Belgian Stout advice

[SirSpectre]

So a friend demanded I make a stout. He goes crazy over my brews so I thought why not. Only issue is I'm not a big stout fan, so I'm not very good on the styles of them. Especially Belgian stout.

Here is what I came up with

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
12 lbs                Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM)          Grain         1        73.8 %        
1 lbs                 Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)                   Grain         2        6.2 %         
1 lbs                 Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM)               Grain         3        6.2 %         
12.0 oz               Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)               Grain         4        4.6 %         
8.0 oz                Carafa II (412.0 SRM)                    Grain         5        3.1 %         
8.0 oz                Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)    Grain         6        3.1 %         
8.0 oz                Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)               Grain         7        3.1 %         
1.00 oz               Hallertau Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 m Hop           8        41.7 IBUs     
1.0 pkg               Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) [35.49 ml Yeast         9        -     

2 Step mash:  

125 F for 20 minutes
154 F For 60 minutes

I wanted to aim for a 1.070-ish SG with a sweeter finish. Aiming for 1.015 to 1.017 FG area.

I figure Pale as base malt is fine, 1 lbs of Oats for a bit of creaminess, 1 lb torrified for that extra little bit of Belgian style body, Carafa II for some strong roasty flavor, Crystal 60 to sweeten it out a little, Chocolate malt for some more roasty, choclate-ness. I wanted to add some D180 because its Belgian, but I thought it would dry it out too much. Decided on Special B instead

Westmalle strain of yeast. I have a little laying around, so I figure mind as well. Otherwise my other thought was Ardennes strain.

Single Hop addition. Didn't bother with the rest due the roasted malts would over power it anyway.

Also thought about adding some bitter or sweet orange peel, maybe some licorice root in last 5 of the boil. I could go either way.

What do ye all say?

 

[srqbrew]

I've made NB's Mustache Envy Belgian Stout recipe a few times, and I've picked up a few tips.

1) In my experience, Abbey Ale dries out beers, and reduces mouthfeel. The oats are a good call, and you could even go up on your mash temp. I mash around 158, and still finish below 1.020 sometimes on a similar OG.

2) I would increase the roasted malts. The fruit flavors from all those crystal malts and the yeast are intense, even fermented cool. This will be a delicious beer, but might come out more like a dubbel with a bit of roast than a stout.

3) Keep the ferm temps fairly low. Plenty of spice in the low 60's. Tried starting around 70 once, and the black pepper/clove/roast was an odd combo.

Rad style! Enjoy!

 

[Queequeg]

Dial back the special B and add some dark sandi syrup. Mash temp looks a bit high, you want a dry finish in a belgian stout. ferment low as suggest above but ramp the temp after day 3. Also pitch low say 0.5bil/ml/P

 

[filthyastronaut]

Belgian Ardennes is a really nice well-rounded Belgian yeast that tends to accentuate malt and throw some fruity esters and light spicy phenolics. It's also highly flocculant and attenuates a tad lower than other Belgian strains, depending on pitch rate and other factors. That's what I'd use for a Belgian Stout! And most of my Belgians, really.

 

[SirSpectre]

Great advice! Thanks all!

I think I'll brew it this weekend and see how it turns out.