Partial mash vs. AG small batch?

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PattyC

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I was planning to brew the PM stout recipe below this weekend, but now I'm considering just trying an AG small batch instead, for no other reason than just to try it out (and save a little cash on the DME). Here are the two versions. Am I missing anything here? Any suggestions?

Stella's Snout Stout PM
Dry stout
5 gallons
OG: 1.044
0.5 lbs. Chocolate Malt
0.5 lbs. Roasted Barley
1 lbs. Flaked Barley
3 lbs. 2-row
2 lbs. Light DME
1 oz. Northern Brewer hops (60 min.)
Mash grains at 156. Stovetop sparge. Bring to boil. Add DME. Cool. Pitch w/ US-05 yeast. Primary for 3 weeks. Bottle condition.

Stella's Snout Stout AG small batch
Dry stout
3 gallons
OG: 1.041
0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt
0.25 lbs. Roasted Barley
1 lbs. Flaked Barley
3 lbs. 2-row
.75 oz. Northern Brewer hops (60 min.)
Same deal, but primary for 10-14 days. Bottle condition.
 
Those would be quite different, the AG being a darker beer. If you want to make a more similar beer to the first, add enough 2-row base to make up for the DME. Then you can reduce that recipe to how ever much you want to make.

1 lb or 2-row will likely add in the ball park of 28pt, I forget what DME adds, but you can look that up and make the replacement.

All that said, it looks like a find brew as it is. If you don't mind that it's different.
 
Thanks for the input! I knew I had something wrong there. Heck, I might stick with the PM this time, since I want to have enough stout for a while. But it's good to know the process for paring down a recipe.

One more question if someone doesn't mind answering: What other specialty grains are typically used in a stout and what characteristics do they contribute?
 
Thanks for the input! I knew I had something wrong there. Heck, I might stick with the PM this time, since I want to have enough stout for a while. But it's good to know the process for paring down a recipe.

One more question if someone doesn't mind answering: What other specialty grains are typically used in a stout and what characteristics do they contribute?

Joh Palmer's How to brew Chap 12.1

Just about anything can go in a stout. I made one on Mon. with oats, dextrin, C-80, Special B, Biscuit, roasted barley, and choc. rye malt.
I don't know how the rye will be, but time will tell.
 
That sounds great. I will definitely mix it up in the future but just wanted to keep it basic this time. Given my 5 gallon recipe, how dark you think it will turn out? I like my stouts to be pretty dark, and more on the balanced side between creamy/dry. That's why I picked my mash temp at 156, but maybe lower would be better?
 
I can't really say much about this beer. I've never used flaked barley, and I usually end up adding some crystal malt and or a protein grain like oats or dextrin malt (but those require more work to mash).

It should be dark with 8oz choc and 4oz roast, but not the darkest for a stout. Twice that amount of roasted is not unusual for a 5gal batch.
 
I'd go PM. If your conversion effiecieny is low, you will still have good beer with the extract addition. Partial mash is just like all grain in that you still go through the same mashing steps. Take a sample after your mash and sparge are combined, cool to ~ 60 F, and take a hydrometer reading. Then use a website like the one below to see what efficiency you had.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewhouse-efficiency/
 
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