jameswatsonuk
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- Joined
- Oct 24, 2022
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
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Hi folks, new to the HBT but used it for casual reference over the years in my adventures..so hi
Ok so Iāve brewed a couple of batches to use up some old malt and hops thatāve been hanging around a little longer than they should (leftover ingredients bought during lockdown of 2020, so yeah, a bit old!)
Age doesnāt appear to have been a problem thoā¦.I donāt get to brew often (kids innit) so tend to go for bigger, 40-45l batches every 10 months of so.
This time Iāve done 2 back-to-back batches to use stuff up: A 40l batch of average (5%) US Pale and a 23l (roughly) of strong (and 10%) stout.
I fermented the pale in 2 separate buckets, pitching a sachet of Wilko yeast on each. Iāll be kegging that soon.
Now, for the stout I did a no-chill to a cube once boil was done. Once at around 20c I poured it straight onto the yeast cake (and trubb of course ) of one of the racked buckets from the previous batch -not done this before, but figured āwhy notā. It seems to be a good thing to ātrainā yeast up before hitting it with a higher gravity batch
The recipe for the āborderlineā imperial stout is:
Fermentables:
9kg Maris Otter
200g Black malt
200g Roasted barley
500g Chocolate malt
500g Brown Sugar
Hops:
20g Simcoe (60m)
25g East Kent Goldings (10m)
OG was 1.089
FG is now at 1.013 after 10 days - I think itās done. Fermentation was pretty volatile at peak!
I call it a āborderlineā IS as the FG is on the low side and it could probably be a little darker, I guess. I mashed overnight (reason:kids/time) starting at 65c on my well insulated cooler mash tun, so I think the lower temp has dried/lowered the body a little further than Iād have likedā¦.but more ABV at 9.8%, so not all bad.
Now. Iām planning to rack and age this stout for a few months before bottling and aging for a few more months. Initial samples have a strong alcohol hum (expected), promising coffee/mocha notes, but lacking a really discernible hop profile - given the limited freezer scraps I was using in the boil!
Iām thinking of adding a dry-hopping stage before racking off again to age.
I havenāt dry hopped a stout before, having previously only done so with IPAs or Pales, and usually playing safe with the usual US go-tos of Cascade, Centenial and the like. But I think this would be a good candidate for an experiment.
Iām thinking thereās a raisiny/dark fruit/spicy, berry note missing in there that is like to bring out somehow. I was thinking of maybe some more EKG, mixed with something elseā¦dunno what really thoā¦.or the quantities involved
How about some suggestions cheers. Any questions, just ask
Ok so Iāve brewed a couple of batches to use up some old malt and hops thatāve been hanging around a little longer than they should (leftover ingredients bought during lockdown of 2020, so yeah, a bit old!)
Age doesnāt appear to have been a problem thoā¦.I donāt get to brew often (kids innit) so tend to go for bigger, 40-45l batches every 10 months of so.
This time Iāve done 2 back-to-back batches to use stuff up: A 40l batch of average (5%) US Pale and a 23l (roughly) of strong (and 10%) stout.
I fermented the pale in 2 separate buckets, pitching a sachet of Wilko yeast on each. Iāll be kegging that soon.
Now, for the stout I did a no-chill to a cube once boil was done. Once at around 20c I poured it straight onto the yeast cake (and trubb of course ) of one of the racked buckets from the previous batch -not done this before, but figured āwhy notā. It seems to be a good thing to ātrainā yeast up before hitting it with a higher gravity batch
The recipe for the āborderlineā imperial stout is:
Fermentables:
9kg Maris Otter
200g Black malt
200g Roasted barley
500g Chocolate malt
500g Brown Sugar
Hops:
20g Simcoe (60m)
25g East Kent Goldings (10m)
OG was 1.089
FG is now at 1.013 after 10 days - I think itās done. Fermentation was pretty volatile at peak!
I call it a āborderlineā IS as the FG is on the low side and it could probably be a little darker, I guess. I mashed overnight (reason:kids/time) starting at 65c on my well insulated cooler mash tun, so I think the lower temp has dried/lowered the body a little further than Iād have likedā¦.but more ABV at 9.8%, so not all bad.
Now. Iām planning to rack and age this stout for a few months before bottling and aging for a few more months. Initial samples have a strong alcohol hum (expected), promising coffee/mocha notes, but lacking a really discernible hop profile - given the limited freezer scraps I was using in the boil!
Iām thinking of adding a dry-hopping stage before racking off again to age.
I havenāt dry hopped a stout before, having previously only done so with IPAs or Pales, and usually playing safe with the usual US go-tos of Cascade, Centenial and the like. But I think this would be a good candidate for an experiment.
Iām thinking thereās a raisiny/dark fruit/spicy, berry note missing in there that is like to bring out somehow. I was thinking of maybe some more EKG, mixed with something elseā¦dunno what really thoā¦.or the quantities involved
How about some suggestions cheers. Any questions, just ask