Stout recipe thoughts

[TravelingLight]

I've only done extract up to this point. I'm getting ready to start moving on to AG. I got this stout recipe from a buddy who's been brewing for years and has been helping me along the way. This is his base stout recipe and I'm thinking of doing this pretty soon.

Two things on this beer...
1. I will absolutely be adding coffee to this. I haven't decided yet how I want to do it, but my SO brought back some fantastic coffee from Brazil recently that she wants me to throw in a stout.
2. I am also thinking about after primary splitting this batch in half and kegging/bottling one half as the coffee stout, and oaking and bourbon-ing the other half.

Here's the recipe, wanted to throw it out there and see if anyone would tweak it and how so. Thanks.

11# 2-Row
1# Munich
1# Flaked Oats
1# Roasted Barley
1# White Wheat
1.5# Chocolate Malt

1 oz. Centennial @90
2 oz. East Kent Goldings @5

English Ale Yeast (any suggestions on this? I've primarily used 05 on past beers so I don't have much experience with anything else)

 

[rmyurick]

Have you thought about water and pH? Stouts can be tricky for all-grain brewing due to the quantity of roasted malt which drives down the pH.

 

[TravelingLight]

Have you thought about water and pH? Stouts can be tricky for all-grain brewing due to the quantity of roasted malt which drives down the pH.

Good question. I have not. However, the guy I got this recipe from has really been nerding out on his water lately and finally got a report from the city. I'll likely be brewing this with him at his house, and he has all his water adjuncts available. And I've got a ph meter.

 

[jmitchell3]

I've only done extract up to this point. I'm getting ready to start moving on to AG. I got this stout recipe from a buddy who's been brewing for years and has been helping me along the way. This is his base stout recipe and I'm thinking of doing this pretty soon.

Two things on this beer...
1. I will absolutely be adding coffee to this. I haven't decided yet how I want to do it, but my SO brought back some fantastic coffee from Brazil recently that she wants me to throw in a stout.
2. I am also thinking about after primary splitting this batch in half and kegging/bottling one half as the coffee stout, and oaking and bourbon-ing the other half.

Here's the recipe, wanted to throw it out there and see if anyone would tweak it and how so. Thanks.

11# 2-Row
1# Munich
1# Flaked Oats
1# Roasted Barley
1# White Wheat
1.5# Chocolate Malt

1 oz. Centennial @90
2 oz. East Kent Goldings @5

English Ale Yeast (any suggestions on this? I've primarily used 05 on past beers so I don't have much experience with anything else)

First of all, congrats on moving to AG brewing! Its awesome and fun and such.

Overall not a bad recipe, what follows are mostly my opinion

I like the munich addition. Should add some complexity in the absence of crystal malts.

The 2.5lb of roast malt seems a bit high (1.5 choc + 1 roast barley). I would try to keep the roast under 10% of total grist if possible. I've done a stout with 12% roast before and it was a bit harsh, but mellowed over a few months. An alternative is to add debittered black or carafa special II or III to add color and roast character without some of the harsher notes if you need to exceed the 10% figure.

Centennial is not a bad bittering hop, but I tend to prefer going with magnum or horizon for a smoother bittering.

SO4 or WLP-002 (english ale) will work fine. I've recently begun experimenting with other british strains from white labs. Brewed a Foreign Extra Stout with British Ale (005) that turned out quite well and has been my favorite stout batch to date. I've heard Burton Ale is very nice for Oatmeal Stouts.

Keep us posted! Happy Brewing!

 

[TravelingLight]

First of all, congrats on moving to AG brewing! Its awesome and fun and such.

Overall not a bad recipe, what follows are mostly my opinion

I like the munich addition. Should add some complexity in the absence of crystal malts.

The 2.5lb of roast malt seems a bit high (1.5 choc + 1 roast barley). I would try to keep the roast under 10% of total grist if possible. I've done a stout with 12% roast before and it was a bit harsh, but mellowed over a few months. An alternative is to add debittered black or carafa special II or III to add color and roast character without some of the harsher notes if you need to exceed the 10% figure.

Centennial is not a bad bittering hop, but I tend to prefer going with magnum or horizon for a smoother bittering.

SO4 or WLP-002 (english ale) will work fine. I've recently begun experimenting with other british strains from white labs. Brewed a Foreign Extra Stout with British Ale (005) that turned out quite well and has been my favorite stout batch to date. I've heard Burton Ale is very nice for Oatmeal Stouts.

Keep us posted! Happy Brewing!

Thanks for the excellent advice. I like the thoughts of cutting down on the roast malts for a smoother delivery. I'll play with that in my calculator and see what it looks like.

I'm also interested in bumping up the ABV on this beer. I think it's around the upper 7s now, but I'd be open to bumping it up to 9-10.