Stout Questions

[burritosandbeer]

I recently brewed a stout from a recepie I got online and am a little concerned on how it may turn out, can i get some opinions?

the recepie is as follows

8lb 12oz dark LME
1lb roast barley
1lb wheat malt
.5lb black patent
.5lb chocolate malt
4 oz bullion hops (30 min)
1 oz cascade hops (15 min)
white labs Irish ale yeast

kinda afraid it may be too bitter, but not sure, a friend of a friend of a friend said he loved it, but who knows.... :-)

any thoughts?

[S.F.B.]

IMO, that is going to be way too bitter. I like bitter stouts but the #'s on this one are way up there. It comes out to some where in the 91 IBU range. I think if you went with an ounce and a half of Bullion for 60 and another ounce for 30 and an ouce of Cascade for 15 you would come in better. It is still going to be more bitter than style calls for but not too bad..

Just my $.02

[fretlessman71]

When you have a few bottles, send a few around and we'll tell you what we think.... ;)

[ray m]

I agree with S.F.B.......it doesn't sound like you're brewing an imperial stout, since the malt extract amount is 8.75 lbs. That's one hell of a lot of Bullion (4 oz.....Jeeeeezzzusss!!)---but I noticed that you'll have them in there for 30 min. of the boil. You won't get good hop bitterness that way.

I would try S.F.B.'s suggestion for the hop additons/amounts. If you don't want a real hoppy/bitter stout, you may want want to try just 1 oz. Bullion for 60 min., then 1/2 oz. at 30, or even 20 min. Just my .02!!:)

[brewmonkey]

4oz of Bullion at 30 minutes is going to be easily into the 70 IBU range if I am not mistaken (possible as I am only on cup#1 of coffee this morning).

[Beerconnoisseur]

The exact IBU value will depend on the alcohol content, and amount of unfermented carbohydrate. This from All About Beer, Vol. 24, No. 6 p.22 On the other hand, the article does go on to say that perceived bitterness vs. measureable bitterness may not correspond exactly.

That said, be prepared for an IPA-Stout... :)

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by Beerconnoisseur
The exact IBU value will depend on the alcohol content, and amount of unfermented carbohydrate. This from All About Beer, Vol. 24, No. 6 p.22 On the other hand, the article does go on to say that perceived bitterness vs. measureable bitterness may not correspond exactly.

That said, be prepared for an IPA-Stout... :)

Guess I need to pick that issue up. I have never heard of anything close to the fact that alcohol content and unfermented carbs play a roll in IBU's. What I have heard (and believe) is that starting gravity and boil time will play a roll in IBU's. The higher the gravity the more hops you will need to achieve the same bitterness as at a lower gravity. Generally you should figure in the higher gravity factor once you hit the 1.056 mark. Ray Daniels covers this pretty well in "Designing Great Beers".


Percieved bitterness and measureable bitterness I will buy. That plays into the gravity and residual sugars left behind. Obviously if you hop something light like a hefe with 60 IBU's it is going to be much more bitter then if you put those same IBU's in an Barleywine.

[Beerconnoisseur]

The article is titled: "For the Love of Hops: The Birth of a New Style," by Stan Hieronymus. The specific quote comes from Mitch Steele, an assistant brew master at Anheuser-Busch. It's about the brewing of a Double (aka Imperial) IPA, and the sampling thereof at the GABF in Denver.

Although I'm with you; I seem to get my homebrews to have more malt flavor by changing the times (with 50 minute bittering hop additions instead of at 60 minutes).

[burritosandbeer]

Well, I had actually already started brewing it, bottled it last night. I took a few special steps cause i thought it would be pretty bitter. i cold conditioned it in the secondary for two weeks in the process.

took some "quality control" samples of it while bottling and its thick, i mean pour it on pancakes thick...

good malty flavor, pretty chocolaty, with hints of a something i couldnt quite pin down. VERY good from the pre bottle conditioned sample.

letting it carbonate, and i will post as soon as i crack the first bottle (probably friday cause i am impatient).

either way i have a nice irish red that should be bottling before friday, that should be outstanding :-)

god i love this hobby :-)

[burritosandbeer]

Well, i had to do it, tasted it after sitting in bottles for only about 4 days, not carbonated yet (of course) but so far DANG tastey, not too bitter, not to sweet, very very heavy and so black it sucks the light out of the room....

i suggest that recepie to anyone who wants a good meal beer, as in two of these and your full...

cant quite peg down the flavors, going to have to have another tonight (for the team ya know)

thanks for the opinions, if anyone is in the west michigan area and wants to give it a shot, lemme know

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by Beerconnoisseur
The article is titled: "For the Love of Hops: The Birth of a New Style," by Stan Hieronymus. The specific quote comes from Mitch Steele, an assistant brew master at Anheuser-Busch. It's about the brewing of a Double (aka Imperial) IPA, and the sampling thereof at the GABF in Denver.

Although I'm with you; I seem to get my homebrews to have more malt flavor by changing the times (with 50 minute bittering hop additions instead of at 60 minutes).

I am familiar with both Mitch and Stan, I will sheck into that article.

[burritosandbeer]

for anyone interested in a great heavy/meal stout, i strongly suggest that recepie... I LOVE this beer now, maybe cut down to 3oz of the bullion, but other than that its outstanding!!!

just fyi