My first attempt at a stout

[podz]

It's only my second ever attempt at making beer.

The first attempt was about 8 years ago from a kit (brown ale) and it tasted so bad even after aging for a few months that I ended up throwing out the entire batch. I followed the instructions on the kit to the letter - it was watery, over-carbonated, and just didn't taste like beer at all.

So, now I visited my LHBS and had a conversation to get some ideas and advice about how to make a stout from extract. This is what I ended up doing:

Coopers Stout kit - 1.7kg
Muntons Dark spray malt - 500g
Dark Molasses - 750mg

I warmed the can of extract in hot water in the sink for about 20 minutes, then opened it up and put it into my fermenter bucket. I then proceeded to rinse the can twice with boiling water into the fermenter, then stirred up well. After that, I topped up with cold water to the level of 18 litres and stirred it up for a few minutes. Wort temperature was 19c, and the kit said the yeast can be pitched between 19-29c, so I pitched the yeast on top and sealed her up.

I was beginning to think that it wasn't going to start - took 46 hours to get first airlock activity. A couple hours later, the airlock was going non-stop at machine gun rate. I opened her up and emptied in the molasses as well as another 1.5 litres of water - total level is now 19.5 litres (approx). Airlock has been going at machine gun rate for about 24 hours now.

I'll give an update how it tastes after a few weeks! Hopefully this will turn out well enough that I will be encouraged to try making more beers.

 

[cheesehed007]

Good luck! Cheers

 

[flars]

Are you holding your wort temperature at about 18°C to 20°C? Very rapid air lock activity can indicate wort temperature that is to high. Fermentation does produce heat. The activity of the yeast can raise the wort temperature 3°C to 8°C above ambient air temperature. High wort temperatures can cause the production of fusel alcohols.

Nasty tasting and headache producing.

 

[podz]

I am only able to control the room temperature and I can not set it to 15c without starting a mutiny in the house! I suppose I can set my expectations higher when I have more equipment available.

 

[RM-MN]

Brewing a stout is easy. Waiting for it to hit peak flavor is much harder. I've drunk way to many of my dark beers before they really got good. Expect your stout to peak out at about 3 to 4 months after it is in the bottle.

 

[flars]

I am only able to control the room temperature and I can not set it to 15c without starting a mutiny in the house! I suppose I can set my expectations higher when I have more equipment available.

A swamp cooler will help control the temperature of your wort. Basically 8 inches to 24 inches of water in a tub. Wrap the carboy with a cotton towel to wick up the water and stay wet. Point a fan at it to increase the evaporation rate. The evaporating water can cool the wort by 8°C to 10°C.

The cotton wrap will also help protect the wort from UV radiation sources.

 

[podz]

It's in a 30 litre white plastic fermenter - a lot shorter and wider than a carboy. I wouldn't even know where to find a container big enough to put that fermenter inside of.

This is Finland - we don't really have bathtubs here. I live in a big house, but we only have 3 showers! I don't have a fan either, they aren't really very common items here.

They don't even sell carboys at all in Finland, only teardrop shaped demijohns. I happen to have one 5-gallon glass carboy that I got from the US about 15 years ago, but it's occupied at the moment with some cider and it wouldn't be large enough anyway...

I could carry the fermenter to my cellar, but it's 8c there so I think it might be too cold for that ale yeast. The airlock slowed way down now, to a 4-bubble-at-once series once every 5 or 6 seconds.

 

[brew_ny]

This is Finland - we don't really have bathtubs here. I live in a big house, but we only have 3 showers! I don't have a fan either, they aren't really very common items here.

kiddie pool ? livestock water tank ? box with a couple of heavy plastic bags ?

just some thoughts

S_M

 

[flars]

It's in a 30 litre white plastic fermenter - a lot shorter and wider than a carboy. I wouldn't even know where to find a container big enough to put that fermenter inside of.

This is Finland - we don't really have bathtubs here. I live in a big house, but we only have 3 showers! I don't have a fan either, they aren't really very common items here.

They don't even sell carboys at all in Finland, only teardrop shaped demijohns. I happen to have one 5-gallon glass carboy that I got from the US about 15 years ago, but it's occupied at the moment with some cider and it wouldn't be large enough anyway...

I could carry the fermenter to my cellar, but it's 8c there so I think it might be too cold for that ale yeast. The airlock slowed way down now, to a 4-bubble-at-once series once every 5 or 6 seconds.

They must still make galvanized wash tubs. They were large enough to be used for baths before we had plumbing in the house.

 

[podz]

Well, too late to do anything about it now - it would appear to have finished. i googled around and it seems that the Coopers Stout is known for taking off like a rocket and finishing fast. I'll have a sample tomorrow and test if it's ready to bottle.

 

[flars]

Take at least two hydrometer readings over a period of three days. If the readings are the same fermentation is complete. One more week in the primary will give the yeast time to clean up off flavors naturally produced by the fermentation.

