Third Brew - Dark Star Licorice Stout, timing, ABV

[Dheovan]

Hello! This is my first post, so I apologize if I've not posted in the right spot or otherwise have screwed something up.

I've brewed two batches, both of which seemed to go pretty well. However, I'm very much still a beginner and still learning. For my third batch, I was thinking about doing the dark star licorice stout out of Sam Calagione's "Extreme Brewing." I can follow the instructions easily enough, but I do have a couple questions.

The recipe has the OC at 1.084, and the FG at 1.020. It calls for only around 10 days in the fermenter before packaging, and then another 10 days until it's ready to drink. I could be totally wrong, but that seems really fast to me to end with an abv of ~8%. Am I crazy? If I'm reading the recipe correctly, it's saying you should be able to drink this (relatively) strong beer only 20 days after brew day.

Second question. The recipe calls for letting the post-boil wort sit for 10 minutes before cooling it. I was under the impression that you wanted to cool the wort as quickly as possible, so what is the point in letting it sit for 10 minutes?

My last batch came out with a lower OG than expected (something like 1.065 rather than 1.075), even though I used a kit and followed the instructions to the letter. Is there a way to ensure a higher OG?

The stout will be the first non-kit batch I've done, even though it's still an extract recipe. The instructions have me adding shredded licorice root as well as various hops. Though it doesn't explicitly say, I presume these are to be added in bags and removed before racking, correct?

I apologize if my questions are painfully obvious!

 

[metanoia]

Not sure about the recipe, don't have the book, but that does sound too quick. Always check for a consistent FG before bottling- you may very well hit FG in 10 days, but check to be safe, and an extra two to three weeks on the yeast cake will do more good than harm for your beer. And while 10 days in the bottle might be good carbonation-wise, letting it age a few more weeks will only help to improve your beer as well. For the additions, just toss them into the fermenter after primary is finished, the rack to the bottling bucket after however many days you're supposed to let those ingredients sit.

As for your OG, don't try to use a hydrometer for that. Extract is very notorious for not mixing easily with water, and can easily result in too-low or too-high OG numbers. Since the extract is already made with a specific OG from the company, calculate it with those numbers to be more accurate.

Cheers!

 

[ballsy]

a lot of beers are "ready to drink" 20 days after brewing them but it doesn't mean they will taste good hahaha. absolutely no way a stout is drinkable after 20 days. a light 4% blonde or session pale ale yes....a dark 8% stout, no no no. Plan on leaving that in primary at least 3 wks before bottling/kegging then wait about 8 more weeks after that and you will have a drinkable stout.
You can bag the dry hops/licorice root or just toss it in (I always just toss in).

 

[Calder]

You can drink almost any beer at 3 weeks, but that doesn't mean it will be at it's best. With dark beers there is a lot of fine roast grain particles in the beer that take weeks to drop. If they are still in suspension they will give a harsh roast flavor to the beer, but if left to drop, will be a lot smoother.

Do the beer, but take more time with it. let the grains drop out in the fermenter rather than the bottle, as they can get disturbed in the bottle.

As matanoia said, many times with extract brews, the extract doesn't get fully mixed and you can get incorrect readings.

 

[Dheovan]

All wonderful advice! Thank you.

 

[ballsy]

You can drink almost any beer at 3 weeks, but that doesn't mean it will be at it's best. With dark beers there is a lot of fine roast grain particles in the beer that take weeks to drop. If they are still in suspension they will give a harsh roast flavor to the beer, but if left to drop, will be a lot smoother.

Do the beer, but take more time with it. let the grains drop out in the fermenter rather than the bottle, as they can get disturbed in the bottle.

As matanoia said, many times with extract brews, the extract doesn't get fully mixed and you can get incorrect readings.

I don't know if I agree with your argument of "particles floating" being what prevents a stout from being drinkable sooner.....if that was the case then heavy cold crashing and gelatin fining would allow them to be great after minimal time. Much as I wish that would be it just isn't the case....there's more to it that that.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

+1 on leaving it in the fermenter for at least 3 weeks. As for the 10 min rest before cooling, I suspect there may be a flame out or late addition in the recipe (maybe the licorice?) that they want to let steep for a few minutes at boiling temp before cooling. Don't sweat it. A ten min delay in cooling won't mess you up. There is actually a significant contingent of brewers that do "no chill" brewing and let the wort sit overnight to cool before pitching.