Trying to throw together a stout recipe

[Tubba]

I went shopping yesterday, and bought some stuff to make a Stout. This is what I was thinking about throwing together:

5 gallon (19 liters)
0.5 kg Crystal Malt 60L
0.5 kg Roasted Barley
3 kg dark LME
1 kg amber LME
30g Centennial 11% @ start
30g Admiral 13.75% @ 30 min

According to Beersmith the OG would be about 1.069, and it would ferment out at 6-7%.

Good idea? How long should I keep it before bottling? I'm thinking 14 days primary, and then maybe 1-2 months secondary? Should I have a longer secondary?

Thanks.

 

[davefleck]

You won't gain a ton from a long secondary. Keep it there until you need the fermenter

 

[Tubba]

How long would it benefit from aging? I won't have any bottles to put it in for a good while anyway.

 

[KevinW]

I have left beers in the primary for over 4 weeks and not had any problems. From what I have seen (and read) if you condition for a few extra weeks in the fermentor or in the bottle it really should not matter.

I have noticed with my stouts that if I condition in the bottle for 3-4 weeks after at least 3 weeks in the fermentor my beers come out pretty good. Some beers benefit with more conditioning like big beers and dark beers. It seems to me that is a matter of personal taste.

My recommendation is to keep it in the primary for at least 3 weeks then bottle. Condition in the bottle for another 3-6 weeks and you should be fine. A "secondary" is not really required for conditioning unless you are lagering and a stout is not a lager! The beer will "age" just fine in the bottle as long as you don't refrigerate it.

Of course this is my opinion!

Good luck

 

[Tubba]

All right. Then I'll put it in one of my carboys, stuff it away somewhere and forget about it until I have bottles free, or the money (and incitement) to buy more bottles.

Maybe I should invest in a bottle capper, those swing tops are pretty expensive, and you need almost 40 for a batch. Hm.

ETA: By the way, will a coffee bean grinder be fine for crushing crystal and roast? The coffee aroma it imposes isn't a problem in a Stout.

 

[beowulf]

I think the bean grinder would still grind it too fine for mashing. True, I wouldn't worry about the coffee aroma, but I think you're looking for a "crush" and not a "grind". In a pinch, though, it might be ok on the coarsest setting.

 

[Tubba]

True, I wouldn't worry about the coffee aroma, but I think you're looking for a "crush" and not a "grind". In a pinch, though, it might be ok on the coarsest setting.

Well, what's the worst thing that could happen? Extracting undesirable aromas?


ETA: Might a household mixer do the job?

 

[Tubba]

And I'm done! Here's how it was done (text is a bit pedagogic because I posted it in other, non-homebrew places too)

Allow me to introduce you to the brewing of Leonard's Grit (Leonards Uränne).

Specialty grains, crystal and roasted barley, crushed (or more like unevenly milled) with a household mixer. On top of the mixer, a pillowcase, the purpose of which will soon become clear.

My yeast starter (strictly speaking unneccesary in this case), some liquid malt extract (Unhopped) from Cooper's, and hops.

Pot, which is honestly a bit small for this, but good enough, and the smashed grains.

And the purpose of the pillow case becomes clear! This way, I can brew without the hassle of removing the grains or avoiding a burning of them.

And the grains are added and the brewing is on. The wire is a thermometer, to keep an eye on the temperature. If it gets into boiling territory, I'll get a lot of tannins in the wort, and the beer will taste like really cheap red sparkling wine. Yuck.

One of the few situations where "teabagging" has an entirely innocent meaning.

Ad hoc hops boiling bags, made from old kitchen towels.

After the barley tea is finished, the liquid malt extract is stirred in, and stirred well.

A little bit of the leftover malt extract is added to the yeast starter, to ensure that it's alive and well. It's alive and well, and quick to feast on the sugars.

First hops bag added, and the boiling begins. Notice the lack of headspace in the pot, this is partly from thoughtlessness, and partly due to my experience with malt extract which tells me that it hardly foams at all (unlike all-grain wort). It didn't.

 

[Tubba]

Second bag of hops is added, at 30 minutes into the boil. Boil proceeds for 30 more minutes, making a full hour.

The most inefficient way imaginable of cooling wort, short of leaving it on a hot stove.

About as much water as the volume of the wort itself (to make it 18-20 liters) is added to the carboy. Afterwards the wort is poured in. I opted against using my siphon because it's much harder to sanitize than a funnel.

Yeast, a slightly-too-large (but the best I've got) bung, and finally a fermentation lock with sanitizer in it is fitted. Now, we just need to wait! ... Wait until I have something to bottle it in, that is.

Gravity ended up at about 1.080. I used 1.5kg amber extract instead of just 1 kg.

 

[beowulf]

Good job! Very resourceful with what you have on hand. I hope it turns out well for you. As for crushing the grains, I was thinking of a mash before. Since the grains are steeped, the crush/grind probably isn't that critical. I'm sure it will come out fine. Best of luck!

 

[twelvelookslikex]

I like your carboy holder

 

[Tubba]

It's really old and I'm a bit afraid that it'll break, but yes, it is nice. Maybe I should have one of the few carpenters I know clone it for me...

 

[Tubba]

First bottle opened today, bottled at September 28.

Hm. I now understand why it is recommended to use pale malt and darken it with roasted barley and the like. It's not bad at all, but the dark malt taste is... Heavy. Quite heavy. Interested in seeing what it's like in another week.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n312/Hatma/DSCF0348.jpg

 

[wolfman_48442]

The crystal malt can also lend a 'heaviness' to the mouth feel as well since it contributes unfermentable sugars. If you are going for a dry stout (Guinness, etc.) try leaving out the crystal.

I'm really impressed with what you've accomplished with your setup! Cheers!

 

[Tubba]

Yeah, I used a good amount of extra crystal malt without having a good idea of what it contributes, which wasn't that smart. Still, it's a good brew.

 

[Tubba]

Opened the second bottle today - 13 days in room temp from bottling, 4 in fridge, I think.

Hmm. I had a bottle bomb, too. This one had much weaker carbonation, and wasn't nearly as heavy as the other one. I also diluted the brew with 2-3l of water (from 13-14l to 16l) as I added the sugar, but I stirred very well, though carefully. I think I might still have had a poor mixing.

This bottle was much more pleasant than the other one, anyway. Around what I would expect if I went into a good beer pub and asked for a heavy stout.


It tastes a lot like Julmust (lit Yule Must), a Swedish traditional seasonal beverage, which was originally made as a sweetened non-alcoholic dark beer (I think it's made with malt sugars and flavoured with hops). Think of Julmust as Coke mixed with Guinness, except tasty. I'm pleased.