Input Wanted: First Stout Recipe

[Dcioni]

Looking to do a 10% really dark/thick stout w/ some simple adjuncts. I've only brewed IPAs/Pale Ales to-date, this would be my first Stout Recipe. Brewing in a Grainfather unit so need to keep grains down to around 17lb, and shooting for a 4 gal batch size given the higher OG. Best comparable beer I'm shooting for (in terms of color/malt bill/mouthfeel/ABV) is Oskar Blues Ten Fidy. Really want a thick stout w/ full mouthfeel and chocolatey/roasty taste (dark brown head)-- not super dry or bitter

Batch Size: 4 Gal
Est Pre-Boil Vol: 5.57 Gal
BH Efficiency: 75%
Est Mash Eff: 85.3%
Boil Time: 90 Min

Est OG: 1.105
Est FG: 1.03
Est ABV: 10.1%
Color: 61.8 SRM
Est IBU: 54.3 IBU
Total Grains: 17 lbs
Mash @ 154 F for 60 Min
Mash Out @ 168 F for 10 Min

8 oz Rice Hulls (2.9%)
8 lbs 4 oz Pale Malt 2-Row (48.5%)
2 lbs Flaked Oats (11.8%)
2 lbs Roasted Barley (11.8%)
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt (5.9%)
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (5.9%)
12 oz Flaked Barley (4.4%)
12 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (4.4%)
12 oz Munich Malt (4.4%)

0.5 oz Chinook [13%] - Boil 90 min - 21 IBU
1.0 oz Chinook [13%] - Boil 15 min - 21.5 IBU
1 lb Maltodextrin - Boil 15 min
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient - Boil 10 min
1.0 oz Columbus [14%] - Boil 5 min - 11.9 IBU

Wyeast American Ale #1056 w/ Starter

2 Vanilla Beans (Scraped/Soaked in Vodka) into Primary After Active Ferm Subsides
2 oz Godiva Chocolate Extract Added At Bottling

 

[ImNoExpert]

I think your BH efficiency might be a bit high. It's your system so you'd know better, but at that gravity on my system I'd have BH efficiency closer to 65%. 75% is what I get for 5.5% beers.

Also, why the cara-pils, flaked barley, flaked oats, and maltodextrin? Why not just one of them? If it's body you're looking for, all the malts will take care of that.

 

[Dcioni]

I think your BH efficiency might be a bit high. It's your system so you'd know better, but at that gravity on my system I'd have BH efficiency closer to 65%. 75% is what I get for 5.5% beers.

Also, why the cara-pils, flaked barley, flaked oats, and maltodextrin? Why not just one of them? If it's body you're looking for, all the malts will take care of that.

You’re right about the BH efficiency, need to bring that down for this beer. Also I’ll probably remove the flaked barley and bring down maltodextrine... was just really going for a “milkshakey” thick consistency, but feel like I may be overdoing it!

 

[snowtiger1987]

I would eliminate the maltodextrine and cara-pils altogether. At an OG 0f 1.105 this beer will finish sweet enough. The Munich malt will get lost so I would drop that as well. I like to use Special B instead of crystal malt to give a pleasant plum richness.

 

[Kent88]

Lactose > Maltodextrine in cases like these, IMHO.

I make an oatmeal cream stout that I think is pretty good, got the recipe from here and tweaked it for my system. Don't know how it compares to Ten Fidy, but I like it.

 

[RonPopeil]

Roasted barley and chocolate malt is overkill. Depending on what you're aiming for I'd go with one or the other. Roasted barley is more ash tasting imo. Either way, 3lb of dark malt to 8lb of base malt is too high. I'd knock it down to 1.5lb of chocolate malt.

I'll second skipping the dex and maltodex additions. You're already doing a single step mash purely in a-amylase along with 2 lb of oats. This is already going to be thick.

That t-5 hop addition isn't going to do much for flavor in the face of that grain bill. I'd save my money and just bump the initial charge up .25oz to get the ibus back.

1056 isn't a bad call for this beer but I tend to favor wlp007/1098 for big brews like this. Much better attenuation.

Aside front from grain bill comments this is mostly opinion. I think if you forego modifying this grain will you won't be pleased.

 

[thehaze]

For a RIS with a full mouthfeel and body, I would mash high, use some flaked oats, roasted barley AND some pale chocolate/Chocolate Wheat or Rye, and crystal/caramel malts. I usually mix 2-3 varieties of crystal malt with different lovibonds, in order to give the beer complexity.

I do not like a lot of IBUs in my Stout, so the 54 IBUs you have seem just about right.

For the yeast, you cannot go wrong with the Chico family. You could also use Danstar BRY-97, which leaves a bit of residual sweetness in the final product, but has a much higher alcohol tolerance.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

+1 on lactose. I'd go more chocolate, less roast barley.

If Ten Fidy is the model, it's described as "This titanic, immensely viscous stout is loaded with inimitable flavors of chocolate-covered caramel and coffee and hide a hefty 65 IBUs underneath the smooth blanket of malt. Ten FIDY (10.5% ABV) is made with enormous amounts of two-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oats and hops. "

Yeastwise, 1084 Irish is an obvious shout, maybe 1028 - you want a bit of yeast character for this kind of thing IMO, although obviously at 10% ABV you're stressing many of them. If Fermentis T-58 is good enough for Pannepot, then it could be an option - or part of a blend? It's dirt cheap.

 

[thehaze]

+1 on lactose. I'd go more chocolate, less roast barley.

If Ten Fidy is the model, it's described as "This titanic, immensely viscous stout is loaded with inimitable flavors of chocolate-covered caramel and coffee and hide a hefty 65 IBUs underneath the smooth blanket of malt. Ten FIDY (10.5% ABV) is made with enormous amounts of two-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oats and hops. "

Yeastwise, 1084 Irish is an obvious shout, maybe 1028 - you want a bit of yeast character for this kind of thing IMO, although obviously at 10% ABV you're stressing many of them. If Fermentis T-58 is good enough for Pannepot, then it could be an option - or part of a blend? It's dirt cheap.

Funny you should mention T-58. I actually have a leftover Dark ale, which I am fermenting with BRY-97, US-05 and T-58. ( my LHBS did not have a second sachet of BRY-97 and had to improvise and added US-05 to the mix )

It started fermentation 5 hours after pitching. This was without rehydrating the yeast and the OG was 1.096.

T-58, even if not the most phenolic and estery yeast, it sure does ferment quickly and stable. Also quite good at tolerating high alcohol.

 

[Dcioni]

Thanks everyone!! I dropped the roasted barley to 1 lb, removed the Munich & Flaked barley, bumped chocolate malt just slightly, added a bit more pale malt, adjusted the hops to around mid 60s IBU. Adjusted estimated BH% to 65% given the style of beer.. should be coming in around 9.2%ABV if all goes well. Will report back once complete!