Black is Beautiful Stout

[Tyler B]

Anyone want to share or suggest a water profile for this beer?

Also, any tasting notes or updates from your brews? I'm about to brew mine in the next few weeks and looking forward to it already!

 

[kevin58]

Mine turned out great. Its going into my regular rotation. As for water profile, I just used one for dark beer and full body... don't remember exactly what it's called.

 

[Genuine]

I can't wait to brew this. After I saw the review by Basic Homebrewing, it further encouraged me to brew it. I thought it was a lot of specialty grains but it looks like it really creates one hell of a stout!

 

[Tyler B]

I finally brewed this about a week ago. Haven't tried it yet, but really excited to taste the finished product!

 

[nursedude]

Finally popped the top on my first bottle of the HB version from Weathered Souls drop box. I’m pretty happy with how it came out, for 10% it is incredibly easy drinking with a definite coffee roast type flavor to it.

I live about 10 miles away from Weathered Souls, the original is definitely different, but has a lot of the same characteristics.

photos from brew day.

 

[NGD]

Had two local versions of this beer around Sacramento. Variations were very subtle but noticeable. Would love to try the HB version. Somehow this thread slipped by me.
On a side note, good to see Marcus getting more exposure. I’ve chatted with him a few times when he’s been back to the Sac area and the guy really knows his craft. I’ve only been able to try a few weathered soul beers in Cali that he brought back. They were all damn good.

 

[OldDogBrewing]

None of them are reaching Europe, I think that Northern Monk in the UK is brewing one

But is this like the All together that every brewery gave it a twist? If so, someone who have tried some can say which ones he liked and why? We could change it a bit and use the better version for HB

I want to brew something like that but I have no reference of how it tastes and what I could change to improve it (or adapt it to my taste)

 

[Tyler B]

None of them are reaching Europe, I think that Northern Monk in the UK is brewing one

But is this like the All together that every brewery gave it a twist? If so, someone who have tried some can say which ones he liked and why? We could change it a bit and use the better version for HB

I want to brew something like that but I have no reference of how it tastes and what I could change to improve it (or adapt it to my taste)

I live in Asia so haven't been able to taste any commercial examples either. From what I can gather, Weathered Souls released the recipe and encouraged everyone to put their own twist on it.

I have brewed more imperial stouts than probably any other style so I gave this one a try mostly according to the homebrew recipe. I subbed ingredients for what I have access to here and what I already had on hand. Also adjusted for my low efficiency. It's only a little over a week into fermentation, but the gravity sample the other day tasted fantastic! Big, smooth, sweet, roasty, chocolatey, balanced... This is compared to numerous other imperial stouts I've brewed and countless commercial RIS I've tasted. It's not even close to done but its looking very promising.

This one seems to get pretty good reviews everywhere I've seen. I'd say give the recipe a try based on your system and only sub ingredients where necessary for you. Then adjust your next brew if that doesn't work for you.

 

[OldDogBrewing]

I live in Asia so haven't been able to taste any commercial examples either. From what I can gather, Weathered Souls released the recipe and encouraged everyone to put their own twist on it.

I have brewed more imperial stouts than probably any other style so I gave this one a try mostly according to the homebrew recipe. I subbed ingredients for what I have access to here and what I already had on hand. Also adjusted for my low efficiency. It's only a little over a week into fermentation, but the gravity sample the other day tasted fantastic! Big, smooth, sweet, roasty, chocolatey, balanced... This is compared to numerous other imperial stouts I've brewed and countless commercial RIS I've tasted. It's not even close to done but its looking very promising.

This one seems to get pretty good reviews everywhere I've seen. I'd say give the recipe a try based on your system and only sub ingredients where necessary for you. Then adjust your next brew if that doesn't work for you.

I will give it a try to the commercial recipe, the HB one requires some malts that I don't have and I won't be using for any other brew in a while and I try to work with specific malts I can use in other recipes

 

[Tyler B]

I will give it a try to the commercial recipe, the HB one requires some malts that I don't have and I won't be using for any other brew in a while and I try to work with specific malts I can use in other recipes

That is exactly how I would approach it if I was you. I brew lots of these so already have or will use most of the ingredients. Also, I was excited to try the homebrew recipe because of the rye as well as the hop combination. I had never used these ingredients in any RIS previously.

Good luck! Please update and let us know how it turns out.

