American Stout - recipe help/advice

[mrgrimm101]

I got this recipe for an American Stout from BYO and I really want to brew it as my first stout, but I had a couple questions about the recipe.


The recipe can be found here ( https://byo.com/stories/item/2341-american-stout-style-profile ) and is as follows:

American Stout
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.072 (17.5 °P)
FG = 1.017 (4.4 °P)
IBU = 73 SRM = 48 ABV = 7.2%

Ingredients
8.51 lb. (3.86 kg) Alexander’s light liquid malt extract 2 °L (or similar)
14.46 oz. (410 g) Briess black barley 500 °L (or similar)
10.93 oz. (310 g) Great Western crystal malt 40 °L (or similar)
10.93 oz. (310 g) Briess dark chocolate malt 420 °L (or similar)
15 AAU Horizon pellet hops (60 min.) *Warrior?
(1.16 oz./33 g of 13% alpha acids)
7.6 AAU Centennial hops (5 min.)
(0.84 oz./24 g of 9% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast


My questions are:

-The website does not say how long to let it ferment. I've only made IPAs before so I usually let them go about 3 weeks in primary. How long should I let this stout sit in the primary? I assume it's as long as I want, as long as I give it enough time to finish.

-It does not say whether a secondary fermenter was to be used. Is that just up to my discretion?

-I only have a 5 gallon kettle and the recipe calls for a pre-boil volume of 5.9 gallons. Would it really be that detrimental if I were to use a pre-boil volume of about 3-4 gallons?

-The recipe calls for liquid California ale or American ale yeast, however I have no experience with liquid yeast and was wondering if I could safely substitute with Safale US-05 if I were to rehydrate it.

-I was thinking of adding another hop addition (either 45 min or 15 min). Any thoughts on this?

Any help/advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[mrgrimm101]

Hello, sorry for the double post, but I wasnt seeing any help in the recipe section.

I got this recipe for an American Stout from BYO and I really want to brew it as my first stout, but I had a couple questions about the recipe.


The recipe can be found here ( https://byo.com/stories/item/2341-american-stout-style-profile ) and is as follows:

American Stout
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.072 (17.5 °P)
FG = 1.017 (4.4 °P)
IBU = 73 SRM = 48 ABV = 7.2%

Ingredients
8.51 lb. (3.86 kg) Alexander’s light liquid malt extract 2 °L (or similar)
14.46 oz. (410 g) Briess black barley 500 °L (or similar)
10.93 oz. (310 g) Great Western crystal malt 40 °L (or similar)
10.93 oz. (310 g) Briess dark chocolate malt 420 °L (or similar)
15 AAU Horizon pellet hops (60 min.) *Warrior?
(1.16 oz./33 g of 13% alpha acids)
7.6 AAU Centennial hops (5 min.)
(0.84 oz./24 g of 9% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast


My questions are:

-The website does not say how long to let it ferment. I've only made IPAs before so I usually let them go about 3 weeks in primary. How long should I let this stout sit in the primary? I assume it's as long as I want, as long as I give it enough time to finish.

-It does not say whether a secondary fermenter was to be used. Is that just up to my discretion?

-I only have a 5 gallon kettle and the recipe calls for a pre-boil volume of 5.9 gallons. Would it really be that detrimental if I were to use a pre-boil volume of about 3-4 gallons?

-The recipe calls for liquid California ale or American ale yeast, however I have no experience with liquid yeast and was wondering if I could safely substitute with Safale US-05 if I were to rehydrate it.

-I was thinking of adding another hop addition (either 45 min or 15 min). Any thoughts on this?

Any help/advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[m1k3]

Yes, US-05, White Labs WLP001, Wyeast 1056 will all work as Cal Ale. In my recent side-by-side, I'd say Nottingham dry will work too.

I believe in a full worth boil but do what you can.

No need to secondary.

Ferment until it is done. Knowing when comes with time. Going long is better than short. 7 days to 4 weeks is the range.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Perfect, thank you

 

[catdaddy66]

Ok, here is my 2 cents.

I would think 3 weeks is plenty of time for the primary, but I wouldn't use a secondary personally but you certainly could. Warrior would be a bit strong IMO for bittering a stout but it could work. Love Centennial!

I love the grain bill and want to try it myself. That makes three stouts I want to make!
I believe us-05 is very comparable to wlp001 and is my house yeast. Pretty safe choice I think.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[mrdail87]

As an advocate of stouts, I would say let it ferment 2 weeks minimum, I've always done mine 3 weeks. Your yeast don't only eat the simple sugars that give you your ABV, but also eat up some of things that can cause off flavors in your beer. In the case of a stout with such strong flavor to begin with, it's good to let your yeast work a little longer. Even if you don't notice airlock activity after a week, rest assured your yeast are working.

I wouldn't recommend another hop addition on this particular recipe. Your ingredients will create a plenty bitter beer as it is. Also keep in mind you're relying on your specialty grains for most of the flavor in a stout. Your IBUs are pretty high as it is, adding an additional hop could be overpowering. If you want to add some hops for flavoring, there's nothing wrong with that, but I would recommend changing to your 60 minute hop to something less potent.

As for the US-05, I can say from experience, there isn't really any need to hydrate it unless you want to test is viability. It's a rather hardy strain. I've pitched hydrated and non-hydrated, and both have the same results. I prefer to pitch it dry as there's slightly less room for contamination.

