Lemon Stout??

[scroacher]

First off, this is my first post. Just wanted to say that this site and all the members' posts have been most helpful in developing my new obsession with brewing.

Anyways, I had this hair-brained idea for a chocolate stout (on the dry side) with some hint of lemon. I can't find anything close in the forum so maybe this is just a terrible idea?! Regardless, in order to subdue my curiosity I have decided to just come up with my own brew (my first recipe.) Let me know what you think (especially if you have some solid evidence for why this might be a terrible idea)

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 35.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 35.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 63.6 %
2.00 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 18.2 %
1.00 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 9.1 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.5 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.5 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (60 min) Hops 18.2 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (15 min) Hops 9.9 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50%] (30 min) Hops 7.7 IBU
1.00 items Lemon zest (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 items Lemon zest (dry hop) (Secondary 7.0 days)
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

 

[Yooper]

Well, I don't think a lemon stout sounds good at all- but if it sounds good to you I think you should go for it!

You've got a lot of roast flavors in there. It looks pretty good to me.

I don't think I'd use all those hops additions though. You've got a lot going on. Roast flavor, hoppiness, lemon? I'd pick what I wanted and let the other go. For example, if you want a hoppy American stout, I'd cut out the lemon. If you want a more traditional stout, use only bittering additions and cut out the rest of the hops and leave the lemon. Cascade hops are great for an American stout, if that's what you're going for. I'm just concerned that you've got to much going on there.