 

[OldDogBrewing]

That is exactly how I would approach it if I was you. I brew lots of these so already have or will use most of the ingredients. Also, I was excited to try the homebrew recipe because of the rye as well as the hop combination. I had never used these ingredients in any RIS previously.

Good luck! Please update and let us know how it turns out.

I think I will brew it around december or January as I have some mixed ferm brews ahead that will be in the bucket until December or January

 

[Genuine]

I just brewed mine over the weekend, I did the homebrew version with all the speciality grains. The first runnings wort tasted amazing so I'm excited to see how this beer changes through fermentation.

I used 1oz of Columbus for bittering then 2oz of Cascade at 20min and 10, as per the recipe sheet. I mashed a bit higher at 156 would retain some residual sugars, hoping to end around 1.016 and be 8.9% abv. It looks like it'll be a stout that I've brewed, with such a dark head on it.

I also used about 4oz of maltodextrin in the boil to see if that changes anything.

 

[Kahler]

How long are you all cellaring these before drinking?

 

[Genuine]

Mine is on day 12 of fermentation and it looks like it stopped fermenting after day 5. I'm going to keg it tonight, burst carb so I can check it out this weekend. I'm super excited to start drinking it! It'll be chilly this weekend and for me, that's perfect stout weather. I'm sure with the ABV it'll mellow out as time goes on however I'm beyond curious to see how it came out.

 

[z-bob]

A very good black beer that I've been brewing a lot is 90% pale malt (2-row or American pale ale), 5% Black Patent, and 5% light or medium crystal malt, which I call a porter rather than a stout. Use your favorite ale yeast and adjust to whatever ABV you want. Willamette or Golding hops, etc, not too bitter. The just under 6% ABV batch I made with yeast cultured from Bell Oberon was one of my best beers ever. [edited anonymously by HBT staff]

 

[Tyler B]

Mine has been in the keg a little over a week. I don't know if I accidentally transferred too much yeast from the fermenter or if the US-05 is just taking forever to clear but mine isn't even close in appearance yet. I added gelatin and will probably give it a few more weeks. The flavor is decent now. Still a bit green, which is to be expected with a beer like this, but I think it will be ready in a few more weeks.

 

[Genuine]

Checked gravity tonight and mine is stuck at 1.030. Surprisingly it doesn’t taste sweet. Currently it’s at 7%abv and I can tell that it needs the 1.9%abv as intended. Tastes great on the hydrometer sample. I threw another packet of US-05 in (I knew I should have used two packets at pitch but tried to get away with using one). So we’ll see if there’s any additional activity. It’s supposed to end around 1.015, for an intended ABV of 8.9%.

Edit: got some bubbles in the airlock and it’s smelly fruity again as it does during fermentation. Hopefully this 2nd pitch helps and there’s krausen on it when I get home after work.

 

[Knightshade]

I was messing around with various oatmeal stout recipes in Brewer’s Friend today. I’ve only brewed one other stout, which ended up being a dumper due to massive oxidation exposure during racking. It was unfortunately beyond saving...

I’ve had 6 different CA versions of this beer, and Firestone Walker’s version is AFlippinMazing.

Based on the positive talk about the base HB recipe, maybe I should give this a go vs the oatmeal stout idea.

 

[pshankstar]

Attached is a copy of the recipe I am going to brew hopefully before the end of the month. Some of the ingredients I have subbed out from the shared HB version with what I already have on hand. I have 2oz of oak chips that have been soaking in bourbon for a year now. I plan to age this beer on those oak chips till next fall (10 months or so), I'll add some home roasted coffee to it as well but I'll add that closer to when I plan to start enjoying it and sharing it with others. I'm worried if I add the coffee early on, it will just fade over time. I am also thinking of buying some vanilla beans and adding them to this beer too. I'm on the fence if I will add the vanilla when I add the oak chips or wait when I add the coffee. This will be the first time using vanilla beans with a beer, so I haven't decided on when to add them yet.
With these adjuncts added after fermentation is complete and the lactose I feel this would make a nice Imperial Stout and those additions will compliment it nicely. Fingers crossed!

