Can You Brew It recipe for Deschutes Obsidian Stout

[tonyolympia]

Brewed this two nights ago. The only recipe mods were to use Nugget instead of Galena for bittering, and my homegrown Columbus instead of Northern Brewer for finishing hops. I had to post here because I'm excited about how well the 1968 strain performed. 1.060 -> 1.017 in less than 48 hours.

It was my first time ever repitching yeast; I've propagated multiple pitches from one smack pack before, but I'd never repitched. I have to say that the fermentation performance from repitched yeast is awesome. This Obsidian Stout fermentation is slowing down considerably--hopefully for good, since I don't want it to go much lower than 1.017.

 

[jammin]

Put in an order from Williams brewing and used this recipe as an excuse to pick some willamette, galena and W1968 . It will be my 3rd time brewing this recipe. Gonna put it on nitro again when finished.

 

[pmatson]

Just brewed a modified version of this last night. I kept the same grain bill but changed the hops. I used an ounce of Magnum @ 90min, and then an ounce of Simcoe at 30 and 5 min. I pitched S-04 onto it, as I have been predominately using dry yeasts as of late. Hit my OG target at 1.067. Excited to see how it turns out. Cheers

 

[jammin]

I brewed it yesterday as well. I ran the flame out n. brewers through my hop back though.

 

[brewinginnc]

Starters crashing in the fridge and this one is on deck.

 

[brewinginnc]

Kegged carbed and awesome

 

[asgreen21]

Just brewed 10 gallons of this and I'm thinking about adding some american oak cubes to half of it.

Anyone ever do that with this beer? I'm also considering adding a little bourbon.

thoughts?

 

[TriggerFingers]

Make sure you steam the oak cubes first.

I soaked some in bourbon for a few weeks once and I am assuming mircrobes in the wood took my porter down further after bottling. It didn't gush, but was so overcarbed it was practically undrinkable until the bottle was left to sit for about an hour. With the the bourbon it was tasty though.

I would say use a little bourbon: say 1/4-1/3 cup at bottling. If you are too heavy handed with it, its going to be "too bourbon-y." Adjust to taste....some people really want the bourbon to stick out, others want it to be a subtle background note.

 

[TriggerFingers]

On another note,

Would anyone recommend any other yeasts for this beer? I am brewing this up this weekend and last year did it with S-04. I was thinking if I went with a dry yeast this time I may go with Nottingham.

If I went the liquid route, should I go with something like Wyeast 1318 (I have heard 1968 can be fickle)?
Also, I have a vial of ECY Scottish Heavy (Fruity esters, and some oaky notes) that may also be interesting to try.

 

[TriggerFingers]

Just brewed a 5 gallon extract batch of this...
This is a little more ashy and bitter than I remember with the Debittered Black. Had to sub Magnum for the bittering and Chinook for the 30 min and late addition. (1.067 O.G. 63 IBU's. Pitched ECY07 Scottish Heavy, which should make this super nice.

 

[bleak]

I just bottled this today. I hit the O.G. a little bit high at 1.069, but the F.G. was only 1.010. It tasted good, but I don't understand why the gravity is so low. I mashed at 149°F., pitched two packages of Nottingham (one of them had expired), and the yeast blew a huge amount of krausen into the blowoff bucket. It fermented at 62°F for a week and a half. The only variation from the C.Y.B.I. recipe was using Nugget for bittering. Does anyone know why this would have attenuated so much?

 

[TriggerFingers]

5 weeks, conditioned in bottle for 2 more. F.G. 1.020. WOW! I am digging that ECY07!

 

[TriggerFingers]

2nd batch of this-- the flavor of this beer is really nice--however, with Black Malt and 63IBU's it initially tastes a touch high on bitterness (last time I subbed debittered black and it seemed perfect that regard).

Deschutes says 55 IBU's for Obsidian and after tasting this rendition, I will lower it just a little to 55ish IBU's on the rebrew or maybe do a 50%black malt/50%debittered black malt version to compensate....

For now? I am going to enjoy this!

