belgian stout help

Belgian stouts are a fine line to walk. Belgian beers tend to be pretty dry, which can lead to a sharp/unbalanced roasted character in a stout. Smart to use chocolate rye, which is very smooth, but I might also swap out the roasted barley for some carafa II special, which is dehusked and missing the charcoal character of really dark roasted barley (on the other hand something like Briess ~300L roasted barley would be a fine choice, although you’d need more to get it stout-black).

One pound of Munich malt won’t add much character, I’d probably split the base between it and the pale. Otherwise the malt bill looks about right to me; about a pound of oats are a good idea too. Mash in the 150s to prevent it from drying out too much. Candi sugar would be tempting, but if you add it I would boost the mash temp into the mid-high 150s.

As for yeast, Wyeast actually released a “Belgian Stout” strain a while back, but it isn’t currently available. 3787/530 is my go too, not too fruity (which would be a mistake in a stout for my tastes), ferments well, especially at slightly elevated temperatures, and produces enough spiciness to compete in a complex beer.

Hope that helps, good luck!

 

I posted the below is a related thread:

“If you are looking for a lot of Belgian ‘character’ then I also recommend 3787 (fermented warm like 72°F).

Permit me to tell you a story. I made a Belgian Porter last fall. I used Wyeast 1762 (Abbey II, the Rochefort strain) and I purposefully fermented warm (73-74°F) to encourage the formation of esters and phenols. I also used a ‘boatload’ of Belgian specialty malts (Belgian Aromatic, Belgian Biscuit, and Special B). The beer turned out good but at the end of the day it just tasted like a Porter. I was unable to discern any flavors from the Belgian yeast or from the Belgian Specialty Malts. The dark malt (Simpsons Chocolate) flavors dominated.

Good luck with your Belgian Stout!”

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/fermenting-stout-with-belgian-strain.14692/#post-177083

 

Good call on the Midnight wheat. That's a fantastic malt for good color/texture without harsh roast flavors. That and carafa spezial are what I would be thinking here, though chocolate rye is probably a good choice as well. Might also want to try out a wit yeast. I really like Allagash Black, and their house yeast is a wit yeast. If you're going to use oats, I would go with a couple pounds if you want them to be noticeable. But honestly, in a beer like this, it might be a bit much to try to get something from oats as well.

 

Well, I bittered with 2 ounces of Spalt hops for a bittering of 6.4 AAUs.

Cheers!