Trying to brew a stout

[lyacovett]

So I am taking another stab at a stout. I did one before, but my therm was off, and mashed way too high. Ended up with a high FG and also hit about 88% eff ... so really I ended up with more of a barley wine .... it's ok, but I want to try a new recipe just in case the last one was a bit off.

What I am looking for here is a really strong roasted character. This is what I have come up with ....


Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 6.00 Wort Size (Gal): 6.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.00
Anticipated OG: 1.052 Plato: 12.75
Anticipated SRM: 47.5
Anticipated IBU: 40.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
77.3 8.50 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
9.1 1.00 lbs. Roasted Barley America 1.028 450
4.5 0.50 lbs. Black Patent Malt America 1.028 525
4.5 0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350
4.5 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.034 40

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Willamette Pellet 5.00 4.1 10 min.
1.00 oz. Willamette Pellet 5.00 20.4 60 min.
0.75 oz. Cascade Whole 5.75 16.0 60 min.


Yeast
-----
s-05 (maybe s-04 ????)

Mash at 154


Does this look pretty decent???

 

[Cohack]

I'd personally bump the roast up to 1.5 and the chocolate up to 1 lb. I'm a big fan of the darker crystals so I usually use more than a pound there too. You could also save a little cash on the hop additions by adding an ounce of cluster (or perl, or something similar) up front and maybe finish it with the willamette or cascade (10 min or so). I like to add a 1/2 to 1 pound or so of rolled oats as well. There's so much room to work in on a stout that it really depends on your taste. That being said, if you are just looking for a standard drinkable brew, I think your recipe would do fine. Not as robust as it could be though. Once again...a matter of taste. Good luck.

 

[jmo88]

I like it! The C-40 is really good in a stout. It gives it a nice sweet caramel flavor that goes with the whole coffee/roasty flavors. I don't like the raisiny flavors in a more american style stout. The higher crystal reminds me of RIS. This is very similar to my stout I have in the recipe database. I don't have the .5lb of black malt but I have .5lb of flaked barley which is a nice feel. Don't be afraid to go with an even BU:GU ratio. So I'd bump up the bitterness to 50-55 IBU's. I'd also use US-05 instead of 04 and mash 152 to make sure it doesn't finish too sweet.