Cushlomachree Stout

[Dungeonwitch]

I just brewed the Papazian recipe for the Cushlomachree stout in his book. The brew went fine and I left it in the primary for about 2-3 weeks then put it in the secondary for about a week even though fermentation was done I just wanted to separate it from the yeast cake. Maybe a bad idea I'm not sure. I bottled it and now it's been over a week since bottling and I have tried one or two...They taste excellent with a little extra hoppiness from using a full ounce of boiling hops instead if half an ounce. But there is no head whatsoever...is that normal?

 

[Ultima]

3 weeks in primary is absolutely fine, most people here even advocate it because at that point a secondary isn't necessary unless dryhopping, etc.

Did you prime it appropriately? If there was no sugar added back to the beer, the yeast will have nothing to consume for "bottle conditioning". Aside from that, I've heard in most cases that bottle conditioning can take another 2-3 weeks past fermenting. Provided you primed appropriately, I would wait another week and see how they're coming along. If they're all flat with no head, my advice is to go buy a corny keg and a CO2 bottle and dump all your bottles into there and force carb it, you'll never want to bottle again! Good luck

 

[Dungeonwitch]

Yea I primed it with corn sugar. That's kind of what I was thinking. Since it may have a little higher ABV it may take a little longer to carbonate. I wasn't sure because I know stouts don't have crazy head to them anyway, but just checking. Thanks

 

[Ultima]

You only mentioned adding more hops, which will not increase ABV. ABV comes from fermentables and attenuation. If you ended up making a beer significantly larger than the recipe called for, I still don't think that'd explain the "no head", because even for a high gravity beer the fermentation should definitely be done by 3 weeks. Bottle conditioning is another game entirely, and I should disclose I'm not too familiar with it because I got started with a keg setup. Stick it out for another week, and I'm sure things will turn out wonderful.

 

[hoppydays]

I just brewed the Papazian recipe for the Cushlomachree stout in his book. The brew went fine and I left it in the primary for about 2-3 weeks then put it in the secondary for about a week even though fermentation was done I just wanted to separate it from the yeast cake. Maybe a bad idea I'm not sure. I bottled it and now it's been over a week since bottling and I have tried one or two...They taste excellent with a little extra hoppiness from using a full ounce of boiling hops instead if half an ounce. But there is no head whatsoever...is that normal?

I'm about to embark upon making Cushlomachree Stout even though I first wanted to find out how it got it's name. I would be interested in offering a few of my personal opionions about why your stout failed to head, but I would bet that you know by now. I just now discovered this website and became a member, so I haven't checked the threads yet. I was "Googling" for Cushlomachree even though I have the Charlie Papazian recipe and book. If you have not had a response yet, Let me know. I can, at least, learn about this beverage(I'm a Guiness fan, but I want a milder, smoother stout). Thanks.

 

[Dungeonwitch]

That stout never did Prime correctly? A few of the beers (like 3) had a nice creamy head, but the rest if my bottles (~25 24oz bottles) had no head and tasted great but they were just flat. The extra .5oz of boiling hops added a bit more hoppiness to the stout, but it tasted great. I have a feeling the ABV for this stout is pretty low because I could drink 2 24s and just start to feel like I drank a beer haha. Great beer overall other than the carb issues.

 

[GreatWetNorth]

Could the issue be your caps and/or capper ? Maybe the bottles didn't seal properly and leaked out the CO2 instead of sealing it in and dissolving it in the beer.

Although it doesn't sound like this happened in your case, I may as well share my bad experience with carbonation: With one beer I made (a Ginger Cookie Ale for Christmas), some of the bottles were flat and some were geysers. I'm pretty sure that my problem was that I didn't mix in my priming sugar very well, resulting in the inconsistent carbonation (and I kinda remember getting nearing the end of the bottling and thinking about how I hadn't really mixed the priming sugar in very well).

Were the flat beers overly sweet (as if the priming sugar had never fermented) or did they taste normal aside from having no carbonation (as if the CO2 had leaked out) ? Sounds like leaky caps my be a possibility.

 

[hoppydays]

What came to mind about a recipe is whether you should follow it verbatim or not. Eventually, it comes down to experience. It doesn't hurt to safeguard the investment of time and money with trusting your intellect about the science of brewing. The Papazian book of brewing (The Homebrewers Guide) is worth studying like a text book. Every reason for a good or bad result can be traced to the details therein. Even so, I would question the rationale for secondary fermentation. I mean, when that air-lock stops popping, it's time to bottle. Why? Maybe it is because certain wort has different specific gravities which will inhibit or promote sedimentation. If, for instance, you have a low S.G.in a wort, you might not not have enough yeast to react with the priming sugar. That is my theory.

 

[Dungeonwitch]

I think you are exactly right and that is most definitely what happened. I'm not sure why I even did a secondary with a stout to begin with...probably because I didn't have time to bottle at that point in time. I'm sure there was not enough live yeast to properly carbonate/prime when I eventually did get around to it. This beer is most definitely peak for bottling at around 1.5-2 weeks...and shouldn't be left go!