I ended up going with liquid yeast. Mind you this was around a year prior to building a stir plate so I didn't make a starter. This brew seemed to hit it's stride right around 6 months. I put a tweak or two on Biermunchers Ode to Arthur. I started with RO water so built the profile from there. I'm not a fan of coffee so stouts/porters really aren't my thing. This turned out nice and black and was a hit with other drinkers! I still have not used Nottingham so I can't comment on that strain but any english strain fermented on the low end (to keep the esters down) would work well I'd think.
Edit: Forgot to add I subbed Pale Ale malt to bring out the maltiness a tad instead of using two row, nixed the acid malt, and added black barley to darken it up a good bit. Seems like there were quite a few complaints on that forum about the brews turning out dark brown. Anywho hopefully this helps!
Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Irish Stout
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.036
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 4.37%
IBU (tinseth): 32.27
SRM (morey): 32.66
FERMENTABLES:
6 lb - American - Pale Ale (67.4%)
2 lb - Flaked Barley (22.5%)
0.1 lb - German - Acidulated Malt (1.1%)
0.8 lb - American - Black Barley (9%)
HOPS:
1.5 oz - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 32.27
MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temperature, Temp: 150 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 5 gal
YEAST:
Wyeast - British Ale 1335
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 74.5%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 63 - 75 F
Fermentation Temp: 62 F
PRIMING:
Method: Table Sugar
CO2 Level: 1.2 Volumes
TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: Dublin (Dry Stout)
Ca2: 110
Mg2: 4
Na: 12
Cl: 19
SO4: 53
HCO3: 280
Water Notes:
1.5 Grams Gypsum = .05 oz
1 Grams Epsom Salt = .04
.5 Grams Table Salt = .02
.5 Grams Calcium Chloride = .02
10.5 Grams Chalk = .4
