receipe adjustment for irish stout

[cg45acp]

Hi guys, i need an opinion on my irish stout ive recently brewed. I do like the beer its just missing some small additions to put it in the right place. I feel like it needs more mouthfeel and also a slight increase in bitterness.
My receipe.......
6lb pale malt
1lb flaked barley
1lb carapils
12oz chocolate malt
8oz roasted barley
1oz kent goldings
wlp004 irish ale yeast

mash for 90 mins, boil for 60 mins, primary 7 days, secondary 7 days.

Im feeling maybe 1.5lb carapils, 16oz chocolate, 12oz roasted, and 1.5oz hops

Thanks for your help

 

[HermeticHealer]

Did you reach your target gravity? If not I would start there and troubleshoot. I've had my first few batches end up lighter in body than I preferred and it was due to not getting good efficiency out of my mash. Were you able to sustain your temperature for the duration of the mash?

I assume this is a grain bill for a 5 gal batch. In that case your grains look rather light. Just as a comparison, I recent brewed a 5 gal batch of oatmeal stout and my grain bill was practically twice that of which you listed.

Also, chocolate malt will not add body as say 2-row will. This is due to the grains being roasted until they achieve a chocolate flavor. The roasting process essentially bakes off any viable starches in the grain that could potentially contribute any body/sugars to your beer. The same goes for black malt. These grains are primarily used to enhance color and flavor, not body.

That being said, I especially like crystal malts to build body.

 

[JimRausch]

H.H. may have a point. My grain bill for the Stout currently working was 12.5 lb. for a 5G batch. What was your OG? To me, it seems like alot of carapils. (I'm sure everyone has their own opinion). Personally, I would cut the carapils back to 1/2 lb, and if you want a better mouth feel, add 1/2 lb of rolled oats, that you toast in a 350 oven until they are brownish. The smell while toasting is incredible! Could maybe also add about 4 oz. of C120. If you want a little more roastiness upping the chocolate malt and roasted barley is OK, and if you want a little more bitterness, upping the EKG is OK as well.
The finetuning of a recipe is fun. Make sure you're taking good notes!

 

[eelpout]

Yep I have almost your exact recipe and upped the EKG at 60 to 1.75.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[dcp27]

that recipe should have all it needs for body, but if its still shy for u, you can try using malto-dextrin or lactose. what was your mash temp?

Also, chocolate malt will not add body as say 2-row will.

chocolate malt & other dark malts will add more body than 2-row as it has a large proportion of unfermentable sugars.

 

[cg45acp]

i failed to check OG before the boil, only after boil in which it was 1.055ish. My LT stuck due to being the 2 bucket style and panic arose. Ive since upgraded and converted my MT to MLT using the copper manifold method.

I did maintain my temp @ 158 for the required steep time. I can faintly smell what I want in this beer. I think I'm close just a few mods to the receipe and my improvements to my brewing equipment will probably get me where I want to be.

 

[ericbw]

I have used 6 oz of roast barley in a 2.5 gallon batch, along with 2 oz of black patent. You'll get more bitterness from those grains but not hoppy.

 

[fearwig]

I'd double the roasted barley, myself. Consider lowering your carbonation to improve the mouthfeel?

 

[cluckk]

What was your mash temperature? Is that what you were referring to when you said your "steep" temp?

 

[ericbw]

Another thought... Irish stout is dry, so the body should be light. A milk stout or oatmeal stout would have more body. Maybe that's what you're going for?

 

[fearwig]

Yeah, I just assumed from the recipe and mash he didn't really mean Irish stout.