Holiday Milk Stout (Feedback Welcome)

[lazysunday]

Before I launch into my recipe, I just want to say a huge "Thank You" to the Forum overall. I have posted here twice when I first started out last year, and since then I've been lurking and learning all I can. I am actually going to start building a coffin for my kegerator and a brew station for my mill. I'll be posting in DIY soon to help others and get feedback. This place is amazing.

I've graduated to All Grain in the last year, and have gotten some really awesome brews out of it. I'd like to start getting creative in the recipes I'm developing, and would like your opinion on this one.


Holiday Milk Stout
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Recipe Type:All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1099
Yeast Starter: No
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: No
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.059
Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 33
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: Black (40 SRM)
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 @ 65



Ingredients
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• 7.00 lb: Maris Otter
• 1.00 lb: Roasted Barley
• 0.75 lb: Crystal 60L
• 0.75 lb: Biscuit
• 0.75 lb: American Chocolate
• 0.62 lb: Flaked Barley
• 0.50 lb: Flaked Oats

Hops
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• 0.5 oz: Magnum (AA: 15)
• 1.0 oz: EK Goldings (AA: 4.5)

Additions
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• 1.0 lb: Lactose
• 2.5 tsp: Pumpkin Spice (Homemade)

Schedule
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• Strike: 177*F
• Mash: 1.5qt/lb @ 152*F for 65 min.
• Sparge: Batch. 3.5 gallons @ 177-179*F
• Boil: 60 minutes.
• Additions:
  
  • Magnum @ 60 minutes
  • Lactose @ 40 minutes
  • EK Goldings @ 10 minutes
  • Spice @ 7 minutes
• Pitch: 70*F

Fermentation
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Primary: 2 weeks or until FG @ 65*F

Keg on nitro.

Any thoughts? Recommendations? I'm really trying to know how the ingredients work together, so feel free to let me know if these are going to clash.

Thanks again for everything!

 

[drinkindinkins]

Yes I will be waiting on the replys as I am looking to do some sort of winter beer and a milk stout would be a new and interesting try for me.

Did you sculpt this recipe after Left Hand's? Looks pretty similar.

 

[lazysunday]

Yes I will be waiting on the replys as I am looking to do some sort of winter beer and a milk stout would be a new and interesting try for me.

Did you sculpt this recipe after Left Hand's? Looks pretty similar.

I actually just made it up, based on style and what I've learned. Prior to brewing, I wanted to get some feedback on it. Good to know its at least recognizable!

 

[drinkindinkins]

http://lefthandbrewing.com/beers/milk-stout/

Yeah pretty damn close. I would say you are certainly on your way to making a good one as this is a solid beer.

 

[BeerLoverHere]

I'm drinking a stout nearly identical to this recipe and have made this for years now. LOVE IT! I'm not a pumpkin guy and use my lactose in the last 15 minutes of the boil, I use the same hops and schedule, more base malt to get a higher gravity, but 90-95% of the malt/grain bill is the same amount/ratio (I use a touch more oats and more roasted barley and my last time a touch of Special B). Sometimes I'll throw some nibs, vanilla, or cinnamon stix in primary after most fermentation is done. Thought about coconut too, but haven't done this yet.

What I've found is that my FG takes about a month to get to and always finishes on the high side whenever I make this. I mash @ 154 though. I know the lactose contributes to a more dense beer, but wonder if all the specialty malt has less fermentables in there as well.

I don't have nitro, but that would be perfect for this style!

I know you'll be happy. Good luck.

 

[lazysunday]

I'm drinking a stout nearly identical to this recipe and have made this for years now. LOVE IT! I'm not a pumpkin guy and use my lactose in the last 15 minutes of the boil, I use the same hops and schedule, more base malt to get a higher gravity, but 90-95% of the malt/grain bill is the same amount/ratio (I use a touch more oats and more roasted barley and my last time a touch of Special B). Sometimes I'll throw some nibs, vanilla, or cinnamon stix in primary after most fermentation is done. Thought about coconut too, but haven't done this yet.

What I've found is that my FG takes about a month to get to and always finishes on the high side whenever I make this. I mash @ 154 though. I know the lactose contributes to a more dense beer, but wonder if all the specialty malt has less fermentables in there as well.

I don't have nitro, but that would be perfect for this style!

I know you'll be happy. Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback, getting confirmation that this recipe looks like it'll work is awesome.

I love the idea of throwing vanilla and cinnamon into it. I chose pumpkin for kind of a holiday spice type beer, however using a single spice in the same ratio might show through better. I have heard Pumpkin Spice can be tricky to find the right ratio. Especially if the beer will need to age for several weeks.

I will certainly report back when I brew this, I plan to brew Halloween weekend. Turnin' off my porch light and turnin' on the sprinklers. :cross:

 

[drinkindinkins]

How are you going to sanitize the nibs and cherries though?

 

[jfr1111]

If I could just make a comment, pitch lower than 70F, a degree or two below your target fermentation temperature. You don't want the fermentation to get out of hand and pitching warm can introduce some unwanted fuesels/esters, especially with whitbread strains, which can get tart/bready/weird when fermented too warm.

 

[lazysunday]

If I could just make a comment, pitch lower than 70F, a degree or two below your target fermentation temperature. You don't want the fermentation to get out of hand and pitching warm can introduce some unwanted fuesels/esters, especially with whitbread strains, which can get tart/bready/weird when fermented too warm.

Thanks for the tip, I tend to get excited and pitch around 70-72. This time I pitched at 68. It took a lot longer than I expected to chill the wort an extra 4 degrees, almost 15 minutes. My copper wort chiller is not exactly a great fit in my brew pot though. My pot is shorter, so the chiller sticks out quite a bit from the wort.

I hit my gravity as expected, which was surprising (I always get surprised when it works). I went with a pumpkin spice I put together this time around, but plan on trying vanilla bean in the next one. I couldn't really taste the spice post-boil after taking a reading, but I'm hoping it ages in.

Anyway, I'll update again when it's ready. Thanks!