Hey all, I'm pretty new to home brewing (bottling my first batch this weekend) and before the end of the winter I'd like to brew a big tasty stout before it gets too warm outside. I'd like to post the proposed recipe and I would like some feedback on what I could do differently, tweak the ingredients, major overhaul...etc. I am brewing a partial extract brew with a full boil and starting with 6-6.5 gallons of water. My goal is to end up with a full bodied stout, roasty from the malts but not too overpowered by the chocolate, coffee and vanilla beans I plan on using. I don't want a super chocolate, coffee or vanilla bomb, ideally I'd like the flavors to be balanced. I would also like it to be at least medium bodied, I like my big stouts to be a little viscous and heavy. Any feedback would be appreciated. The recipe is as follows: Chocolate, vanilla, coffee stout- Est. O.G. :1.090 Est. F.G. : 1.023 Est. abv: 8.9% Est. color: 46.1 srm calc. ibu: 54.2 7 lbs amber DME 2 lbs 2-row 1.5 lbs flaked oats 0.82 lbs crystal 60L 0.75 lbs chocolate malt (us) 0.75 lbs roasted barley 3.00 oz willamette @60min 1.00 oz willamette @30min 1.00 oz willamette @20min 6 oz fat free cocoa powder (last 10 minutes of boil) 2 vanilla beans in secondary 2-4 oz coffee in secondary (2) packages wyeast 1098 (english ale yeast) I plan to mash the wart @152 degrees for 60 minutes and then sparge @ 165. Full boil as usual and add the cocoa at the last ten minutes of the boil. I plan to leave this in the primary for 21 days then rack to secondary then add the coffee and the vanilla beans for 10 days. Bottle then condition. Okay so thats pretty much it, give or take. It's going to be about 8.9% give or take so do I need to bump up the ibus since it's imperial? Am I using enough coffee, vanilla and cocoa to add the flavors without being to overpowering? Enough yeast? Different hops? Any feedback would be great. Thanks in advance!!
2 smack packs into 5 gallons of 1.090 wort without a starter = big underpitch. You need around 300 billion cells. Make a starter. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
where to start 1 - This is too difficult of a beer to be doing with your second batch 1a - Too many flavors to balance, chocolate/vanilla/coffee/oats 1b - High OG = issues with fermentation/pitch temps 1c - correct yeast pitch rate as pointed out by od_sf 1d - concentrated boil? If so you'll never get enough IBU's in it2 - Dont use amber DME, always use light DME/LME 3 - Not enough roasted grains, need to likely double them all 4 - Odd hopping schedule - 30min is waste of IBU/flavor/aroma qualities, 20min addition with chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and oats doesnt sound good to me I suggest you do a couple smaller beers first and get control of things like fermentation temperature, try making a yeast starter, and invest in a kettle capable of full boils (7gal) if you dont already have one. If something goes wrong, which is fairly likely, this will be an expensive mistake. I would suggest dropping the gravity to 1060ish and try that first (maybe sans choco/vanilla/coffee/or oats - pick 1, or 2 at most)
The above comments and advice are very reasonable. Ryane's advice to brew something 1.060-ish especially. This way your beer will be ready By the end of this winter, not late spring, which is when you're bottled 1.090 stout would have hit its stride most likely. I will say though, you're process and attention to detail all seem to be very sound. And I bet you just made VikMan's day by telling us exactly what you want your beer to taste like
You can make a tasty American stout that will fit your bill but will also conform a bit more to your skill level (and the advice so far). I'd recommend that. As for the comments: Starter is a must. The type of extract doesn't matter much to me, but obviously you will need to make some adjustments. I have no problem with your choice of amber extract for this beer, or the overall context of the recipe you've chosen. I do suggest reducing the amount however, to conform with the adjustments suggested in this thread. You need more roasted malts. Doubling good for 1.090, you could get away with a bit less for 1.060, but you need more than what you've listed. 1.060 >>>> 1.090. Chance of success increases ten-fold if you do a 1.060 OG stout verses the 1.090 one. Its a bit busy, but I don't think your goals are unreachable flavor wise. The roasted malts will give you coffee, chocolate, burnt, and roasted flavors. I would skip the coffee or you'll have a coffee stout. I would skip the chocolate or you'll have a chocolate stout. The vanilla beans, I'm neutral, but sampling with a sanitized wine thief and doing the vanilla to taste is probably good. Or just use one bean and don't leave it in there too long. I like some combination of black patent malt, chocolate malt, and/or roasted barley in my American stouts. That's where the heart and soul of a stout lie. The crystal malt is fine. Willamette is great for stouts, but the way you've chosen to use it will not balance out even a mid ABV American stout, let alone an imperial stout. Use a clean, higher AA hop at 60 minutes to get your IBUs where you need them. Stouts need bitterness, I doubt willamette could really bitter a stout well. Use willamette for this beer, but use them late in the boil, and generously, but don't waste them at 60 or 30 minutes. I would add 3-5 oz willamette at 10 minutes or less, depending how much hop character you want. Willamette are tasty hops, but they are subtle, much weaker than you might think, and a little bit isn't enough, especially for a stout. Even a lot will not overpower, but could really make for a very tasty stout, with much complexity.
Here is a good recipe for a smaller more manageable stout. Its a partial mash version of Jamil's Oatmeal Stout. I've brewed it a bunch of times; its my go-to stout. Also the first time I did this was I'm pretty sure my 3rd batch ever, so it's doable for a beginner. I'm sure you can throw some cocoa/coffee/vanilla in with decent results but its definitely good as is. OG 1.054-1.063 (depending on your efficiency) partial mash: 1 lb 2-row .75 lbs Chocolate Malt .75 lbs Victory .5 lbs Crystal 80 .5 lbs Roasted Barley 1 lbs Flaked Oats then 4.5 lbs Light DME 2 oz East Kent Goldings @60 min starter of WLP002 English Ale
Okay everyone thanks for all the helpful feedback. I wasn't planning on doing this for my second batch but going through a few more batches and trying this with at least 4-5 more brews under my belt. But since I'll listen to wisdom, experience and common sense maybe I'll take the "imperial" out of the equation and dial this one back. I'd rather have a better shot at having the beer turn out well than waste my time and money trying to shoot the moon as a beginner. I suppose I have too big of aspersions for a beginner, maybe a big imperial stout will have to wait until next winter. Thanks again for the feedback everyone.
Thanks for the honest answer, this is likely to much to handle. I wasn't planning on doing this for my second batch, but not that it makes a difference because I still wouldn't have that many under my belt before the end winter. I decided to invest in a 7.5 gallon kettle from start so by brews are all going to be full boils. In any event I'm likely going to try a different stout, maybe the one suggested below and shoot for an o.g. of 1.070 at the most and only use one specialty addition (coffee, vanilla...etc). Thanks again.
Thanks for the advice, and I've been trying to pay close attention to the little details of brewing since I was doing research on brewing before I even bought my equipment. I've learned from these forums that when it comes to homebrewing the more knowledge and attention to detail the better things end up. Cheers.
