Turkey Baster Stout- First brew success...?

[Sasquatchula]

Named after my, uh...proprietary racking method. This is the report so far.

I chilled and popped a 12oz bottle this evening, and while I'm not ga-ga for the result, it is very close to what I was shooting for. This is what went in:

1 lb crystal 120L
5 oz black roasted barley
2 oz black patent malt
5 lbs Dark DME
2 oz cluster hop pellet 1.25 at boil, .75 at 45min
1 pkg Nottingham Ale yeast

Primary 10 days
secondary 7days
Bottle 14 days(so far)
OG-1.05
FG-1.011

For a 5 gallon batch, that ended up just a hair over 4 at bottling. I compensated in priming by going with 2.2 oz corn sugar.

My notes as I drank:Very lightly carbed, little head, dissipates quick. Thin consistency. Very much like sheaf, w/out the carbonation. Strong black roast up front. Little in between. Bitter finish. Has a "sharp" profile, not rounded. Maybe another week in bottle will help soften.

I think I will try this again, as it has potential, but I'd use less black roast or just use roasted. The original recipe called for 6 lbs LME, but I decided to go dry and had read(who knows where)to use less. Next time I might go all 6. Maybe add maltodextrin and a little lactose to round it out.

Anyway, thanks for all the tips and help, I hoist one to you all! And I will try to update in another week if it's matured any.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

That seems like an awful lot of crystal malt, especially one that dark, even for a sweet stout.

But I guess that leads to the obvious question: What were you really going for? dry? sweet? thick? thin? sharply roasty? smooth?

 

[HOOTER]

How long since your bottled it? And also, I'm curious about this turkey baster method you speak of.

 

[Sasquatchula]

That seems like an awful lot of crystal malt, especially one that dark, even for a sweet stout.

But I guess that leads to the obvious question: What were you really going for? dry? sweet? thick? thin? sharply roasty? smooth?

Original recipe called it plain ol' "Irish Stout" -In my mind I equate that as dry. Where this falls short is that I altered a recipe(BRB instead of RB & DME instead of LME) with a hazy, undefined goal. I was shooting for dry, with a big roast flavor. And I certainly got that. Now that it's here, I see some of the details that went by on this batch. I definitely want more body, a smoother mouth-feel. What is missing is fullness. it has BIG flavor up front and drops off quickly to bitterness of black roast and hop. Nothing really comes through in between. Simply, it lacks depth. It's good, but I think it can be worlds better. I'm actually looking forward to tinkering with the recipe, although I could just try again and stick to the recipe. Might be smart to start doing one by the book

And the turkey baster debacle is outlined in another thread, in short, my siphon crapped out and in a panic I basted some out of primary! Seems to have had little ill effect.

 

[Sasquatchula]

Update:Holy crap! What a difference a week makes. I chilled a second 12oz and had it tonight, it is VERY different. The kick in the teeth bite has all but vanished, carbonation is still lower than I like, but is uniform. Meaning the beer doesn't seem "flat" just lightly carbed. It's still a little thin, but I wouldn't call it watery, and it has a much better flavor profile. It's not complex, but it is softer and smoother and much sweeter. It's pretty damned good, actually! Now I wish I'd stuck a couple in the fridge.