basic stout

[jongylary]

hey guys,
thinking of laying down a very basic coopers stout, might play with choc grain a little to enhance the flavour. being that i have not done a stout before, i wanted to know what the recommended temp should be, and anything worth doing to get a great end result with min effort- please don't slag on me being lazy, just i[m getting married in 3 weeks and apparently my time should be devoted to more organising of that then my beer...

Regards
Jongylary

drink right, drink cold, drink with friends

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Boil about 200gms of choc malt. ( buy it crushed from site spons )

Use A tin of malt extract as well

You might want to add some EKG with the choc malt boiled for 10mins,strained Nd added to the the fermenter

 

[gsouth82]

I made a stout last year which was piss easy and very tasty.
I was the old coopers best extra stout recipe from the cooper site (they've changed the recipe now). It turned out similar to BES to give you an idea of style.

1x Stout tin
1x Dark tin
1kg Dex
Both kit yeasts or yeast of your choice.

fermented at 18 degrees for 2 weeks, keg conditioned for 4 months.

Now that's a basic stout!

 

[AlwayzLoozeCount]

I made a stout last year which was piss easy and very tasty.
I was the old coopers best extra stout recipe from the cooper site (they've changed the recipe now). It turned out similar to BES to give you an idea of style.

1x Stout tin
1x Dark tin
1kg Dex
Both kit yeasts or yeast of your choice.

fermented at 18 degrees for 2 weeks, keg conditioned for 4 months.

Now that's a basic stout!

How much head space do you need in your fermenter for a brew like this one?

My biggest fermenter is only 25L and I'm not sure if I could brew something like this without it spewing out my airlock and messing up my brew fridge.

 

[mattymcfatty]

I did a similar brew (1 can stout 1 can dark 1 can dlme) with a mate in his 25 litre fermenter, it exploded out the airlock and up the wall.

 

[Bennigan]

Boil about 200gms of choc malt. ( buy it crushed from site spons )

Use A tin of malt extract as well

You might want to add some EKG with the choc malt boiled for 10mins,strained Nd added to the the fermenter

I just kegged a batch very similar to this a week ago (23L), using:
Coopers stout
BE 2
500g LDME
250g choc malt, boilt for 15mins
500g Brown Sugar.

Fermented for 2 weeks.
How long should it take for this batch to mellow and become drinkable?
I've had a taste as soon as I kegged it, and after a week. It tasted very green, and a little earthy.

Note: this is my first stout

 

[gsouth82]

How much head space do you need in your fermenter for a brew like this one?

My biggest fermenter is only 25L and I'm not sure if I could brew something like this without it spewing out my airlock and messing up my brew fridge.

From memory it did spew out but only a little. I'm a little more lucky tho because
a ) I have a 30L fermenter and
b ) it only just fits in my fermenting fridge so I use a blow off tube instead of an air lock.
The bottle of water I was using went a little brown.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I just kegged a batch very similar to this a week ago (23L), using:
Coopers stout
BE 2
500g LDME
250g choc malt, boilt for 15mins
500g Brown Sugar.

Fermented for 2 weeks.
How long should it take for this batch to mellow and become drinkable?
I've had a taste as soon as I kegged it, and after a week. It tasted very green, and a little earthy.

Note: this is my first stout

Stouts can take months.

 

[Droopy Brew]

How much head space do you need in your fermenter for a brew like this one?

My biggest fermenter is only 25L and I'm not sure if I could brew something like this without it spewing out my airlock and messing up my brew fridge.

Only fill to 18L and reduce the dex to get the alc% you are after or leave as is for a high% brew in less volume.

 

[AlwayzLoozeCount]

From memory it did spew out but only a little. I'm a little more lucky tho because
a ) I have a 30L fermenter and
b ) it only just fits in my fermenting fridge so I use a blow off tube instead of an air lock.
The bottle of water I was using went a little brown.

Only fill to 18L and reduce the dex to get the alc% you are after or leave as is for a high% brew in less volume.

I did a similar brew (1 can stout 1 can dark 1 can dlme) with a mate in his 25 litre fermenter, it exploded out the airlock and up the wall.

I think I might go shopping for a new fermenter this weekend, with winter coming up I feel like I'm missing out on something not being able to brew a big stout.

Fermenter size isn't really an issue, my brew fridge is a chest freezer with temp control so I might just get a 60L vessel so I don't have to worry about the mega krausen.

 

[mattymcfatty]

I reckon the newer style coopers fermenters with the krausen collar could handle it, ive got one but we happened to put the brew on at my mates house. On a side note, I tasted the stout today as it was bottled 4 weeks ago, I was stoked!! Thought it would be a bit rough around the edges but it was bloody sessionable already.

 

[AlwayzLoozeCount]

I reckon the newer style coopers fermenters with the krausen collar could handle it, ive got one but we happened to put the brew on at my mates house. On a side note, I tasted the stout today as it was bottled 4 weeks ago, I was stoked!! Thought it would be a bit rough around the edges but it was bloody sessionable already.

I did consider getting a Coopers fermenter but the issues with the tap being too high and having to buy the entire kit just when the only thing I want is the fermenter kind of put me off.

Better off just going with the old tried and true method.

If I get a big 60L vessel at least I will be able to brew a few lagers as well without slowing the production line down too much, should be able to double the size of the batch, assuming I can lift the thing back out of my chest freezer with 50L or so of beer in it.

 

[jongylary]

thanks for the feed back guys, i'm definitely thinking of the toucan idea - go big and bold.