Cream Stout Modification - Questions

[akira7799]

Hey All,

I've been modifying a few recipes (from Clone Brews and Beer Captured) in my spare time and have a couple questions regarding a Cream Stout. The cream stout in question is a Watney's Cream Stout.

The grain schedule is for a 6.5 gallon boil, yielding 5.5 gallons of batch.
Mash at 150F for 90 mins.
6.75 lbs. British 2-row pale
1.25 lbs. English Chocolate Malt
1.25 lbs. British Crystal 55*
1.00 lbs. Dextrine Malt
0.25 lbs. Roasted Barley
0.25 lbs. Flaked Barley
1.6 oz. Fuggle Hops for 90 mins

1. Is a Cream Stout considered to be a sweet stout?

2. In Palmer's How To Brew 18.7 Palmer writes:

The procedure is nearly the same for other styles of beer. If you are making a Stout or perhaps a mellow dark ale or lager, one thing you can do to take some of the bite out of the dark grains is to add them later in the mash. Add the Black Patent or Roasted Barley during the last 10 minutes before you sparge. This is one means of coping with soft water (low in carbonates) when making dark beers. Saving the acidic malts until the end will reduce their acidifying effect on the mash.

Should I follow his instructions in this context? Or, should I add Mash Stabilizer 5.2 and not worry about any acidification effects from the darker grains? Or should I do both?

3. I'm brewing with the following water, does this apply to me?

Calcium (Ca++) 32
Magnesium (Mg++) 6
Sodium (Na+) 20
Carbonate (HCO3--) 45
Sulfate (SO4-) 72
Cloride (Cl-) 31
Total Dissolved Solids 179

4. Has anyone ever tried a recipe such as this? If so, any pointers or hints?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[drengel]

yes a cream stout is a sweet stout. it should have lactose added at some point. with the ammount of roasted barley i would do as the (first) instructions say, unless you don't like roasteed flavors or have had bad experiences with roasted barley becoming bitter. i wouldn't worry about the acidification though. your water is very soft. i would imagine you want to go for a burton on trent or london water type for this style of ale, so i would add some gypsum and calcium chloride to get to the appropriate levels of minerals. it seems like a better idea to add some gypsum and calcium chloride than add the roasted grain at the end of the mash. it seems like a good recipe and ive done similar stouts, minus the dextrine. does it call for lactose? with lactose and dextrine you'll get a seriously creamy mouthfeel, which sounds good to me.

 

[homebrewer_99]

What does it say in the water charts in the back of Beer Captured?

How does that help you?

 

[akira7799]

drengel,
Thanks for the insight into the cream stout recipes. This recipe does not call for lactose, but I will look into adding some for this modified recipe. Any suggestions as to how much?

homebrewer_99,
I completely forgot about the water modification chart in the back of the Beer Captured book. Upon review of the text, I found that it calls for 1/4 tsp addition of gypsum, 1/8 tsp non-iodized salt, and 1 and 1/4 tsp chalk. Thanks for your reminder.

Dave

 

[drengel]

use between 4-8 oz. when to add it seeems conntroversial, but i'm not sure if it matters much. 10 min. before end of boil is what i do.

 

[akira7799]

Sorry to hash up an old thread,

1. In the back of Beer Captured it states that Dextrin Malt "Balances body and flavor without adding color, aids in head retention". It also states that Malto-Dextrin "Adds body and mouthfeel. Does not ferment."

What are the difference between Dextrine Malt (aka Dextrin carapils) and Malto Dextrin?

2. The Watney's Cream Stout Clone calls for the addition of 1lb of Dextrine Malt in the mash and the addition of 0.66 lbs of Malto Dextrin at the beginning of the boil. I also want to add .25 lbs of lactose with 15 minutes left in the boil (as drengel suggested).

Would this add too many unferemtables to the wort? I don't want this Watney's clone to be "TOO" sweet.

Thanks everyone,
Dave

 

[akira7799]

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to ask everyone's advice on this modified Sam Adams Cream Stout Recipe I'll be brewing on Tuesday (MUCH EARLIER than 6:00).

8 lbs British 2-row pale
1 lbs US Wheat Malt
10 oz US 60*L Crystal Malt
8 oz US Chocolate Malt
6 oz British Roasted Barley
4 oz Flaked Oats

MASH
at 156*F for 90 minutes with
3.75 gallons H2O
1.25 TBL 5.2 Mash Stabilizer

SPARGE
at 170 with 5.5 gallons H20

BOIL
for 60 minutes with
8 ounces Malto-dextrin
.55 ounce 6.1%AA East Kent Goldings
.5 ounce 4.8%AA Fuggles

Boil for 45 minutes, then add
1 tsp Irish Moss
8 ounces Lactose
.25 ounces 6.1%AA East Kent Goldings

Aerate. Pitch Yeast Starter of WLP005 British Ale.

Ferment at 70*F.