First Stout recipe critique

[rdlc]

Hi all,

First post but long time reader here!

I'm brewing my first stout and using the ingredients if have at the moment (that's why i'm using the pilsner malt and some old lublin hops i have in the freezer).

I have some years of experience in brewing but never got around to brew a stout, i'm mostly concerned about the dark malts balance since i'm not very familiar with roasted malts and i have no ideia what is too little or too much. Also, is the Cara malt addition ok?

i'm considering dropping the lubelin hops and add EKG for bettering instead and no finishing hops.

Could anyone take a look at my recipe? what would you change considering the ingredients i have around.

I have around some Weyermann Carafa Special type 1
Notice that i'm using an odd volume batch, but that's the batch size i usually do.

Thank you for your time!

 

[McKnuckle]

I think this is quite reasonable; nothing stands out as awkward to me, and it's a good baseline recipe. Any comments would really be based on someone's own personal preferences, which might differ from yours!

You've got 10.4% roasted malts comprised of 50/50 chocolate and roasted barley. And you've got 5.2% crystal malt for a bit of sweetness. The 10% oats is a nice touch for smoothness. Those are all good percentages. The OG, IBU, and color look good. I think you should leave both hop additions in place. There's no reason not to.

Based on the outcome, you'll decide for future stouts whether you want to increase crystal malt, or whether to balance the roasted malts differently, try different ones, etc.

 

[IslandLizard]

What @McKnuckle said. ^

One thing I notice is your mash efficiency is set at 65%. Is that typical for your system and milling of your grist? Or have you been overshooting expected OG and/or final volume?

65% Mash Efficiency seems rather low to me. I'd see if you can get that up to at least 75-80%.

 

[rdlc]

Thanks McKnuckle, that is encouraging!

Yes, i have a problem with efficiency, i believe it's because i'm using a 60lts pot for a 23lts batch :/

 

[IslandLizard]

Yes, i have a problem with efficiency, i believe it's because i'm using a 60lts pot for a 23lts batch :/

I don't think the pot (kettle) size matters that much, except if there's a lot of wort left behind somewhere that doesn't end up in your fermenter.

Low mash efficiencies are often caused by a poor, too coarse a crush, large mash vessel deadspaces, insufficient lautering and/or sparging.

 

[rdlc]

yes, i meant i mash in 20lts batch in a 60lt pot.
I should correct this eventually