My new session stout attempt

[gunhaus]

I have a fondness for session stouts and porters. For years now i have brewed a knock off of the bottle type Guinness they serve in Isles that runs around 4% give or take. But i am always messing around a bit looking for more to like - ya know how it is. Anyway, in the Book Brewing Porters and Stouts is a recipe called "Flakes Away Stout" That caught my interests.

Thing is, I was cleaning out partial this and that supplies and did not have the exact recipe, so I did what came natural and "fixed it" to fit my ingredients. The original eliminates the ubiquitous Barley Flakes seen on most "Dry Irish Stout" bills. As it is, I happen to like what flaked barley does in low gravity stouts - and I had some to use up. Subs ensued.

I will print to original recipe then my revisions. It is really a straight forward low gravity stout that is plenty nice to drink about 30 days grain to glass.

ORIGINAL:
5.5 lb Briess mild ale malt
0.8 lb Briess Victory Malt (20L)
0.8 lb Crystal malt (60L)
0.6 lb Chocolate Malt (450L)
0.4 lb Black Malt (550L)
0.7 oz Magnum Pellets @ 90 min
Wyeast 1335, or White Labs WLP 023

OG -1.038
FG - 1.010
ABV - 3.6%
IBU - 31
SRM 113

Mash at 150 -152 1 hour, single sparge, 90 minute boils
(Just adapt water amounts and style etc to your taste and system. I did this at 1.5 quarts per pound in my old cooler set up)

NOW - My changes and the end results:
I had no Victory, and I like what flaked barley does in these stouts so i substituted 1.0 LB of Flaked Barley for the 0.8 LB of Victory. I also added .25 lb of Special B to the bill - because i had it and it can make cool flavors, and i felt like it. I wanted to use an Irish Ale Yeast like WL 004, but I did not have any, so I used Nottingham. I used .75 oz of the Magnum, because as it happened i had an open package that weighed out at that. (Truth told, this all started as a project to find a couple recipes to use up open hop packs more than anything - strange how things come around ain't it!)

I mashed this for 60 minutes @ 153. Sparged to 7.0 gallons, and boiled in my system for 90 minutes. Cooled to 65 degrees, and pitched the Notty.

I left this 12 days on the primary - It was done at 10, but I was busy, and a couple days sure never hurts.

My OG going into the Primary was 1.041

My FG is 1.010

Happy - spot on expectations.

I put this in a keg, and it actually had to sit for 10 days @ 65 degrees waiting for space. I purged the head space a few times and put about 20 psi on it but otherwise it was not on any gas at that time. Then i put it in the fridge, at 9 psi for two weeks - sit and forget. Finally got around to tasting it, and it is really quite nice! I would be really comfortable with this stout going 2 weeks on the primary, and 2 weeks in the keg, and pound away.

It is dry, has a little bitter/coffee nature to it, There is a little hint of raisin or prune, most likely from the special B, it is quite smooth. The body is a little lighter than my other session stout - but that is probably not bad for hot day quaffing, and ice cold service. I let my second pint warm slowly and the chocolate notes came out a bit as it warmed up it might be wishful thinking, but i felt that the slight "sweetness/prune/raisin" note got a little bigger too. But this is so subtle . . . . ? It is really a nice drinkin' stout. At 9 psi the carbonation with my set up was good, it made a nice fairly thick head that actually lasted a surprisingly long time. Nice clinging lace on the glass. My drinking cohort during this taste test, actually opined that he might like the bubbles bumped up a bit to say 12 psi. He felt it might make it even more quaffable on hot days -etc. But he is a heathen so don't take him too seriously.

If i make it again I might try the other yeast, and i may up the hops to 1oz - i think it could have benefited from a little more bitterness. But over-all I am pretty happy with what amounts to left--overs casserole! HEY - maybe there's a name to be had there! Watchyagot Stew Stout?? Thoughts? Watchyagot Stout? Maybe?

 

[thehaze]

Nottingham attenuates like crazy, so if you are repeating the recipe or doing another with the same yeast, I would mash a bit higher to force Nottingham to " slow down ", just .001-.002 above what you got this time. I know I will next time I'll be using Notti, just 'cause it took my latest Porter from 1.072 down to 1.010 with plenty specialty malts. I mashed at 149F, so maybe that was a slight mistake...

I too enjoy Special B and love the flavours it brings in darker brews. Maybe a keeper? Flaked barley is always a nice additon to stouts and porters. Use enough of it, and it will make for a smoother /creamier beer.

I think you got what you wanted. You can always try to make small changes for the next batches, to nuance the beer.

 

[gunhaus]

Thanks,
Actually, I like that high attenuation on beers like this one, I like the dry aspect it gives. But i do like the flavors i seem to get from the WL004 too I use the flaked in all my stouts and most of my porters, that is why I felt good subbing it in. The original recipe was really shooting for something a bit different than what i created here - but your right - i am happy with what came of it.

Funny thing is, I don't know if I will replicate it or not. We'll see at the end of the keg! I have a couple brews in this category that I like and have made for years - but this one is intriguing enough to maybe make it at least once more, only on purpose this time!

 

[thehaze]

I was not a fan of " dry " beers in general. I enjoy a good West Coast IPA once in a while or a Saison, but I always seemed to want to make fuller beers and always went for low attenuating yeast and a high mash temp. But, lately - funny you should post your thread around low abv/session beers - I began wishing for low ABV/session beers, a bit drier, crisper and more focused on drinkability.

The next 5 batches I have planned, will be beers with an ABV between 4 and 5% - including IPAs - just because, I want good aromas, flavour combined with less alcohol and more drinkability. I cannot stop at drinking just one, if I start. And if I eventually start, I don't want to get hammered too soon, too quickly. So session beers was the reasonable approach.

Thumb UP!

 

[gunhaus]

Yup! I became a fan of lower ABV styles quite a long time ago. And although i do brew some big beers, most of my efforts these days are to "lighter" styles so to speak - Session stout and porter, milds, lower gravity ESB, blonde ales etc. Something you can drink all day while watching the smoker do it's thing without ending up pickled by the time the pulled pork is done! I spent a REALLY long and hot day with some really really cold 2 hearted IPA at about 7.5%, and good drinking/cooking buddy a few years ago - We'll call that day "Inspiration" for my interest in lower gravity possibilities!