37 DELICIOUS "Accidents"

[Sematary]

So, a few weeks ago I brewed up a batch of stout working off of the recipe below. Since it was my first brew without a net (no kit), I basically "screwed it up". I am SO glad I did. This stuff came out delicious. I only ended up with 37 bottles because, well, I screwed that up too. Instead of a full 5 gallon batch I ended up with a 4 gallon batch. This was a recipe that I tweaked ever so slightly and since I had been used to the "Mr Beer" method of brewing, I only steeped (no boil) between 170 and 180 degrees but mostly sticking closer to 170 once I got it under control. After the boil I added 1 1/2 gallons of water to the wort and submersed in cold/ice water in the sink. Stir well, add to fermenter. I actually followed the recommended hop schedule but I did it in the steeping stage and only heated up the water to near boiling for about ten minutes while I added the dme and lme. 3 weeks later - here it is, bottling day (and hoping for something passable). What I got was AMAZING. Original Gravity was 1.052 - final was 1.015 for just under 5% ABV.
After taking my gravity I taste tested and OMG - I was astounded by the complex nature that came out - hints of coffee and chocolate but not sweet - really good mouth feel. I'm flabbergasted to be honest. I was expecting, at best, something passable, and I ended up with something that I would brew that way again - on purpose. I am so HOOKED on this stuff. lol

Here was the original recipe I followed - slightly changed from the recipe I found on the internet.

Guinness clone 11/5 - target ferment temp - 68 degrees (right on the nose the whole time)
Steeping temperature was a little high - 175 - 180
Steeping time - 60 minutes (grains and hops)
tossed yeast cold after shaking
2 lbs dme
3.3 lbs lme pilsen light
0.56 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 7.80 %
0.56 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7.80 %
0.31 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.32 %
1.00 oz Target [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 23.4 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 5.7 IBU
1 Pkgs Irish Ale (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast-Ale

OG 1.054
FG 1.015 (after adding priming sugar)

 

[JohnSand]

I am glad it worked out. Drinking your own great beer is doubly pleasing.

 

[Sematary]

I am glad it worked out. Drinking your own great beer is doubly pleasing.

I really can't wait to see how this comes out after carbonation. I'm pretty excited about it!

 

[RM-MN]

Don't drink it all too quickly. I find that my stouts make a significant change as they age, gaining mouthfeel and smoother flavors. Mine keep changing for at least 2 years but I've never been able to keep my hands off them long enough to let them go longer.

 

[Sematary]

Don't drink it all too quickly. I find that my stouts make a significant change as they age, gaining mouthfeel and smoother flavors. Mine keep changing for at least 2 years but I've never been able to keep my hands off them long enough to let them go longer.

Ya, I would never make 2 years but I was thinking waiting till Christmas.

 

[Metalhead_brewer]

Ya, I would never make 2 years but I was thinking waiting till Christmas.

you should try, stouts and specially Imperials Stouts improves a whooooole lot from aging, hide a couple of bottles and open one in next summer and the other in 2018 christmas and you'll see what i'm talking about (you'll want to make a full 5 gallon batch and age it all).

 

[Sematary]

you should try, stouts and specially Imperials Stouts improves a whooooole lot from aging, hide a couple of bottles and open one in next summer and the other in 2018 christmas and you'll see what i'm talking about (you'll want to make a full 5 gallon batch and age it all).

Sounds like a plan.

 

[Grod1]

i would say drink it as quick as possible they will probably all be infected shortly if you didnt boil.

 

[kh54s10]

Congratulations.

Thankfully you did a recipe that was relatively simple in the regard to hopping. If you had something with late additions of hops or were looking for a lot of hop flavor and aroma, you might have been disappointed.

It is also a good thing you didn't end up with 5 gallons, it would have been a really thin weak beer.

When you do things the "proper" way you should find the beers to be even better.

Sadly, if you want to brew that beer again, it would be quite hard to do it the same.

I agree with trying not to drink these before they age. Brew another, lighter beer, right away so that you can drink them instead.

 

[kh54s10]

i would say drink it as quick as possible they will probably all be infected shortly if you didnt boil.

He did say that he got it to near boiling during the addition of the extract. That should have been good enough. I doubt there is a risk of infection due to temperature.

 

[mongoose33]

Congrats on the great recipe and execution! This is the best reason, IMO, to take detailed notes of what you did during your brew day, recipe, amounts, times, temps....

I brewed Friday, had a friend over for "quality control tasting" and as often seems to be the case when I have someone "helping" me, I screwed up the timing of a hop addition.

I was supposed to add a 3/4-ounce hop charge at flameout; I was explaining what I was doing w/ my immersion chiller and forgot to add the hops. I didn't realize this until I had dropped the temp to 70. I quickly tossed in the hops--essentially a dry hop--and then proceeded to rack to the fermenter.

Except....there was a fair number of hop pellets left in the bottom of the boil kettle. It was clear that whatever benefit of adding hops at flameout would bring, it wouldn't likely be much.

So I tossed 1/2 ounce into the fermenter. It's a dry hop, but I'm hoping not materially different from the recipe. Or, so much better than what I was expecting....

**************

Suppose I get lucky and this is the greatest beer ever--I had better have detailed notes so I can reproduce it. I've attached a pic of the notes I took, there's a lot of space left for detailed info about the fermentation schedule (I do an accelerated lager schedule, list days/times and temps, so there's room for that). Some of what I do isn't listed as it's standard practice for me (oxygenating the wort, e.g.), but the gist is there so I can reproduce it.

 

[Sematary]

Congrats on the great recipe and execution! This is the best reason, IMO, to take detailed notes of what you did during your brew day, recipe, amounts, times, temps....

I brewed Friday, had a friend over for "quality control tasting" and as often seems to be the case when I have someone "helping" me, I screwed up the timing of a hop addition.

I was supposed to add a 3/4-ounce hop charge at flameout; I was explaining what I was doing w/ my immersion chiller and forgot to add the hops. I didn't realize this until I had dropped the temp to 70. I quickly tossed in the hops--essentially a dry hop--and then proceeded to rack to the fermenter.

Except....there was a fair number of hop pellets left in the bottom of the boil kettle. It was clear that whatever benefit of adding hops at flameout would bring, it wouldn't likely be much.

So I tossed 1/2 ounce into the fermenter. It's a dry hop, but I'm hoping not materially different from the recipe. Or, so much better than what I was expecting....

**************

Suppose I get lucky and this is the greatest beer ever--I had better have detailed notes so I can reproduce it. I've attached a pic of the notes I took, there's a lot of space left for detailed info about the fermentation schedule (I do an accelerated lager schedule, list days/times and temps, so there's room for that). Some of what I do isn't listed as it's standard practice for me (oxygenating the wort, e.g.), but the gist is there so I can reproduce it.

View attachment 547153

Depending on when you were supposed to add them during the boil, it might not make too much of a difference

 

[Sematary]

So... Bottling has been 2 weeks in now. This stuff is DELICIOUS. My wife doesn't like it, which is how I know it's good. Nice head retention, hints of coffee and cocoa. Delicious.

 

[mongoose33]

Depending on when you were supposed to add them during the boil, it might not make too much of a difference

Yeah, I don't think it'll matter much either way. I have high hopes for this beer.