 

[Genuine]

I wanted to report back that mine kegged and carbonated. This one knocks it out of the park! It's everything I want in an Imperial Stout! It's perfectly roasty, beautiful chocolate notes, clean bitterness, with a silky mouthfeel. It's my absolute favorite stout I've made so far. I definitely want to rebrew it, however I wonder now how it'll be with a lower FG and more abv. Brew the base recipe, you won't regret it whatsoever and your friends who enjoy stouts will definitely be raving about it. It has a touch of sweetness since my FG was 1.030 however it's not incredibly noticeable..

 

[pshankstar]

I brewed this beer on the 27th and it’s still fermenting away (about two bubble per minute). The krausen has dropped but who doesn’t like to see a good fermentation picture? I was aiming for an OG of 1.092 but only got to 1.084. I think I know why after thinking about it for a few days. I decided to only mash the dark grain for 30 minutes instead of the full 60 minutes. Maybe I’m wrong but I’m chalking it up to that given if I’m off it’s usually only by three points or less. This is the first time doing a stout and using dark grains but it was recommended by a good friend and brewer who recommended I try it that way.
Anyhow, sometime this month I’ll rack it off the yeast cake into a keg with some bourbon soaked oak chips and vanilla beans and let it age. I’m debating if I should add the coffee beans too or wait on them. Can you age beer on coffee beans too long? Hmmm I’ll have to research that. Cheers!

 

[Genuine]

View attachment 709383I brewed this beer on the 27th and it’s still fermenting away (about two bubble per minute). The krausen has dropped but who doesn’t like to see a good fermentation picture? I was aiming for an OG of 1.092 but only got to 1.084. I think I know why after thinking about it for a few days. I decided to only mash the dark grain for 30 minutes instead of the full 60 minutes. Maybe I’m wrong but I’m chalking it up to that given if I’m off it’s usually only by three points or less. This is the first time doing a stout and using dark grains but it was recommended by a good friend and brewer who recommended I try it that way.
Anyhow, sometime this month I’ll rack it off the yeast cake into a keg with some bourbon soaked oak chips and vanilla beans and let it age. I’m debating if I should add the coffee beans too or wait on them. Can you age beer on coffee beans too long? Hmmm I’ll have to research that. Cheers!

What I forgot to account for mine is the loss of efficiency when brewing High OG beers. I'm usually 72% with anything around 1.060's or less. I'm going to re-brew this weekend and this time time I changed my efficiency to 68-69% and see how we do. I will say the first batch has now been in the keg for a week over a month and it's drinking beautifully. The bitterness has completely rounded out and it has this great flavors of deep dark chocolate and coffee, with some nice bright notes from the cascade hops. When I rebrew, i'm going to be using Imperial's Pub yeast strain and see how the english yeast compares to the american US-05.

 

[pshankstar]

Well today I racked the beer into a keg onto of some bourbon soaked oak chips and vanilla beans.
OG - 1.084
FG - 1.024
ABV - 7.88%
Numbers are way off and I was hopeful it would be around 9%. The hydrometer sample tasted good. I’ll let it sit for a few months then add some cold brew coffee before I bottle it to share.

 

[Genuine]

Well today I racked the beer into a keg onto of some bourbon soaked oak chips and vanilla beans.
OG - 1.084
FG - 1.024
ABV - 7.88%
Numbers are way off and I was hopeful it would be around 9%. The hydrometer sample tasted good. I’ll let it sit for a few months then add some cold brew coffee before I bottle it to share.

It's interesting to see people's FG's.....I thought mine was way off at 1.030 however I guess not....

 

[Genuine]

Just wanted to post an update. I brewed an english pale ale as a starter with Imperial's A09 Pub yeast, kegged that beer the same day I brewed the 2nd batch of BIB and dumped that wort right on top of the fresh yeast cake. Overshot my OG by about 5 gravity points. 1.088 OG with a 1.025 FG for an ABV of 8.3%. My original recipe was aiming for an 8.1% ABV so I'll take it! I thought it'd finish lower than the US-05 batch, which it was only 5 points lower.

I didn't change anything from the last time I brewed it so the Aroma is the same, flavor is very much the same however my wife noted that she thought this batch was just a touch less sweet (It's been conditioning for a week). I thought A09 Pub would provide a different flavor profile from the yeast alone however I'm finding that this batch is more similar than different to the US-05 batch.

I will say, it's one hell of a stout recipe. Everyone I've shown it to is surprised that it's "homebrew". Definitely a hit in my book.


Edit: Here's a Brew Day Video