Course correction on a Sout

[hendenburg2]

So I started with the following recipe:

7 lbs 2 row
1 lb Flaked barley
1 lb Roasted barley
0.25 lb Caramel Steam barley
2 ounces EKG hops
WLP007

I found a bunch of recipes online for stouts that have a grain bill that can basically be summed up as 6-7 lbs 2-row, 1 lb flaked barley, 1 lb roasted barley, so I figured I'd be fine.

Here's the problem: According to BeerSmith and the color of the mash, it'll end up being a nice solid brown color. Definitely not a stout. I'm doing this BIAB style, all grains in for 60 minutes and mashed in 3.5 gallons at 155F.

At this point, I know it's not going to hit my target color in the fermenter.

What are my options to get this into stout territory? I suppose I could lower the starting fermentation volume and stain it using chocolate or carafa malt, but I'm not sure what that would do to the flavor. Another complication is that my local home brew store is already closed, and won't be open again until Wednesday (thank you, stupid ****ing President's Day). Personally, I'd PREFER not ditching the mash and starting over in a few days, but it has to be a stout (St. Patrick's Day).

ETA: This is still a batch in progress. I won't be pitching the yeast until about 6 PM PST, 2/18/18

 

[stevedasleeve]

That’s a stout. Unless your roasted barley is way light. Brewed countless 5 gallon batches with 1 lb max of roasted barley / usually 12 Oz + 4 Oz chocolate + base malt + body adjunct. All plenty dark and plenty good.

 

[hendenburg2]

That’s a stout. Unless your roasted barley is way light. Brewed countless 5 gallon batches with 1 lb max of roasted barley / usually 12 Oz + 4 Oz chocolate + base malt + body adjunct. All plenty dark and plenty good.

BrewSmith puts the color at 24 SRM.

Bear in mind, this is still in the boil phase

 

[hendenburg2]

That’s a stout. Unless your roasted barley is way light. Brewed countless 5 gallon batches with 1 lb max of roasted barley / usually 12 Oz + 4 Oz chocolate + base malt + body adjunct. All plenty dark and plenty good.

Here's the boil color...

 

[fastengine]

Assuming a 5 gallon batch I got 39 SRM on Tastybrew's calculator. Well within stout range.

 

[Wyobrew22]

If you are super worried about it not looking dark enough you could do a small steep on the side with a little of that chocolate malt and then add the tea to the boil to darken it

 

[UncleAvis]

It also depends on the brand of roasted barley. Briess roasted barley is only 300L. To get the nice stout color it sounds like you want look for 500L. Not sure why briess does that, they should name it something else because it disappoints a lot of people. I brewed a similar stout today with Simpson's and I think it was 480L. There is a discussion on this within the "Ode to Arthur" recipe thread if you want more detail.

 

[hendenburg2]

If you are super worried about it not looking dark enough you could do a small steep on the side with a little of that chocolate malt and then add the tea to the boil to darken it

Nah, wouldn't have worked, the brew shop was already closed by the time I started, and won't be open again till tomorrow.

It also depends on the brand of roasted barley. Briess roasted barley is only 300L. To get the nice stout color it sounds like you want look for 500L. Not sure why briess does that, they should name it something else because it disappoints a lot of people. I brewed a similar stout today with Simpson's and I think it was 480L. There is a discussion on this within the "Ode to Arthur" recipe thread if you want more detail.

Didn't get the brand, but you're right, I suspect that's why. Guess I never assumed that different roasted barleys would have different Lovibond ratings

 

[Comfort_Zone]

If you're worried, steep some Blackprinz or Midnight wheat to adjust the color.