Too much roasted barley!

[big supper]

My buddy and I are breing a stout tomorrow. He went and got the ingredients, and the lhbs owner asked if he liked the roasted barley/coffee type flavour. He said yes, and I agree. However....this is what he gave us. It is already crushed and all mixed together so there is nothing we can do at this point. Is it going to make us pucker?

20 litre batch (5.25ish gallons)

4kg 2-row (8.88 lbs)
1.2 kg flaked barley (2.64lbs)
.9kg roasted barley (2 lbs)

25gm Brewers gold 60 min
25gm " 30 min

WLP005 British

we have been hitting pretty low efficiency, so we jacked the 2 row up a little bit.

 

[Brewpastor]

AMG! Yes, that will need some rounding out. That is nearly 25% of your grain bill. I would let the guy who advised you know he needs to study a little more about recipe design before he starts messing with other peoples brews like that! I am not sure what to advise. Crystal will help balance it, but wow, I don't know.

 

[david_42]

Now that's a breakfast stout! You've got about four times what is normal, but unlike excess Black Patent, I think the stout will survive. Worst case, a little lactose & some vanilla might be indicated, but wait until it's close to bottling.

[BP - New Math? I get 14%]

 

[Hagen]

That is a rediculous amount of roasted barley for a 5-6 gallon batch. Most recipies I've seen call for 8oz (~.25Kg).

 

[Iordz]

2lb looks like a lot of roasted barley, if you were making a RIS it would be fine but your beer will be very roasty. According to my calculation, it comes out to about 15% of the grist. Not too much you can do now because you said the malts were crushed and mixed. You could add another kg of base malt to the recipe, that will bring the roasted barley to about 12% and make the beer stronger. However, the beer might be good as it is, it's just if you find it too roasty you will have to age it longer to allow the roasted character to mellow out.

 

[big supper]

Well.........we'll say that this is an expirement!! It'll still be beer, and hey, if it is way too roasty, we'll know for next time!!

Edit: And if it is undrinkable, well try some black and tans!!!

 

[Brewpastor]

Well.........we'll say that this is an expirement!! It'll still be beer, and hey, if it is way too roasty, we'll know for next time!!

Edit: And if it is undrinkable, well try some black and tans!!!

Exactly! When life gives you roasty beer mix it with something else.

As for my math skills, I am a theologian, not a mathologian! Just be glad I am not doing your taxes!

 

[javedian]

+1 on adding some crystal. I used .75lb RB and .5lb chocolate in a 4gal batch, but it also had a pound of crystal. Was very tasty, with Munich for base. Adding some more base malt will also balance it, and the higher alcohol will be condusive to aging to let things mellow. The good dose of flaked barley should add some body to help smooth it out also. Go for it. Not sure the alpha % on your hops, but you may want to move the 30 min to 15 for more aroma and less bitterness. Heavy roast will have a perception of bitterness. Or you could move 1/4 of your 60 min to flameout, to reduce IBUs and give some aroma. Depends on your taste preference, but it will be beer, you just may have to wait a month or two to age it.

 

[HP_Lovecraft]

I've made a good dry stout using about a 1lb of roasted, and a 1lb of barley, plus base grain.

Since you grain is already mixed, I'd suggest just dividing in half, and using them. You should be fine then.

nick

 

[Brewsmith]

I say buy another 10 lbs of base malt and mix the two. If you can't do the volume, cut the two in half and then combine. You now have 2 seperate brews

 

[john from dc]

plus one to diluting the grains as described above.

 

[big supper]

So we decided to run with it. If its too much its too much. We are very tolerable drinkers. It may not turn out to be our favorite beer, but I am sure that we'll still manage to drink it!

 

[Brewsmith]

That thing is going to be acrid. It's going to be like sucking on charcoal.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I hesitate to say this, but maybe mixing it with a crappy BMC may take the edge off some...just make sure you blend well and don't leave it looking like a black and tan...

 

[Brewsmith]

That's another way...
I just wouldn't brew this as is and expect it to be drinkable. You are going to have to cut it one way or another. Either blend the final beer with another, or double the size of the batch and make up the difference with base malt. Just don't go through with all of the time and effort of making an all grain brew that will just be undrinkable in the end.

 

[the_bird]

15% shouldn't be TOO bad; 25% would have been like drinking the bubonic plague, but 15%'s not TOO far above the norm for a stout. It might need some aging, and I might even think about maybe some lactose, if it's WAY too roasty when you go to bottle. But, I bet this is OK in the end.

Hell, I remember when I was looking for a stout receipe, back when I first joined the forum, someone tried to get me to brew something that had like a pound of roasted barley, a pound of black patent, AND some chocolate malt!

If this hasn't been brewed yet, I agree with the suggestion to add some crystal and some more base malt and make this into a RIS.

 

[big supper]

That thing is going to be acrid. It's going to be like sucking on charcoal.

I think that may be exaggerating a little just a little bit.

 

[TexLaw]

I don't think it will be undrinkable, either. It may spin your head around, and you may rather blend it, but you will have something you can drink and work with. It'll be an interesting lesson.


TL

 

[mrkeeg]

Had a similar experience with the LHBS giving me more of the dark stuff than I wanted. Ended up with 2 lbs of chocolate malt in a recipe. Story here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/pi...ed-wit-2-batch-stovetop-adventure-day-102360/

It was actually really good after aging quite a while. Notice a bit of crystal to balance.

 

[5L1mm]

my vote is double all the ingredients except the barley, and make a 2X

 

[bob1852]

How are you people finding these ~3 year old threads?????

 

[stanzela]

How are you people finding these ~3 year old threads?????

Dude, it's google. When I am curious about brewing, I usually don't end up searching HBT itself, I search google. I am happy when HBT ends up being the first search-return (many of the other forums don't really suffice) but it's an efficient way to troubleshoot or quickly find the answers you're looking for when stuck.

 

[hamiltont]

How are you people finding these ~3 year old threads?????

Funny thing is I remembered this thread. Weird huh... I do wonder how it turned out though. If it's drinkable yet... Cheers, and happy brewing...

 

[BrewMU]

I made my first stout recently - good, but I've decided to cut back on roasted barley and coffee kiln next time - from 8 ounces each to 4!
I see a way out: it may sound ridiculous, but I think you should buy more grain and spread that mix out between 4 or 6 batches. I can't imagine it being drinkable as is.

 

[Pdeezy]

Dude, it's google. When I am curious about brewing, I usually don't end up searching HBT itself, I search google. I am happy when HBT ends up being the first search-return (many of the other forums don't really suffice) but it's an efficient way to troubleshoot or quickly find the answers you're looking for when stuck.

Lol if that's the case then people need to read everything before they cast their opinion on a 3 year old thread. :cross: Adding your 2 cents 3 years later doesn't help much.

haha

 

[stanzela]

Lol if that's the case then people need to read everything before they cast their opinion on a 3 year old thread. :cross: Adding your 2 cents 3 years later doesn't help much.

haha

Agreed!

 

[emetcalf]

I like how the response to the comment about a 3 year old thread came a year later

 

[dmckean44]

It is hard sometimes. You'll have one browser window open with current HBT and another open for some google search you did. It's easy to confuse the two and respond to something ancient.

 

[Pdeezy]

Edit - misread a comment.

Delete.