 

[mike_g08]

Hey,

First time brewing this recipe, probably tonight. I am planning to brew it straight up, with the following changes:

1. No wheat malt
2. Bitter with Columbus. Or Horizon or Magnum.

I am not too worried about the wheat malt. However, will the Columbus bittering mess up the beer?

 

[kanzimonson]

All those will be fine - if a small amount of dank comes through it'll be tasty. I like Columbus, Chinook, and other dank hops in dark beers.

 

[mike_g08]

Thanks for the input. I realized those hops were about 5-6 years in the freezer(!), so I went with 1 ounce of Simcoe for bitters. I guess that should work, but I was saving those for an IPA....

I am excited...I added some clarity ferm to make it gluten reduced. Hopefully can share the goodness with my GF family members.

 

[rmyurick]

Brewed this yesterday with a couple mod's:

Wyeast 1335, mashed at 152 (started there), 0.6 lb roasted barley & only 1 lb. of plack patent.

Ended up with about 4.75 gallons at 1.078. I have to get a kettle with volume markings on it! I could dilute, but usually I regret doing that, so I'm just going to leave it go & end up more of an Imperial stout.

 

[rmyurick]

Bottled Saturday--unfortunately got an FG of 1.030! I'm guessing I didn't stir it up well enough when I mashed in. Got a new system (cooler-type) & not used to it--used to mash on the stove top. Fermented around 64-65F most of the time, maybe it was too cold for the Wyeast 1335?

 

[kanzimonson]

That's a fine temp for an ale yeast - I suspect you have some measurement problems or it was a very unhealthy pitch of yeast.

 

[rmyurick]

I used a 1 qt. starter, although didn't add yeast nutrient. started up within 3-4 hrs.

 

[kanzimonson]

Hmm, that's probably enough yeast, unless the pack was really old. Were you able to warm the fermentation as it wrapped up? They might've gotten lazy.

Even if your instruments were really off, it's still be surprised if mash temp was the problem. I also doubt dough balls were. How about your hydrometer/refractometer? Trustworthy enough?

 

[rmyurick]

I probably didn't let it warm enough for long enough. I let it ferment for 20 days, so I think it should have been done. Hydro Sample didn't taste buttery.

I'm going to check them (hydrometer & refractometer) tonight. Have both, so I doubt if that's the problem. I've had the hydrometer for many years. The refractometer does run about 6% high on wort vs. the hydrometer.

 

[kanzimonson]

I got nothin!

 

[rmyurick]

Well, I'll post after it carbs & I taste.

 

[orangemen5]

I see a lot of ppl are brewing this with black patent when the original post says black barley. I'm pretty sure these are not the same.

Black barley is unmalted. Where black patent is malted barley.

Am i missing something from the original post.

 

[mike_g08]

It does call for black barley "malt" which I take to be black patent malt, and not "roasted barley" which is unmalted

 

[rmyurick]

I think I read somewhere that Jamil clarified that it was supposed to be black malt and not roasted barley. There is also a small amount of roast barley in the recipe. Although if you listen to the podcast, the brewer called it "black barley".

 

[orangemen5]

I think I read somewhere that Jamil clarified that it was supposed to be black malt and not roasted barley. There is also a small amount of roast barley in the recipe. Although if you listen to the podcast, the brewer called it "black barley".

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[orangemen5]

It does call for black barley "malt" which I take to be black patent malt, and not "roasted barley" which is unmalted

Black barley and roasted barley are the same.
Black patent is totally different. Check out this thread if your interested.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/black-patent-roasted-barley-500l-black-barley-difference-127331/

 

[rmyurick]

It's drinkable, but not close to the original. Substitutions are partly to blame, but the high FG makes it too sweet. Oddly, the head retention is not that great (although my carb level was purposely less). I'm going to let it sit for a while & see how it develops.

The only cause I can think of for the high (1.030) FG was a high mash temp, possibly due to maldistribution. Unless water chemistry could be to blame (my water is low in Ca & Mg, about 100 ppm HCO3-).