check my recipe, is it too strong

[smith7631]

i am attempting to make a sweet and salty carmel stout. i want the crystal flavor to come from crystal malts

recipe:

3lb crystal 120
1lb roasted barly
6.5lb pale extract

hopped with .4oz of columbus 60mins

are my specialty grains to over powering? i do enjoy a strong stout, but is this too much? i want the stout to be as carmely as possible.

 

[Brew_4iT]

I would add .5# of black patent .5# of pale chocolate and reduce the roasted barley to .5 a lb maybe a little less. Also might want to try some 'special B' grain for a sweet caramel type of flavor as well. Mash at a little higher 157 f and you should get the sweetness your looking for while also being a stout.

 

[BluBruShack]

Doesnt look bad, just wanted to let you know there is a site out there like the Beer Smith program.
www.beercalculus.com
Tells you estimated srm, ibu, abv, og, fg ect.

+1 to the post above

Good Luck

BBS

 

[smith7631]

yeah i am using brew target which is a simular program. im just concered that it it might be to strong sdo to the speciality grains, just wanted to get other people's opion on it.

 

[smith7631]

I would add .5# of black patent .5# of pale chocolate and reduce the roasted barley to .5 a lb maybe a little less. Also might want to try some 'special B' grain for a sweet caramel type of flavor as well. Mash at a little higher 157 f and you should get the sweetness your looking for while also being a stout.

what are your reasons for thiese suggestions?

 

[frankstoneline]

the roasted barley is a fairly bitter malt to be using, so by diversifying you will develop a less bitter and more diverse taste from the dark malts.

 

[Yooper]

Crystal 120L is very raisiny and pretty intense. I use 1.5 pounds of it in my Arrogant Bastard clone, and it's definitely noticeable. I would think that 3 pounds would make the beer undrinkable.

If you want a caramel sweetness, you'll want a very large portion of light crystal malts, like crystal 10L or 20L, NOT a darker malt like 120L. The light crystals are caramelly sweet, but the dark crystal malts are toffee, raisiny, "burnt" sugar tasting and not really that sweet.

If you want to use that much crystal malt, and want some sweetness, I'd go with mostly 20L and maybe some 80L at the absolute darkest for the crystal.

 

[Homercidal]

Crystal 120L is very raisiny and pretty intense. I use 1.5 pounds of it in my Arrogant Bastard clone, and it's definitely noticeable. I would think that 3 pounds would make the beer undrinkable.

If you want a caramel sweetness, you'll want a very large portion of light crystal malts, like crystal 10L or 20L, NOT a darker malt like 120L. The light crystals are caramelly sweet, but the dark crystal malts are toffee, raisiny, "burnt" sugar tasting and not really that sweet.

If you want to use that much crystal malt, and want some sweetness, I'd go with mostly 20L and maybe some 80L at the absolute darkest for the crystal.

+1. 120L tastes like raisin and toffee to me, and you're using a pretty good amount. I wouldn't use any more than 1/2 that amount, personally.

 

[smith7631]

all of your suggestions are very helpful

 

[Brew_4iT]

+1. 120L tastes like raisin and toffee to me, and you're using a pretty good amount. I wouldn't use any more than 1/2 that amount, personally.

Since he is making a stout style with caramel character wouldn't the lighter lovibond malts be covered up? That's why I was thinking Special B and 120 would be fine by replacing some of the crystal 120 with the black patent, pale chocolate, and special B.

 

[smith7631]

so this is what i have now:

crystal 20: 5lb
special B: 3 lb
crystal 120: 1 lb
crystal 40: 1lb
roasted barley: half a pound
black malt: fourth of a pound
chocolate malt: fourth of a pound

 

[paraordnance]

Where the base malt? That's way too much Crystal

Sent from GT-I9100M

 

[phenry]

so this is what i have now:

crystal 20: 5lb
special B: 3 lb
crystal 120: 1 lb
crystal 40: 1lb
roasted barley: half a pound
black malt: fourth of a pound
chocolate malt: fourth of a pound

Whoa nelly. Take some time and read up on the different kind of malts and how they fit into recipes. Your grain bill should be mostly base malt/extract, with the specialty grains just playing supporting roles. If you're just starting out, start out with simple recipes. My first stout recipe was fairly simple:

10 lb 2-row
8 oz Crystal 60
8 oz Chocolate malt
8 oz Roasted barley

It turned out great, but of course I found ways that I could make it more to my likening. That's why when I brewed it the next time the grain bill looked like this:

8.5 lb 2-row
1 lb Flaked oats
1 lb Chocolate malt
8 oz Crystal 60
8 oz Roasted barley

It's still in the fermenter so I have no idea how it's going to turn out, maybe 1 lb of chocolate malt was too much, maybe I want it roastier next time, who knows. That's what's so great about this hobby. You get to drink your experiments. But keep your experiments pretty tame or else you might end up with something that nobody wants to drink.

 

[smith7631]

Whoa nelly. Take some time and read up on the different kind of malts and how they fit into recipes. Your grain bill should be mostly base malt/extract, with the specialty grains just playing supporting roles. If you're just starting out, start out with simple recipes. My first stout recipe was fairly simple:

10 lb 2-row
8 oz Crystal 60
8 oz Chocolate malt
8 oz Roasted barley

It turned out great, but of course I found ways that I could make it more to my likening. That's why when I brewed it the next time the grain bill looked like this:

8.5 lb 2-row
1 lb Flaked oats
1 lb Chocolate malt
8 oz Crystal 60
8 oz Roasted barley

It's still in the fermenter so I have no idea how it's going to turn out, maybe 1 lb of chocolate malt was too much, maybe I want it roastier next time, who knows. That's what's so great about this hobby. You get to drink your experiments.

im adding a bunch of crystal because i want it to be as carmelly as possible, is there a better way you would reccommend doing this

 

[Brewn4life]

Here is my 3 try which I thought turned out preatty chocolaty. I need to add a cup of Lactose, but other than that Im on the right track:
8lb 2 Row
1lb Crystal 60L
1lb Pale Chocolate(Fawcett)250L
8oz. Wheat Flaked
8oz. Oats Flaked
4oz. Chocolate malt 500L
The Fawcett is it for me nice milk chocolate instead of the dark stringent chocolate that the 500L will leave