Anyone Sharing the Foreign Export Stout Love?

[Pappers_]

I brewed a Foreign Export Stout for the first time in early November and I have to say that I love this beer. I've had the Guinness commercial example of the style a few times and remember enjoying it, don't know why I've waited this long to brew it. Smooth, full-bodied, flavorful, deceptively strong, creamy.

Think of it as having the basic characteristics of the Irish Dry Stout, but more, ramped up. Love a good Imperial Stout, but this is different, not a beer to be sipped, nothing extreme, everything in balance.

This example was a little undercarbed, but that is easily fixable. I brewed it to be distributed beforehand to participants in an online event, most of whom were not beer geeks, but with a few sprinkled in, and folks genuinely seemed to enjoy it, but of course, that's hard to say when I'm right there - "Hey Jim, thanks for nothing, your beer sucks!" LOL

The turnaround on this was quick, for a big-ish beer - I brewed on November 4th and started distributing it on December 1st. Because I gave this batch away, I'm going to brew another of it asap.

Anyone else feeling the love for the Foreign Export Stout style?


Recipe

OG 1.076
FG 1.022
ABV 7%
IBUs 61
Color 37 SRM

15.75 lbs Maris Otter
1 lbs Dark British Crystal II Malt (85 SRM)
8 oz Roasted Barley (300 SRM)
8 oz Chocolate Malt (320 SRM)
8 oz Black Prinz (debittered black malt) (500 SRM)

Single infusion, batch sparge mash
152F for 60 minutes
No water or pH adjustments

3.75 ozEast Kent Goldings (6% aa) @60 minutes
whirlfloc at the end of the boil

oxygenate w/02 via a tank and wand
clarity ferm
2 packs of Windsor dry yeast
chilled to and fermented at 65F for two weeks
cold conditioned at 35F for one week
kegged and carbed, then bottled with a beer gun

 

[AkTom]

So... was it a Foreign Export Stout when you distributed, and a Foreign Import Stout when it was received?
Looks like a good recipe. Thanks

 

[tracer bullet]

Interesting. I'm building a stout recipe right now and am used to seeing a higher % of roasted / specialty malts. A lot of 70/20/10 percent ratios. Not saying this one's not right, it sounds great! Just interesting.

 

[Pappers_]

Interesting. I'm building a stout recipe right now and am used to seeing a higher % of roasted / specialty malts. A lot of 70/20/10 percent ratios. Not saying this one's not right, it sounds great! Just interesting.

Hi Tracer. What sort of stout (or style) are you aiming for? That might impact your percentages.

I almost never just make up a recipe from scratch, almost always base it on a trusted recipe, that I then adjust for my process, ingredients and preferences. For this one, as for many of my first attempts, I started with Jamil Z's recipe. The one I found had this as the grain bill:

17.25 pounds	Pale Malt, Maris Otter	84.5% of grist
0.93 pounds	Black (Patent) Malt	4.6% of grist
0.81 pounds	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L	4% of grist
0.81 pounds	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L	4% of grist
0.62 pounds	Chocolate Dark 6-Row (Briess)	3% of grist

So, a bigger base malt percentage than the 70% in the ratio you mentioned. I adjusted the roasted malts because I like using Black Prinz and have kind of dialed in how to effectively use it. And I subbed in English crystal malts for the suggested and aimed high because I wanted some of the dark fruit flavors (as well as some of the ruby color), and again, have experience with them.

 

[tracer bullet]

Good point on the percentages and the style. I'm planning an Oatmeal stout and have actually just ordered ingredients and will have to go for it (they are pre-mixed, hah).

I'm finishing a keg of a porter, excellent recipe from here (American Porter - Honeymoon Porter (2x gold medals + 2nd place BOS)) with a high percent of non base malt and was assuming a stout would need to continue that trend. Coupled with the aforementioned 70/20/10 ideas.

