The Mystery Stout: come and participate!

[SipalayBrew]

Hello everyone,

I really need your advice on this one, guys!

A brewer friend of mine just gave me a few kilos of various grains, and I plan to use them for my next beer.
Ideally, I would like to brew a savourous stout, using mostly barley and choco wheat. ABV should be around 6%.

The (non-negotiable) basis of the beer will be:

• 3kg Joe White Traditional Ale
• 1kg Weyermann Carapils Malt
• 0.5kg Weyermann Roasted Barley Malt
• 75 to 100g of EK Goldings hops (you tell me)

Now, that's where the mystery begins!
In order to reach my intended ABV, I need to add roughly 1.5kg of grain to the bill.

I can pick whatever grain I want in the following list:

• Château Melano, available: 500g
• Château Biscuit, 800g
• Château Cara Ruby, 500g
• Weyermann Roasted Barley, 900g
• Château Wheat Chocolate, 700g
• Château Abbey, 100g
• Weyermann Pale Wheat, 500g
• Château Crystal, 500g

I can't add any other ingredients since I live in a remote place and parcels take 9 days to reach me.
Besides that, I'm open to any suggestions and ideas, let's be creative together!

Have a great week

 

[sibelman]

I'd use the chocolate, maybe 300g, to broaden the roastiness profile. Also some crystal. This won't much boost your ABV though. For that, I'd focus on the biscuit, Abbey, and wheat,

 

[SipalayBrew]

I'd use the chocolate, maybe 300g, to broaden the roastiness profile. Also some crystal. This won't much boost your ABV though. For that, I'd focus on the biscuit, Abbey, and wheat,

Thank you for your reply!

What do you think of the following?

OPTION A

• Pale Malt 51.7%
• Carapils 17.2%
• Pale Wheat 8.6%
• Roasted Barley 8.6%
• Chocolate Wheat 5.2%
• Biscuit 5.2%
• Abbey 1.7%
• Crystal 1.7%

OPTION B

• Pale Malt 55.1%
• Carapils 18.4%
• Pale Wheat 9.2%
• Roasted Barley 9.2%
• Biscuit 4.6%
• Abbey 1.8%
• Chocolate Wheat 1.8%

 

[sibelman]

Not sure exactly why, but option A appeals a bit more. The likely biggest difference, were they tasted side by side, would be the chocolate. So if you feel that should be more prominent, go with B. Likely very tasty either way. What yeast will you use?

 

[SipalayBrew]

Not sure exactly why, but option A appeals a bit more. The likely biggest difference, were they tasted side by side, would be the chocolate. So if you feel that should be more prominent, go with B. Likely very tasty either way. What yeast will you use?

Answer below

 

[SipalayBrew]

Not sure exactly why, but option A appeals a bit more. The likely biggest difference, were they tasted side by side, would be the chocolate. So if you feel that should be more prominent, go with B. Likely very tasty either way. What yeast will you use?

I'm afraid A is too much roasted malt (13.8%). What do you think?

Regarding yeast, I have to use Kveik since I'm living in a remote town in the Philippines and the hot weather doesn't allow me to use other types of yeast.

 

[sibelman]

I'm afraid A is too much roasted malt (13.8%)

I would expect the chocolate wheat and roasted barley to contribute distinctively. Combined, it's a fairly highly roastiness portion, but certainly not crazy. You could, of course, reduce these quantities somewhat, with no effect on ABV.

But you may be over-thinking this. This is by design a hodge-podge brew after all.

 

[SipalayBrew]

I would expect the chocolate wheat and roasted barley to contribute distinctively. Combined, it's a fairly highly roastiness portion, but certainly not crazy. You could, of course, reduce these quantities somewhat, with no effect on ABV.

But you may be over-thinking this. This is by design a hodge-podge brew after all.

I think I'll go for recipe B, for I'd like to keep some room to wheat and biscuit hints to express.

What do you think about diastasis power? Should I be ok?

I'll use 75g of EKG hops. Seems fair enough?

Thanks again for taking time to help me with this ^^

 

[sibelman]

I am guessing your modern pale malt will have all the enzymes you need. 75g EKG sounds lovely for a quaffable stout. Post tasting notes!