Stout Recipe, should be good, brewing soon

[RedIrocZ-28]

Simplistic recipe

5.5gal Yield

14 lbs Marris Otter
2 lbs Crystal 120
1 lbs Victory
1 lbs Roasted Barley
1 lbs Black Patent
1 lbs Chocolate malt

2oz Warrior @ 60 minutes
1oz Cascade @ 5 minutes

Safale 05 Starter a MUST

Mash: 157* for 60 minutes

Sparge: 178* for 15 minutes

Boil 60 or 90 minutes (haven't decided yet) Most likely 90.

OG 1.100!!!!
FG 1.025

ABV: 9.8%
SRM: 80!
IBU: 70

Ferment @ low 60's for 3-4 weeks
Rack to Secondary, maybe, 4-6 weeks.

------------------------------------------


Sound good?

EDITED RECIPE

 

[Ewalk02]

Mash: 150* for 60 minutes

This seems like a low mash temp for a stout, I think you might end up with a watery beer if you do this with not that much mouthfeel. If I were you I would mash around 156*-158*, you'll get that chocolate milk feel in your mouth and the beer will be more true to the style I think.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I second upping the mash temperature, but it really depends on what kind of stout you're going for. If you want a dry irish stout, then go with 150-152F. But if this is an american stout, go with 156-158F which will give you more residual sweetness and body. Also, it may just be my preference but I would add some black patent in there too. Otherwise, looks mighty tasty!

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

Black Patent? I like the sound of that.

For a Stout I thought you wanted to mash lower than normal to get more fermentables because of the ridiculously high OG, and because of the high OG and immense Maltose et al content the unfermentables would contribute to the mouthfeel but if you guys say that I should still go high 150's I'll trust you guys.

Hell I think I'll make this a big ***** and go for 1.100!!

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

I scaled this down to a 4 gallon batch because of the amount of grain used, my equipment won't handle a full batch. Already got the malt, should be brewing this Saturday!!

I'll let you guys know in 6 months how it is.

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

I mashed at about 158* on this recipe and my OG was WAAAAAAAY off. I ended up just under 4 gallons and I was pretty stoked about that, because I was sure I would have had a higher OG than I expected, but I ended up with about 3.5gal and the OG was 1.075.

Either my crush was terrible or the higher mash temp yields less extraction??

Was thinking about doing the same batch again, and combining them to bulk age but this time do a 152* mash. Thoughts?

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

FG was 1.024, damn near hit THAT part right on the money. Tasted so good I drank the entire test sample, chilled.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

My preference for the big stouts is to go high on mash temp for some sweetness, as it will balance out the alcohol and hops. If you're aiming for more of an irish/english stout then 152F-154F is a good mash temp. Just my preference, but a bit of sweetness goes great with a lot of roasted grains.

 

[GLWIII]

I'm here to vouch for the veracity of the OP's recipe. I actually split this in to two parts - 1/2 regular, 1/2 vanilla. I left the regular in the primary for a total of five weeks. The vanilla portion spent three in the primary, two in the secondary.

After only three weeks in the bottle I figured I would try a regular to see how it's coming along. Pleased doesn't even begin to describe what I think of this one. This will most certainly be on the regular "get it ready for football season" rotation. Going to try the vanilla version tonight.

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

Wow thank you! I actually JUST bottled mine. Lots of family issues and me moving around a bit have prevented me from bottling sooner. If you like it, and I haven't even got to taste it yet, thats saying something!

I think I'm going to crack the forst one next month after 6 weeks in the bottle.

And very interesting on teh use of Vanilla. I wish I would have thought of that. Vanilla Stout sounds yummy.

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

Brewed this again yesterday and I still missed my OG. Hit 1.090 but this was after adding 1lb of Blackstrap Molasses. I think my crush was much better but my efficiency still sucks a little. I mashed at 158* for 90 minutes this time, and only did a 3 gallon sparge due to not having large enough pots. I split the mash into 2- 5gal pots, each with 13.5qts of brewing liquor, or just shy of 7 gallons total. This turned into 5 gallons of first runnings wort, plus the 3 gallons of sparge. I only have a 7.5gal pot so I began the 90 minute boil with the first runnings only, and once I had boiled off enough, I poured the rest of the wort into the pot.

I did however, have numerous boilovers. And I am starting to think that the reason I always hit low on OG is because I invariably have at least 2 boilovers every batch I make. Anyone want to speculate to this??

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

Holy crap looks like its time to bottle this one! LOL Look at the brew date 10/20/09!

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

I have began cracking open bottles of this stuff recently. I can say it is pretty good, not the best Stout I have ever had, but its up there. I think I may have inadvertently airated the beer in secondary when I added the vodka/vanilla bean and that has left a distinct taste on the beer. Although it could be the molasses I used as well, it leaves a distinctly sweet and dull taste at the finish of the beer. The saving grace may be that I undercarbonated the beer so the slight off flavors don't "pop" as much. However, my dad, who will be brutally honest with me when he samples my beers, has given it the thumbs up. (trust me, he has given the thumbs down before!) And he is not necessarily a Stout lover. So, that gives me some confidence that this is a good recipe.

Looks like its about time to brew this one again looking at the calendar lol! Perhaps I'll add only 1/2lb of Black Strap molasses this time. I'll report back next Christmas. Hopefully I'll be in my own house by then. Those that knew me here know what happened, wish me luck.