more stout talk....

[chelero]

dunno whether this belongs in the recipes forum or beginniners, but since i'm only on batch 6, i've come here...

so I made the run mill stout out of palmer's book, and i'm a little disappointed in the color. I really wanted something inky black. i know this doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I was looking for something really dark. also, I've been reading a bit about different stout recipes, and am a little confused. palmer's with equal parts roasted barley and crystal malt. jamil says crystal does not belong in a stout. randy mosher's base stout recipe doesn't even have roasted barley. I guess it's too late to darken it up now, but in the future I think i'd like less crystal and more chocolate and black patent. anyone with ideas/musings....
thanks,
c

 

[simps984]

Have you tried using brewing software? You can enter your grain bill and the program will provide a pretty decent estimation of what color to expect before you brew.

 

[chelero]

yes, after the fact of course. and the projected color for this particular beer is amazingly accurate so far.

 

[cvstrat]

To get the black color you are looking for you would use roasted barley. I have a stout bottle conditioning and it is black as night, tastes great, and was cheap and easy to make. Here is the recipe:

A ProMash Recipe - Breakfast Stout - AG

 

[chelero]

thanks! i also used 1/2 poind roasted barley, but maybe i didn't crush it fine enough? i sure thought i did. here's my recipe:

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.60 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 86.84 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) Hops 4.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

 

[cvstrat]

That roasted barley has an SRM of 300. The one I used was 575. That's going to make a HUGE color difference. Like the difference between dark bitter chocolate, and creamy extra light milk chocolate or amber.

 

[Brocster]

Stouts are my favorite, and almost more than any type of beer, can vary WILDLY on both taste and color.

So....while you can darken the beer a number of ways, you might not get the taste profile you want. Also, looking at your post, I assume you are using extract with steeped grains?

Let me know what types of stouts you are looking for and I may be able to help a bit on some ideas.

Be patient, you'll soon get there and you'll love it when you make/get the beer you are after!

 

[chelero]

yes, extract plus steeping grains. well, I like the dry stouts, and the oatmeal stout and cream stout-idon't want it too sweet. but, I can't get flaked barley or flaked wheat here. and i guess with the oatmeal, i have to do some kind of mini mash, but i'm not real sure how to do that, either.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

thanks! i also used 1/2 poind roasted barley, but maybe i didn't crush it fine enough? i sure thought i did. here's my recipe:

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.60 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 86.84 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) Hops 4.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Try using some Amber DME for a darker color too...I have a sweet stout recipe that is mighty delicious that you can view under "My Recipes" it isn't quite "black" but a very, very dark-chocolate brown. I may add a bit of black patent or up the roasted barley or chocolate malt for a darker color next time I brew it.