 

[mrdail87]

Sorry, forgot to address your other question about boil volume. I've done a 3-4 gallon boil with stouts and had great results.

Wear you suffer with a partial boil is 1) it makes you beer darker. Which in the case of a stout, isn't really a problem. 2) Your IBUs will be slightly lower. As I mentioned before this shouldn't be a huge deal since you're mainly relying on specialty grains to do most of the work. Try a brew recipe manager that will give you an idea of how this will affect the IBUs. If you have an Android, I use Brewr for all of my recipes, although BeerSmith seems to really be where it's at if you're willing to spend some cash.

 

[BrewMoto]

all of your questions can be answered by reading a good beginners home brew book like the joy of home brewing or brewing classic styles. I am partial to john palmers how to brew book! Hoped that helped cheers and god speed!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[mrgrimm101]

Actually Ive read a few beginner books, i just appreciate the advice of people on this forum. Thanks to everyone who responded!

 

[mrgrimm101]

The only reason I was curious about adding another hop addition is because i love big hoppy beers. But I suppose I will just stick close to the recipe I have already.

 

[mrgrimm101]

So I've never steeped this much grains before. I realize that this is basically a partial mash recipe. What is the best way to properly steep almost 3 lbs of grains in 1 gallon of water in a 5 gallon kettle?

Even if i separated the grains into 2-3 muslin bags, I would be worried about burning the grains if they touch the bottom of the kettle. Is that a legitimate concern?

I have a big mesh bag that I use sometimes to line my primary and strain the trub after I've poured the kettle. I was thinking of using this bag as a BIAB system where I put it in the kettle and just make sure it's slightly off the bottom of the kettle and make a grain bed with that.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[mrdail87]

You have a couple of different options:

1) Add more water. Generally it's advised to use 2-3 quarts per pound of grain when steeping. This means you should be able to use 1.5 to 2.25 gallons of water to steep your grains.

2) Remove it from the burner. A lot of people just steep as their water is heating up. But you can always heat your water to the temp range you're looking for, and just turn of the burner (if you're using propane), or remove the pot from the heat while you're steeping your grains.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Awesome thanks!! Typically I heat my steep water to temp and then take it off the burner to steep.

One last thing: with the yeast, the recipe says "The proper pitch rate is 2.5 packages of liquid yeast or 1 package of liquid yeast in a 3.1-liter starter."

As I am planning on using dry yeast, would I be safe with 1.5 packets of yeast? Is this too much?

 

[mrdail87]

That should be fine. I didn't realize til now you're shooting for ~7% ABV. It could help to add a little yeast nutrient to the boil too if you have any. Really though, I think it should be just fine with or without.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Alright, so I'm making some alterations to this recipe (using the BrewR app on my phone) and wanted to know if anyone had any opinions/thoughts on my recipe. My main concern is that I was thinking of adding an extra 0.5 oz Columbus hop late addition and I really don't know how this and the Centennial hops will play off of the roasty character of the grains.

The original recipe was as follows:

American Stout
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.072
FG = 1.017
IBU = 73
ABV = 7.2%

8.51 lb. Light LME
14.46 oz. Black Barley 500L
10.93 oz. Crystal 40L
10.93 oz. Dark Chocolate Malt 420L
1.16 oz Horizon pellet hops (60 min.)
0.84 oz Centennial pellet hops (5 min.)

1.5 packets of Safale US-05.



I increased the amount of grains/extract and I altered/increased the amount of hops as well. I'm a hophead but I love stouts as well, so I wanted to keep to the stout style while beefing up the hops slightly. According to the BrewR app on my phone, my new recipe is as follows:

American Stout
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.074
FG ~1.018
IBU = 74
ABV = 7.3%

9 lb. Light LME
16 oz. Black Barley 500L
12 oz. Crystal 40L
12 oz. Dark Chocolate Malt 420L
1.5 oz Columbus pellet hops (60 min.)
1.0 oz Centennial pellet hops (5 min.)
0.5 oz Columbus pellet hops (5 min.) (or 0 min?)

1.5 packets of Safale US-05.

Does anyone out there have any thoughts or opinions on my new recipe?

 

[mrgrimm101]

Any opinions or advice would be much appreciated.

 

[m1k3]

looks fine. did you brew yet?

i usually just use the two packets of yeast, rounding up.
it would not be over pitching in my opinion.
just watch the ferm temp.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Yea i brewed it last weekend. The ambient temp in my basement is about 68 and my fermometer read 70-72 the first few days. Im trying not to stress it being at 72

 

[mrgrimm101]

Just a quick update here. I let it condition for 2 weeks in bottles then I chilled 1 bottle for 48 hours for a taste.

IMO it is really really good. It is very bitter with lots of chocolatey notes. It's quite roasty as well with a slight sweet finish. The hop flavors add a nice complexity without being too overpowering. They are floral, piney, and slightly citrusy.

At the time I tried it, it was slightly undercarbed. Another week or 2 conditioning time will really set this beer off.

Overall I am very happy with it and will for sure be brewing it again.

 

[HopSong]

That's a lot of hops, IMO. Aside, I think a lot of your bitterness will fade as the beer ages a month or so.

 

[mrgrimm101]

It is a lot of hops but I wanted to see what would happen. I'm very happy with the results. This is probably just my preference, as I love big hoppy beers.