New Recipe Brainstorming/Questions - salted black licorice stout

[DerekDH]

Hey all, I'd like to make a 1 gallon test batch of a licorice stout after the dutch candy Dubbel Zoute licorice (http://www.dutchsweets.com/venco-dubbel-zoute-licorice-venco-p-72.html) - it is a very salty black licorice candy. This'll be my virgin self made batch and I've been brainstorming this recipe for a while now, here's what I have so far:

Grain Bill:
MUNTONS MILD ALE MALT - 2.5 lbs
MUNTONS ROASTED BLACK BARLEY Unmalted - 2 oz
MUNTONS BLACK MALT - 2 oz
MUNTONS CRYSTAL 60L MALT - 2 oz
(I know the black and crystal malts shouldn't really exceed 10% of the grain bill, right? this is 15%, should I ease up?)

Step Mash, w/ protein rests @ 40 (10 min), 50 (20 min), 65C (35 min), 75C mash out (10 min) - All in all probably a 90 minute mash taking into account adjusting temps (using a propane burner), adjust pH to 5.1-5.5 using lactic acid, add some Calcium Chloride for water conditioning (city water from tap or should I run out and get distilled?)

Filter out the grains and sparge with some 70 C Water (not sure what I want my initial boil volume to be - probably will do a 1 hour boil.

The Boil:
1/5 tsp (1 mL) Irish moss - 15 min
1/2 stick brewers licorice - 30 min
~10 AAU Centennial hops - 20 min - 1oz @ 9.9%
1 star anise - 5 min (too much?)
Was pondering adding cascade hops, but I don't think any citrus should be in the recipe.

Chill to ~ 20C for yeast pitching - not sure what yeast to use, was just going to ask the guys at the brew shop, suggestions?

Ferment for 2 weeks at like 60-65 F in my basement
Prime with molasses - not sure how much to use. (2.5 tbsp boiled into 1 cup water), add to bottling bucket, stir, & bottle.

There's 1 thing I didn't include but its central to the recipe. Dubbel Zout Drop is doubly salted black licorice, so I need to add salt to this recipe (ammonium chloride rather than sodium chloride). I'm not sure when/where and how much salt to add. I don't want to make the wort so saline that the yeast has a hard time establishing but I definitely want it to be somewhat noticeable and mouthwatering. Should I add the salt during the mash, during the boil, or when I'm priming and bottling (I rely on bottle conditioning as I don't have any carbonation systems yet, so the salt killing the yeast is still a concern here). Also, is ammonium chloride a viable salt to use? don't think I want any ammonia forming from it and end up with a brew that smells and tastes like bathroom cleaner, should I substitute in Sodium Chloride?

Also, I realize that the brewers licorice and anise numbers are a bit high for a 1 gallon batch, and a lot of people wouldn't like it, but a lot of people don't like drop - its sort of a culturally acquired taste, like australians and vegemite (blegh for me, but whatever floats your boat), I'm going for a high licorice, high salt, dark colored brew.

I know I should probably just get beersmith and that would probably help me out a lot.


Basically, my main questions center around the grain bill, the salt addition, the amount of molasses for bottle priming, and maybe some good suggestions for earthy bittering hops. Thanks in advance!

 

[20grit]

https://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/
Enter your info. Molasses is one of the options that pops up.
Look up some Gose recipes for the saltiness. Should give you some idea of what one can add and reach the ranges you describe.

 

[DerekDH]

Thanks for that calculator looks like about 1 1/4 tbsp molasses for priming.

 

[DerekDH]

For those curious about following this brew:

The higher end salt concentrations I see are about 28g/Gal, I'll try that, @ 10 min

Also, I think I read somewhere that for this type of beer 30 min is the latest I should add hops, so I might split it and drop them in at 45 and 30 min - not looking for a very hoppy character, but some.

This brew begins on the morrow! Huzzah!

 

[DerekDH]

also it looks like ammonium chloride is a great nitrogen source for yeast and so they's likely eat it all up, regular sea salt it is then.

 

[Newsman]

Sorry... didn't realize you already planned on using Anise.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

This might help - Licorice Stout: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=57311

 

[DerekDH]

changing the hops pitching time to 20 min @ the suggestion of a guy @ my local brew shop - he said that the DZ wasn't that bitter so adding it too early would not be what I'm going for.

 

[DerekDH]

For those wondering how this went, I just tried some of the pre carbonated beer and... yegh, way too much salt and the salt doesn't have the right character im going for - don't try that much salt unless you got some serious sour to counter it - like a margarita. I'll loook to get more feedback. About 7% though

 

[November]

I love salt black licorice so this sounds good. Salt in beer, in my opinion, is tough to figure in advance. Since its not going to benefit from boil I would add it post fermentation and before kegging. Just pull a pint, or some lesser known value, And keep adding salt in small amounts till ypou hit what you want then muiltiplky it out for the remaining batch.

Let me know what you end up with. This may have to go on my to do list.