 

[podz]

Reading 1.014 and the taste is incredible, better than guiness. Even has a decent head. Good thing my fermenter has a spigot on the bottom ;-) Might be time to go and have another sample soon. OG was about 1.060, so it's definitely got some kick. That was the fastest fermentation I've even seen in my life, but I have so far really only been making wine and cider...

I'm happy.

 

[flars]

Reading 1.014 and the taste is incredible, better than guiness. Even has a decent head. Good thing my fermenter has a spigot on the bottom ;-) Might be time to go and have another sample soon. OG was about 1.060, so it's definitely got some kick. That was the fastest fermentation I've even seen in my life, but I have so far really only been making wine and cider...

I'm happy.

Just wait until it is carbonated. I over carbonated one of my stouts. The carbonation bite took away some of the flavor. I let it sit for a while to de-gas and was back to tasting great.

 

[RM-MN]

Reading 1.014 and the taste is incredible, better than guiness. Even has a decent head. Good thing my fermenter has a spigot on the bottom ;-) Might be time to go and have another sample soon. OG was about 1.060, so it's definitely got some kick. That was the fastest fermentation I've even seen in my life, but I have so far really only been making wine and cider...

I'm happy.

Better than Guiness isn't hard. If my beer come out tasting worse than the last Guiness I had I'll start to worry,

Resist the urge to sample more now. Every time you get a sample out of the spigot you draw air into the fermenter and with that air come microbes that require air to survive, ones that like alcohol and thrive on it. When your precious batch of beer turns to vinegar you'll understand better.

Here's a nice article about the life cycle of yeast. Once you read this you'll have a better understanding of beer yeast and how they work. http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

Once you have your beer bottled, don't be in a hurry to drink them all up. A good stout will spend a considerable amount of time "maturing" and the flavor will continue to improve. I have a stout that has been bottled for over a year and it is really good now, much better than it was the first few months.

 

[RM-MN]

Reading 1.014 and the taste is incredible, better than guiness. Even has a decent head. Good thing my fermenter has a spigot on the bottom ;-) Might be time to go and have another sample soon. OG was about 1.060, so it's definitely got some kick. That was the fastest fermentation I've even seen in my life, but I have so far really only been making wine and cider...

I'm happy.

Better than Guiness isn't hard. If my beer come out tasting worse than the last Guiness I had I'll start to worry,

Resist the urge to sample more now. Every time you get a sample out of the spigot you draw air into the fermenter and with that air come microbes that require air to survive, ones that like alcohol and thrive on it. When your precious batch of beer turns to vinegar you'll understand better.

Here's a nice article about the life cycle of yeast. Once you read this you'll have a better understanding of beer yeast and how they work. http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

Once you have your beer bottled, don't be in a hurry to drink them all up. A good stout will spend a considerable amount of time "maturing" and the flavor will continue to improve. I have a stout that has been bottled for over a year and it is really good now, much better than it was the first few months.

 

[podz]

LOL, the only way I could manage to produce beer or cider faster than I drink it would be to start 10 gallons per week, every week. I would need a whole lot more equipment for that. I keep buying a little more every month. Maybe I'll get there someday.

 

[IslandLizard]

If you like beer that much, you really should consider to brew from "proven" recipes posted here and elsewhere in online beer communities. Once you've done that you will never buy a can of pre-hopped malt extract again. Just dissolving a can of that in warm water has severe limitations in what it can taste like. Similar to buying a can of condensed soup from you grocery store isle where you just add water vs. homemade soup from scratch.

In addition to what you have now, you would need access to:

• Malt extract - dry (DME, malt powder, "spray malt") or liquid (LME, malt syrup), but without hops (Muntons, Briess)
• Hops - in pellets or leaf - ask you LHBS or online perhaps
• A pot of at least 4 gallons (14 l) to boil in - large stock pot or canning kettle
• A way to boil that pot with 3-4 gallons of water for an hour
• Some way to chill that pot of wort relatively quick - very cold water or ice

Or go all grain, for even more control and flavor. You'll need a way larger pot though and a way to heat it for an hour boil.

 

[podz]

I used 500g of Muntons dark spray malt in my recipe.

On my list of things to buy next is a corny keg with C02 and a tap. I make a lot of cider... Getting a basic kegging setup is the highest priority.

 

[sbaynes]

They don't even sell carboys at all in Finland, only teardrop shaped demijohns. I happen to have one 5-gallon glass carboy that I got from the US about 15 years ago, but it's occupied at the moment with some cider and it wouldn't be large enough anyway...

Did you ever find somewhere to buy carboys/demijohns in Helsinki? The only place I know of is Viinimaailma:
http://www.myyrmanni.fi/shops/-/shops/Muut-erikoisliikkeet/1000676/Viinimaailma

 

[podz]

Did you ever find somewhere to buy carboys/demijohns in Helsinki? The only place I know of is Viinimaailma:
http://www.myyrmanni.fi/shops/-/shops/Muut-erikoisliikkeet/1000676/Viinimaailma

Yeah, I bought a wine demijohn from them. I shop there pretty regularly. They don't sell large glass carboys, though.