidelines anyways lol

I wouldn't put black patent in a porter. Porters are more about brown malt and chocolate malt, imho.

 

[applescrap]

I wouldn't put black patent in a porter. Porters are more about brown malt and chocolate malt, imho.

I have to disagree. I double checked my porter recipe from a famous Brewer that rhymes with kamille and it calls for black patent. Just my 2c. That being said Porter is a very interesting Style with many variants and each is on their own to choose what they like in it.

 

[PKnotlost]

Your worst case scenario is that you have to age it a month longer. Age will mellow any dark beer I have made.

 

[chickypad]

Yeah I'd say with porters and stouts the only true "rule" is use what you want, and call it what you want. The black for porters/roasted barley for stouts guideline is not even necessarily correct historically. Of course if you are entering competition then stricter style guidelines may apply. I use black malt in my American/Robust type porters, and mostly brown malt and pale chocolate in my brown porter. I tend to use a lot of black malt in stouts also, I think it gives a smoother roast than RB which I like.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I have never considered doing a Guiness clone or Guiness like beer. I feel like the soured portion thats blended in to Guiness would be very difficult to replicate properly. I do like Guiness, but this is not the droid I’m looking for.

 

[Rivcyclist]

Update -- Stout has been in the keg for nearly 2 weeks now. I really like it. Guess I worried too much. It has a little 'sharp' edge to it at the back end of the taste, but not off-putting. I think it's going to be spot-on in another couple of weeks as the beer mellows. It is definitely 'guinness'-like, nice dry irish stout texture and color. OG 1040 down to 1009 FG. If I had a nitrogen system it'd be a lot closer, but I was just curious how the recipe would compare to the real deal. All in all enjoying the pints.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

You’re fine.

 

[eetu]

The darkest black malts are very similar and it's almost impossible to tell if the recipe has roasted, black patent, carafa or even carafa special in it.

There's absolutely no reason to sweat over a thing like this and the beer will be just what you planned it would be.