Modify cheap beer to stout?

[Finn Lysell]

I have this idea. I have bought 5Liter minikegs. In denmark cheap beer is about
1€ per liter. It is OK, but I would rather drink Stout. My idea is this.
Almost fill up a minikeg 5Liter with cheap beer add 1 bottle of unpasturised beer ( to
get active yeast) - add some liquiricepowder and some sugar.
Wait for some days and hope for a tasty stout.
I do not know what amount to use - but if someone has tried this I would be happy for
some advice
Best wishes
Finn

 

[TwistedGray]

I suppose if you find stouts to have a licorice flavor your could theoretically make it work, but I surely don't get that flavor profile in any stout I've had.

What about just brewing a stout?

 

[Finn Lysell]

It is offcourse because I am lazy - I brewed beer 40 years ago and I remember the boiling of malt and hops etc.
And offcourse also because brewing small amounts of beer is so expensive that I do not
want to use the money and time compared to this idea
finn

 

[waldoar15]

I have this idea. I have bought 5Liter minikegs. In denmark cheap beer is about
1€ per liter. It is OK, but I would rather drink Stout. My idea is this.
Almost fill up a minikeg 5Liter with cheap beer add 1 bottle of unpasturised beer ( to
get active yeast) - add some liquiricepowder and some sugar.
Wait for some days and hope for a tasty stout.
I do not know what amount to use - but if someone has tried this I would be happy for
some advice
Best wishes
Finn

I have no idea what you'll get doing that, but I'm pretty sure it won't be Stout.

 

[ong]

Haha. That sounds like an excellent way to make licorice flavored macro lager. The yeast will not be doing anything, though.

 

[Lefou]

I don't know, but the closet German inside me seems quite disturbed by this.
Not the idea of spicing up an ale, but corrupting a perfectly good spice with cheap beer.

 

[FunkedOut]

Assuming the cheap beer is 5% ABV...
Brew yourself a crazy dark stout that is like 50% roasted malt to about 10% ABV.
The mix your brew with the cheap stuff to taste.

 

[thehaze]

I also would not simply mix some powder with already fermented beer.

FunkedOut has the right idea: brew another beer and then mix it with the cheap lager/pilsner and it might get you there. But if you're going this route, you might as well brew a Stout to begin with. You can really make cheaper Stouts, if the desire is there.

But Denmark has some world class breweries, which brew incredible good/well-made beers: To Øl, Mikkeller, Amager, osv. Men dem kender du nok til...

 

[Pkrd]

Just drink it with your eyes closed or lights out and pretend its a dark beer.

 

[divrack]

That comment belongs in the funny things I've overheard about beer thread...
Plain weird.
If you wanted to you could just get some chocolate and roasted malt and cold steep it in a large saucepan then pasteurise and add to your cheap beer. You can add yeast if you want or just leave it for a fuller body.
Don't know wtf the liquorice idea is all about but I applaud Mavericks.

 

[madscientist451]

1 Euro per liter isn't really all that cheap compared to homebrew. You should be able to brew a stout for less than that. If I buy grain by the sack, I can brew a cheap lager for about .6 Euro a liter. If you buy grain at retail prices, you should still be able to brew a decent stout for the cost of your cheap lager.
My math might be a little fuzzy since I usually think in gallons and dollars, and my morning coffee is still kicking in, but that should be pretty close.
You don't need a fancy rig, brew extract batches with steeping grains using your kitchen stove, ferment in a bucket and transfer to those used 5L kegs if you can figure a way to seal them up.
What would be the price of a stout that you like at the store?