Stout #1

Stout #1">Stout #1

Off to visit the Outlaws for a week tomorrow, so it’s a perfect time to set up a brew at home as the fermenter wont be anyone’s way for the coming week. (Space is at a premium at Chez Trenchfoot which is why most of the brewing takes place at the Lab).

Fendog is also away at the moment so I’m flying solo for this one – my first adventure in speciality grain. First problem – something big enough to do a 5 gallon boil. Thankfully I remember the old church urn which is no longer used as the tap unit has perished. With a couple of flanged corks from my wine-making supplies and some brute force, I manage to block the tap. Bingo – the perfect thing to use for a boiler (in fact lots of homebrewers use these Burco boilers).

I used the recipe below for an Imperial Stout which I found on Beersmith. Of course, the SRM of the grain and the alpha acidity of the hops don’t exactly match those on the original recipe. I’m not sure if I should have done some maths and changed amounts to achieve the same colour and bitterness. I guess its hard to tell if you’ve never tasted it. I will just have to see what this is like and go from there if I want to perfect the recipe.

Can’t wait to see how this turns out!

• Batch size:         18.83L
• Boil volume:       18.83L
• Boil time: 60min

 Ingredients: 

• 0.8kg     Muntons Light Dry Malt Extract
• 1.8kg     Muntons Light Liquid Extract
• 0.25kg   Crystal Malt
• 0.25kg   Roasted Barley
• 0.14kg   Flaked Barley
• 28g        Target hops (60 mins)
• 14g        East Kent Goldings hops (60 mins)
• 1 pkt      Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004)