Need help dressing up a "too simple" stout

[Rush]

Picked up the Midwest "Simply Beer" stout kit for $20 and it comes with 7lb dark LME, 4oz roasted barley, 4oz chocolate malt, 1oz cluster and 1oz cascade.

This is a pretty week grain bill. I'm a fan of stouts similar to Sierra Nevada Stout. I'm down to buy grains but I would prefer to not buy hops. I do have a few oz's of Columbus hops that I can use if someone recommends it.

I'm thinking keep the hops as is and add 4oz more of the roasted barley. Would that make much of a difference?

How would you dress this up without adding too much $$ to the cost?

 

[Aristotelian]

Might help to plug the ingredients into a calculator and see what your current gravity and other numbers look like. Then go from there and decide what to add for more color or flavor. I would think you might want some flaked barley or a crystal malt for body.

 

[Rush]

Might help to plug the ingredients into a calculator and see what your current gravity and other numbers look like. Then go from there and decide what to add for more color or flavor. I would think you might want some flaked barley or a crystal malt for body.

Thanks for the response. Body is something I'm after as I absolutely am not aiming for a stout as thin as Guinness or anything similar.

Would adding 8oz of caramel 40l be sufficient for a stout of this stature?

 

[TheMadKing]

I would recommend brown malt, and a splash of special B to add some complexity

 

[UndeadFred]

ABV? Flavor? Mouthfeel?

For ABV, I'd add more Dark LME or DME.. Flavor? Maybe Cocoa Nibs? Mouthfeel? Lactose? You might want to be more specific in what you are after. Now for a "Sierra Nevada" Stout you can work it backwards from this (look at the partial mash version):

http://byo.com/malt/item/2055-sierra-nevada-stout-clone

So I see where you get your caramel malt from.. the Munich I will attest will go nice, but to do that recipe you will need to partial mash. Hopefully you could easily handle that? Cluster is an acceptable substitute for the Magnum called for in the BYO article, and you'd just need the 1 oz of Willamette in addition to the crystal, Munich and DME added.

 

[Rush]

ABV? Flavor? Mouthfeel?

For ABV, I'd add more Dark LME or DME.. Flavor? Maybe Cocoa Nibs? Mouthfeel? Lactose? You might want to be more specific in what you are after. Now for a "Sierra Nevada" Stout you can work it backwards from this (look at the partial mash version):

http://byo.com/malt/item/2055-sierra-nevada-stout-clone

So I see where you get your caramel malt from.. the Munich I will attest will go nice, but to do that recipe you will need to partial mash. Hopefully you could easily handle that? Cluster is an acceptable substitute for the Magnum called for in the BYO article, and you'd just need the 1 oz of Willamette in addition to the crystal, Munich and DME added.

Mainly looking for more flavor and mouthfeel which is why I'm leaning towards just doubling the current grain bill and adding 6-8oz of caramel 40

 

[chickypad]

The problem I see is the dark LME - it contains crystal 60, munich, and black malt per their website. The problem is they don't list the percentages, so how can you say if it's a "weak" grainbill or not. Briess traditional dark for example has 13% crystal and 54% munich along with a little black. If it's something in that range I don't know that you want to go adding more crystal.

 

[Rush]

The problem I see is the dark LME - it contains crystal 60, munich, and black malt per their website. The problem is they don't list the percentages, so how can you say if it's a "weak" grainbill or not. Briess traditional dark for example has 13% crystal and 54% munich along with a little black. If it's something in that range I don't know that you want to go adding more crystal.

Well you raised a point I hadn't thought of. I never use dark LME so I forgot the additional grains were something to consider. I believe I'm just going to make this stout as-is to get a feel for the base recipe and then alter a future batch.

 

[UndeadFred]

I've used Dark DME before to kick up a porter. It's actually quite hard to determine what is in it. But it is good in stouts and porters, obviously. I initially suggested to use more of it for that reason when I said: ABV?

I suspect you'll have a decent drinkable stout with what you are brewing. You can always add Lactose for mouthfeel at bottling if you wish because it is unfermentable. I'd actually recommend adding that as a pst ferment addition.. (also maltodextrine if you choose)

 

[MrVix]

You should be aware that adding additional fermentables to the recipe will reduce your IBU's and the hop profile. Be prepared to adjust your hop quantities and schedule. The LME most likely already contains ALL of the grains we have discussed here. If you are looking to boost the body of the kit I would add 8 to 12 ounces of Flaked Barley to the steep. I would also choose a high alpha acid hop as the bittering charge and then move the Cluster and Cascade hops together as late additions. This would be a simple adjustment that wouldn't significantly alter the ratios.

 

[Rush]

Ended up brewing this with a mini-mash of 1lb 2-row and 1lb oats. Once it's kegged and carbed I'll post my thoughts.

 

[CJ-3]

Oats were a good choice. They will help with giving it body.