Chocolate Stout

[Gil Breau]

Made two beers today, first was a new batch of the chocolate stout I brought with me to the meeting this weekend.




Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L):           18.9
Total Grain (kg):         4.950
Total Hops (oz):          1.25
Original Gravity (OG):    1.063  (°P): 15.4
Final Gravity (FG):       1.016  (°P): 4.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  6.19 %
Colour (SRM):             50.0   (EBC): 98.5
Bitterness (IBU):         32.4   (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 80
Boil Time (Minutes):      60

Grain Bill
----------------
3.250 kg Maris Otter Malt (65.66%)
0.600 kg Caramunich III (12.12%)
0.600 kg Chocolate (12.12%)
0.250 kg Flaked Barley (5.05%)
0.250 kg Roasted Barley (5.05%)

Hop Bill
----------------
0.75 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.8% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0 oz/L)
0.50 oz Fuggles Pellet (5% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0 oz/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
125ml Cocoa Powder @ 10 Days (Secondary)
4.00 oz Coffee @ 10 Days (Secondary)
1. Vanilla Bean @ 10 Days (Secondary)

Single step Infusion at 151°F for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 68°F with


Recipe Generated with BrewMate

[Gil Breau]

Irish Ale yeast didn't take hold. 36hrs, no fermentation. Pitched some S04, hope its not ruined. May have to be re-brewed this weekend or something ><

[Richard]

RDWHAHB - The irish yeast might just still be in lag phase, I've had it take 2 days before (a full 48) if the initial culture was a bit on the low side. Regardless the 04 is probably cool for this recipe - a mix might be interesting

[Gil Breau]

Well if it takes off well I'll wash it and keep it, just in case it tastes awesome

But now i need to order new Irish for a red I was planning...

[Richard]

Unfortunately mixes of yeast aren't suitable for washing as the ratio of the two strains will change depending on their efficacy in a particular environment - what might be effectively pitching half/half this time would be 1/3-2/3 or something by the next. (I read that in "Yeast"). My guess would be that over time the culture would tend towards S-04.

[Gil Breau]

Bah

Good to know then

[Gil Breau]

Came home to it foaming away anyway. Not sure which activated but at least its OK.

[Gil Breau]

Fack I totally read over that...

[Gil Breau]

It'll be fine if you add it to the bottling water.

Just let it age in the bottles for a few weeks before trying it, otherwise the cocoa won't blend in the flavor.

[Richard]

It's not something I've tried, so not really sure of the quantities involved. Methinks Gil is the expert on this one

[Kyle]

I like stout ALOT and thought I would really enjoy milk-stout, and imperial stout, but, ah, no. A good idea to try out several commerical micro that rate well on BA or MB offerings before brewing 5 gallons of something. I did in both cases, good thing too.

[Richard]

I was pondering a low-end (1.080 OG-ish) imperial stout, which would make it about 7-8%, using Cinnamon as an addition instead of that godawful star anise. I reckon it would work...

... so much that I'm planning to do that next once I free up a carboy. I figure 4 full carboys is enough

[Kyle]

four full carboys of ale is enough to keep me in beer and be generous to others, but once I start really getting into meads, wines, lagers and other long-aging stuff, I may "need" to up the pipeline.

[Richard]

My issue at the moment is the mead absorbing two carboys. Other problem is my "temperature control solution" (i.e. putting them all in front of an air conditioner - which I've measured keeps them at 16-19C even in the current heat) is at full capacity. Currently working on getting the temperature controller I bought working to make more carboys feasible.

[Kyle]

yeah, when I have more space, I'll have an ale / red wine / mead serving /primary lagering keezer, and then a colder, seperate keezer for secondary lagering / serving lagers, white wine.