Coopers Milk Stout

[tj2204]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to run this recipe past everyone to see if there's something better I could be doing.

Planning on brewing tomorrow.

1 Can of Coopers OS Stout
1kg Stout Mix (500gm Brown Sugar, 250gm Dextrose, 250gm DDME)
500gm DDME
500gm Lactose
Kit Yeast

Not sure if I should add or remove anything, or how many litres I should top up to?

Also will be my first brew in my fridge, would 18 degrees be the appropriate ferment temp?

Really appreciate any feedback.

Cheers,

TJ

 

[Grott]

Hi TJ, no problems with your recipe. Personally I use 1kg total for malt and only 250gms of lactose for less sweetness. I brew 23 litres and allow several weeks to mature in the bottle (hard but worth it). 18 degrees will be tops.
Cheers

 

[tj2204]

Awesome, thanks Grott. Will definitely look to eliminate the dex in future brews (bought the stout mix about a month ago and the malt and dex are already mixed).

Thanks for the info on the lactose, wasn't sure how much I should be using to be honest and don't want it to be too overpowering.

Hopefully i'll be able to hold off, I've got a month old Pale ale I've just started drinking and a Dark Ale just bottled so I should have enough to keep me going!

 

[dammag]

Can you get some better yeast? Or at least 2 packs of the kit yeast?

Using the appropriate yeast will make a big difference to the finished beer.

 

[tj2204]

I can go to the LHBS in the morning.

What yeast would you suggest? My local homebrew shop is Quality homebrew at slacks creek

 

[dammag]

looking at their website, they have their own 15gm pack of English Ale Yeast for $4.50 or 11.5gm packs of Safale S04 for $4.50

Either of these would probably work well.

There might be a stout expert who can give better advise on the best strain of yeast.

 

[tj2204]

Thanks Danmag, really appreciate your help!

 

[gsouth82]

18 is a good temperature.
If you don't want it too 'milky' then go with the 250g of lactose as suggested. I've used 500g before and thought it was good.
If you decide you do want it a bit milkier then chuck 500g in next time. That's the beauty of home brewing!

 

[tj2204]

Thanks for the help guys.

I'll drop the lactose down to 250g for this brew and get some better yeast.

This will be my 6th brew and they seem to be getting better each time! A very rewarding hobby!

 

[bigmacthepunker]

Hi Tj,
Have you use Ian's extract spreadsheet that you can download from this site. i find it very useful for recipe design being a newbie myself.

 

[tj2204]

Hey bigmac, I haven't used it for my brews to date. But will definitely start using it now. Thanks for the tip!

 

[tj2204]

This is now in the fermenter - as per suggestions above IE only 250gm lactose & 15gm Premium Ale Yeast (repackaged s04).

Last night the krausen was like a city of clouds about 10cm high, wasn't sure if i'd wake up to a messy fridge but it settled down overnight.

Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions

 

[black_labb]

The coopers kit yeast (mauri 514) is good to use for english style ales, the issues is the quantity. 7g is not enough. Use 2 of them for 14g and it will work out well.

S04 is good but be careful it doesn't stall. Keep the temp up towards the end of fermentation and give it a bit of a gentle swirl to make sure it finishes fermenting.

 

[tj2204]

So I've just taken my first gravity reading on day 5 and it came in at the dreaded 1020 (s04's supposed typical stalling point).

Do I wait a couple more days before worrying about stalling or ramp the temp up 1 or 2 degrees now?

Has been at a steady 18 since Saturday arvo. OG was 1052.

Any ideas?

Cheers

 

[gsouth82]

I don't think 5 days is very long. I'd give it a few more days to see how its going before bumping up the temp.

 

[tj2204]

Thanks again gsouth.

Reading too much on the internet while at work leads to irrational panic!

I think next time I make a stout i'll definitely bump the lactose up to 500gm, is only a really subtle flavour ATM compared to the commercial milk stouts I've tasted.

 

[tj2204]

Hmmm, I've definitely got a ferment stalled at 1020. I've given the fermenter a light swirl and have upped the temp controller to 19.5 (this has been done 0.5 degree a day over the last 3 days)

Anything else I need to do? Samples taste fine. The extract spreadsheet seemed to think it would finish at about 1015 if I recall correctly

 

[Grott]

Is there signs of pressure in the airlock? Is there condensation under the lid, remove airlock and with a torch look in to see if there are any bubbles- if so the I'd say it is still fermenting and hydro reading may be off? If not give fermenter a swirl and try to re-activate as 1020 does seem to high.
Hope it helps, cheers

 

[tj2204]

Thanks grott, unfortunately there's no condensation under the lid and I don't use an airlock. There are a few bubbles on top (see pic) but less each day with no apparent drop in gravity. Fingers crossed it will have dropped a point or 2 tomorrow!

 

[Grott]

That appears to be slow fermentation, reading should start to go down. It's only been 8 days.
Cheers