Anyhow, I shouldn't go on, I don't want to derail your thread. It's pretty clear you've got experience and have made a recipe that no doubt tastes great. It's actually good, and as mentioned earlier interesting, to know that different combinations such as the above will indeed continue to provide similar results (as in - being a stout and tasting great).

 

[Pappers_]

. . . .Anyhow, I shouldn't go on, I don't want to derail your thread. It's pretty clear you've got experience and have made a recipe that no doubt tastes great. It's actually good, and as mentioned earlier interesting, to know that different combinations such as the above will indeed continue to provide similar results (as in - being a stout and tasting great).

I don't think its off topic or derailing at all! Feel free to share your recipe if you'd like.

For me, one of the most difficult stouts to make well is the small Irish Dry Stout - how to make it to style, that is, small, low abv and yet not thin.

 

[EthanH]

I was going to make a version of this with what I have on hand. Any thoughts on these substitutions?

16 lbs 2 Row
1 lbs crystal 60L
8 oz home-roasted 2 Row
8 oz Chocolate Malt (this I actually have!)
8 oz Carafa III

Bitter to 61 IBU with however much Columbus (I'll have to calculate)

Then I'd probably either use WLP007 or S05 yeast.

I'm able to improvise on pale/IPA recipes pretty well, but I usually stick to the script with the dark stuff (to pleasing results).

 

[bracconiere]

"Hey Jim, thanks for nothing, your beer sucks!"

LOL, i'd just tell you, tastes more like a brown ale

 

[Pappers_]

LOL, i'd just tell you, tastes more like a brown ale

Yeah, definitely not a brown ale LOL - inky black and prominent roast.

 

[Pappers_]

I was going to make a version of this with what I have on hand. Any thoughts on these substitutions?

16 lbs 2 Row
1 lbs crystal 60L
8 oz home-roasted 2 Row
8 oz Chocolate Malt (this I actually have!)
8 oz Carafa III

Bitter to 61 IBU with however much Columbus (I'll have to calculate)

Then I'd probably either use WLP007 or S05 yeast.

I'm able to improvise on pale/IPA recipes pretty well, but I usually stick to the script with the dark stuff (to pleasing results).

That looks good to me. Are any of the dark malts like a Black Prinz or Black Malt in terms of SRM, 500+ ? If not, you might not get the color or roastiness you are looking for.

 

[EthanH]

That looks good to me. Are any of the dark malts like a Black Prinz or Black Malt in terms of SRM, 500+ ? If not, you might not get the color or roastiness you are looking for.

The Carafa III is pretty dang dark. I’ve subbed it for Prinz in a porter I make. Hoping it’ll do the trick here.

 

[Pappers_]

The Carafa III is pretty dang dark. I’ve subbed it for Prinz in a porter I make. Hoping it’ll do the trick here.

I just looked it up and its in the 500 L range, so should be a good

 

[bracconiere]

Yeah, definitely not a brown ale LOL - inky black and prominent roast.

looks like one of my 10 gallon brown recipes? so i'm guessing it's a 5gallon batch? i looked didn't see it specified.

 

[Pappers_]

looks like one of my 10 gallon brown recipes? so i'm guessing it's a 5gallon batch? i looked didn't see it specified.

yuppers, 5.5 gallons

 

[kevin58]

"Interesting. I'm building a stout recipe right now and am used to seeing a higher % of roasted / specialty malts. A lot of 70/20/10 percent ratios. Not saying this one's not right, it sounds great! Just interesting."

I've made an export that had no roast barley in it at all. It was a recipe from Truman in London circa 1870. It is 80% pale malt, 15% brown malt, 5% black malt. The OG was 1.090+ and ended up at 9+ ABV.

 

[EthanH]

Here we are, 11 months later, and I finally made this last weekend. I did my recipe above, except only 14# of maris otter and calculated 1.5oz of CTZ at the start of the boil. My OG was 1.070, which makes me think my refractometer is broken because that's really good efficiency for me.