Belgian Stout Recipe Critique

[Feldmann]

Looking to make a Belgian stout. Im aiming for a nice balance between light, but present roasty and strong Belgian yeast character. I don't brew darker style beers very often so I wasn't sure what I wanted for the darker grains. I decided against the typical chocolate malt or roasted barley in favor of something a bit smoother like midnight wheat and carafa II. I'm still thinking I could cut the numbers down on both though. Any tips are appreciated, thanks!

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.015
ABV: 6.6%
IBU: 41
SRM:52

5Gal

77% Pilsner malt
10% Midnight wheat
8% Flaked oats
5% Carafa II

56g Goldings (5%) @ 60min
28g Goldings (5%) @ 15min
14g Goldings (5%) @ 1min

Split batch with half using WLP550 Belgian Ale and half using Mangrove Jack Belgian Abbey.

 

[Kiln]

that sounds great. I am doing a 3711 yeast stout high gravity 1.080 to 1.010 9.4% 11L or 2.91 gal topped up to 21L or 5.5 gal with pre boiled RO water, of 10L To reach 4.2% ABV fermenter at around 79 degrees Fahrenheit. In a 5 gal carboy. It's lagering now for 4 weeks at 30degrees Fahrenheit before it goes in the keg.

 

[IslandLizard]

Looks good to me!
Use debittered/dehusked Carafa, much smoother than regular.

For even more smoothness, don't mash and boil those 2 roasts. Instead, steep and sparge on the side, then add the black potion when the main batch has cooled to 160F, let sit for 5 minutes to pasteurize, then continue chilling.

 

[Feldmann]

I did grab dehusked Carafa, perfect!

I've heard of people doing this before but never tried it myself. Do you recommend steeping and sparging with cooler water? Someone in my beer club said they'll crush it, add water and throw it in the fridge the night before a brew day and then add it at whirlpool.

 

[IslandLizard]

I've never tried cold steeping roasted grains. I think it needs some agitation to get thorough extraction, especially when that cold.

I "warm steep" at around 130-140F in a medium sized pot for 30-40 minutes, then lauter through a sieve and sparge twice with similar temps.

Since it's grain it needs to be pasteurized and never had trouble adding it to 150F wort and let stand for 5 minutes. 160F is probably safer, but may also be overkill.

 

[specharka]

Looks awesome. Good on you for avoiding the classic “it’s a Belgian so here’s some simple sugar” pitfall.

Midnight Wheat and Carafa Special are both mellow roasted malts that won’t result in astringency no matter how you mash them. Honestly I’m wondering if the recipe might benefit from a small amount of Special B — 5% or so would help the dark fruit esters pop a little bit more.

The other suggestion I have is you might want to consider using the Rochefort strain (WLP540 / WY1762) in lieu of the Achouffe strain. It’s reputedly a closer descendant to British strains, works extremely well in malty Belgian beers, and doesn’t throw off phenols like the Achouffe strain. Just a thought.

 

[thehaze]

I can chime in with my experience with Chocolate Wheat, Chocolate Rye and Chocolate Spelt ( Weyermann all of them ): definitely a much cleaner, bolder, crisper chocolate/coffee/raw cocoa beans aroma and flavours from these malts. Any of them would be a good addition to any darker style.

Carafa Special ( de-husked ) are also very smooth dark roasted malts. But at only 5% with no other specialty malts added to the mash, you really do not need to cold steep it. If you mash it, it will most likely help you acidify your mash, thus dropping the pH and limiting the use of acid. It will also not add astringent/bitter flavour, if that's your worry. I routinely mash 15-25% specialty malts, including 10-15% roasted malts for 60-90 minutes and never got undesirable flavours, even when the beer was young.

 

[Feldmann]

Looks awesome. Good on you for avoiding the classic “it’s a Belgian so here’s some simple sugar” pitfall.

I didn't want it to get too dry, I thought it would benefit from more body. To be honest though I brew belgian styles pretty frequently and I rarely add sugar.

Honestly I’m wondering if the recipe might benefit from a small amount of Special B — 5% or so would help the dark fruit esters pop a little bit more.

I do have some Special B on hand, would you recommend taking the 5% from one of the other speciality grains?

Carafa Special ( de-husked ) are also very smooth dark roasted malts. But at only 5% with no other specialty malts added to the mash, you really do not need to cold steep it. If you mash it, it will most likely help you acidify your mash, thus dropping the pH and limiting the use of acid. It will also not add astringent/bitter flavour, if that's your worry. I routinely mash 15-25% specialty malts, including 10-15% roasted malts for 60-90 minutes and never got undesirable flavours, even when the beer was young.

Awesome advice! I think I'll throw it in with the mash.

 

[specharka]

I didn't want it to get too dry, I thought it would benefit from more body. To be honest though I brew belgian styles pretty frequently and I rarely add sugar.



I do have some Special B on hand, would you recommend taking the 5% from one of the other speciality grains?



Awesome advice! I think I'll throw it in with the mash.

Yeah, tbh you probably don’t need 10% Midnight Wheat — it contributes color but not much in way of roast flavor. It’s essentially the same thing as debittered black malt (or Carafa Special). It might drop your color a few points but I don’t see much difference between 35 - 50 SRM.

 

[Oldskewl]

I brewed the NB Belgian Stout recipe a couple years ago and it turned out delicious. Put some on bourbon too!

https://download.invisiblek.org/beer/allgrain/AG-MustacheEnvy.pdf

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I've never tried cold steeping roasted grains. I think it needs some agitation to get thorough extraction, especially when that cold.

I "warm steep" at around 130-140F in a medium sized pot for 30-40 minutes, then lauter through a sieve and sparge twice with similar temps.

Since it's grain it needs to be pasteurized and never had trouble adding it to 150F wort and let stand for 5 minutes. 160F is probably safer, but may also be overkill.

How is your "warm steep" different from mashing it given that the temps are nearly the same.

 

[IslandLizard]

How is your "warm steep" different from mashing it given that the temps are nearly the same.

They never get boiled.

IMO, it keeps the roasted flavors cleaner. Try some, steeped and 60' boiled, side by side to smell and taste the difference.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

They never get boiled.

IMO, it keeps the roasted flavors cleaner. Try some, steeped and 60' boiled, side by side to smell and taste the difference.

Ah, cool. Missed that. I may try it sometime. Right now I have a RIS recipe that is super smooth, rich and tasty. Not sure I want to mess with it, but it might be worth a shot.

 

[Feldmann]

Brewed a few days ago. Should of figured splitting into smaller vessels would need a blow off tube but oh well...

Two smaller jugs have WLP550 and the carboy has M47. Might add coffee to one of the jugs.

 

[tennesseean_87]

Too late for this brew, but a technique I tried once and loved (will be using again) is to cold steep in your strike water overnight, then mash the next morning. I got some amazingly smooth notes of chocolate out of this for a stout 13% dark grain (Choc 2.8%, RB 4.1%, CarafaII dehusked 6.1%).

 

[Feldmann]

I've had some time to let them condition a bit and taste each one. I added 14g of whole coffee beans into one of the 1Gal jugs a few days before bottling. After tasting each I think the M47 is my least favorite. The one with just 550 seems to be having problems getting to proper carb levels but the one with coffee is very nice. The coffee balances out everything else very nicely but the other ones just sort of muddy everything together in a way that its just sort of boring. I think if I do this again I'll add a tiny bit of chocolate malt.