any way to salvage a Dry Irish Stout with too much roasted barley?

[twd000]

I brewed an all grain Dry Irish Stout (based on Brewing Classic Styles recipe) two weeks ago. Everything went smoothly, though I did note during the boil a rather sharp acrid flavor. The wort was BLACK in color, totally opaque. Took a couple samples over the last couple days and that flavor is very pronounced - like over-roasted coffee or burned toast. I can tell the underlying beer is good, but this acrid flavor is just overpowering and out of balance.

Pulled up the recipe just now and realized it called for

62.5 % pale malt
25 % flaked barley
12.5 % roasted barley

I transposed the recipe in BeerSmith to
62.5 % pale malt
12.5 % flaked barley
25 % roasted barley

oops! Any creative ways to salvage this beer, and turn it into something drinkable? It's still sitting on the yeast (Nottingham). Should try to add some DME to turn it into an imperial stout?

 

[cyberbackpacker]

I say buy your favorite pale ale and just make lots of black and tans! (only said half-jokingly actually).

That said, you could certainly brew up a small extract batch with light DME, lightly hop it, and add that to your fermenter. But 25% of roasted barley is a LOT for a batch!

 

[bkboiler]

Hmm...first thought is brew a 5.0% american stout and blend it (in small quantities at first) to see if it results in a nice flavor...

 

[CodeSection]

Just a thought....

Do you have space in the fermenter to add a lot more volume? If not, have you considered taking a measured sample of beer and adding a few mls or drops of pure REAL vanilla extract to it to see if it mellows the beer?

You can keep adding (while measuring how drops are used) until you achieve the desire balance. Then convert that amount to the size of your batch to determine the amount of REAL vanilla extract to inject into the fermenter.

 

[McKnuckle]

"Creative ways" to salvage the beer...

Brew another batch made up of the proportions of flaked barley and pale malt that you left out, and blend it with the beer you brewed. You'll have twice as much beer as you do now. Use 3 times the flaked barley that you used the first time. Use the same amount of pale malt you used the first time.

Let's say it was a 10 lb grain bill, and the first time you used:

6.25 lbs pale
2.5 lbs roasted barley
1.25 lbs flaked barley

This time, use:

6.25 lbs pale
3.75 lbs flaked barley

When blended, this yields the originally intended proportions:

12.5 lbs pale
5 lbs flaked barley
2.5 lbs roasted barley

Use the exact same hop schedule and water volume with the second beer. If you have two six+ gallon fermenters, transfer half the original beer (by weight if possible) to a new fermenter. Then blend half the new beer into each fermenter. Pitch a half pack of Nottingham into each one.

 

[twd000]

"Creative ways" to salvage the beer...

Brew another batch made up of the proportions of flaked barley and pale malt that you left out, and blend it with the beer you brewed. You'll have twice as much beer as you do now. Use 3 times the flaked barley that you used the first time. Use the same amount of pale malt you used the first time.

Let's say it was a 10 lb grain bill, and the first time you used:

6.25 lbs pale
2.5 lbs roasted barley
1.25 lbs flaked barley

This time, use:

6.25 lbs pale
3.75 lbs flaked barley

When blended, this yields the originally intended proportions:

12.5 lbs pale
5 lbs flaked barley
2.5 lbs roasted barley

Use the exact same hop schedule and water volume with the second beer. If you have two six+ gallon fermenters, transfer half the original beer (by weight if possible) to a new fermenter. Then blend half the new beer into each fermenter. Pitch a half pack of Nottingham into each one.

I think that's the most sensible approach. Only problem is that it's a lot of beer for me and friends to consume before it goes bad. Do you.think it's safe to store this in a carboy in my basement for the better part of a year until I finish it?

 

[bkboiler]

Also could try boiling some medium or light toast oak and putting that in...
Oak has a way of mellowing harsh roasty flavors and helping to round them out imho...just don't let it sit with the oak for too long...

 

[gunhaus]

I think that's the most sensible approach. Only problem is that it's a lot of beer for me and friends to consume before it goes bad. Do you.think it's safe to store this in a carboy in my basement for the better part of a year until I finish it?

Round up some extra bottles and bottle it when its done. It will keep a good long time. That said, if we are talking 5 gallon batches that's only like 5 cases. You need thirstier friends! The heathens that come over to drink my beer would smash 5 cases of a low abv stout like that on a good friday after work!

 

[kevin58]

"before it goes bad"?

 

[markcurry]

I think that's the most sensible approach. Only problem is that it's a lot of beer for me and friends to consume before it goes bad. Do you.think it's safe to store this in a carboy in my basement for the better part of a year until I finish it?

My option would be to just let'r ride. I made almost the same exact mistake to a batch I did a few years ago - doubled the roasted barley. I just let it ride. First samples when packaging up were a bit acrid. A few weeks in? Quite tasty indeed. Not just drinkable - good. Like I might want to do it again good.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Buy a cheap plastic carboy/bottle as a secondary, rack your beer to it with a pitch of brettanomyces or brett/pedio/lacto (sour) blend. Leave it for a year.

 

[DownHillonWater]

That is a lot of roasted barley, but that beer will fix itself. Move the beer to a secondary to get it off the yeast and let it age 2-3 months in a cool basement. It will change significantly and the edge will mellow a lot. It will become a quite flavorful, tasty beer with a nice roasty finish.