Recent content by NCBeernut

Roasted malts, especially chocolate malt, can vary considerably based on origin/maltster. I like to use a darker chocolate malt for this recipe. That should help. For the hops, I don't know why your number isn't coming out the same. I used beersmith when I originally posted this recipe, but I no...

Yeah, I also thought their choices were kind of odd for summer. I can't imagine drinking a milk stout out on the beach ("Milk was a bad choice!"). I would say about half of them were certainly reasonable though. Saison Dupont is probably the best summer beer of all time, so I am really glad they...

I just finally rebrewed this last week following the all-grain recipe exactly as written, but with a large starter of Wyeast American Ale II. I'm taking a gravity sample today after work and will post my findings. I'm hoping the slight over-pitching will keep me from having any attenuation problems.

Here is what I do in general. 1. Look at the brewers website for any info already given to you. 2. Contact brewery and ask them. Some will divulge a lot, some not so much. 3. Search online for clone recipes or info. 4. Drink the beer with the information you now have and finalize the recipe.

I like to add 3oz of Ghirardelli cocoa powder with 5-10 min left in the boil to add a chocolate flavor that blends really well with my porter. You could try that.

Everyone has their own opinions, but trying to be objective as possible and trying to take into account the brewer's intent, Boddington's is just absolutely terrible.

That was my guess. Everything else seems to pass inspection. That would explain the similarity to BMC as well - not saying they have DMS in their beer, but I think there are flavors that one could compare to DMS.

Its more of a brewing practice to use yeast nutrient, so many brewers who actually use nutrient don't list it in their recipe. Actually, the word recipe is often misused in the brewing world - many people list ingredients and call it a recipe while leaving out details like mash temps, nutrient...

Flaked Barley would be a very welcome addition. I never thought about using it, but with the lactose, it would really make a nice full-bodied stout.

The Denny's yeast is key. Just sayin. I love it for all stouts/porters.

I would add 3-4oz good cocoa powder in the last 5-10 min of the boil, then add cold steeped coffee at bottling to taste. Personally, I would do it with a porter. I think you could get a better mocha flavor than with a stout. Taste a sample before you bottle. If it isn't enough chocolate, you...

Beersmith volume calculations are not very accurate in my experience. I always ignored them. I actually stopped using it completely when I got an iPhone. I found the BrewPal app to give me really accurate calculations for my system, so I just use that now.

6 lb 2-Row 2 lb Munich 2 lb Wheat 1 lb Crystal 20 1oz Warrior @ 60 0.25oz Columbus, 1oz Centennial @ 10 0.5oz Amarillo @ Dry Hop Mash at 150 for 45 minutes Ferment with your favorite American ale yeast. Honestly you don't have enough hops there to make an IPA in my opinion, but...

A longer boil will increase your gravity, but you will lose volume obviously. Another option would be to add a calculated amount of extract to the boil to make up for the gravity difference. Yet another option would be to blend the lower gravity batch with a higher gravity batch.

Nothing for him to worry about. Agreed. Tis the season.