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UsernameTaken

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Brewing my fist ever stout, just googled some recipes and hacked together the following;

74% Pilsner
9.2% Oats
6.5% Crystal 120L
4.6% Crystal 60L
4.6% Chocolate Malt
1.8% Black Barley

Thinking of mashing at 69c

Galaxy FWH to 26 IBU
Safale s-05

Hoping for something on the sweeter and richer side. Can add or subtract Pilsner but the rest is already bagged!

Any tips or advice?

Cheers,
UNT
 
the malt bill looks pretty good. A 69c mash will finish with a nice sweetness.

id suggest you find a better bittering hop than galaxy. Its very astringent after 20mins in the boil.

do you have anything else you can bitter with?
 
Doh! All I have is Galaxy and Cascade!

I could add the Galaxy later?
 
at best use the cascade instead.

you could try the galaxy late but that will then be part of the flavour profile.
 
No. I usually add a T spoon of Gypsum for my hoppy beers, but not sure for stout?
 
being a stout its more about the malt.

if you have cal chloride, add half a teaspoon to the mash.
 
Swap the pilsner for golden promise or marris otter if you can.
Agree that Galaxy should not be a part of it. Noble or english hops would be better but Cascade will be far better than cascade.
I would also aim for 40IBU assuming your AV will be around 5% or bigger?
 
So I went with;

74% Pilsner, 9.2% Oats, 6.5% Crystal 120L, 4.6% Crystal 60L, 4.6% Chocolate Malt and 1.8% Black Barley

Mashed at 69c and Cascade FWH to 26 IBU

Pitched Safale s-04 into 17 litres at 1.052 @ 18c (controlled) and 6 days later it hit 1.021 and stayed there for the next 3 days.

Is this to be expected or unexpected?
 
I mean the high finish. Is this a stout thing with all the unfermentables?
 
I'd say 1021 is a little high. Maybe 1016 at 69C. How confident are you in your thermometer? If it's out ,then that would make a difference. Other possibility is unhealthy yeast (poor viability/vitality, under pitch, etc) resulting in stalled ferment.
 
I may have mashed a little higher in the first 10 minutes, but nothing above 71.
 
Well that makes some difference, as 15 mins at 71-72C could well be expected to fully convert the mash, leaving a lot of long chain sugars resulting in the sort of FG you got. Yours spent 10 mins at 71 C then lowered 2 C for the remainder leaving pretty much only alpha to do the work. You could try rousing, but I don't expect it'll drop much past 1020.
 
Interesting. It's tricky predicting the strike temp at different room temps, but I guess I should err on the lower rather than higher!
 
Interesting. It's tricky predicting the strike temp at different room temps, but I guess I should err on the lower rather than higher!
If you use Beersmith you can edit your mash profile and put in your grain temperature and Mash Tun temperature. It should then adjust your strike water temperature to compensate. Works okay for me.
 
Bit too much Crystal for my taste.

I'd cold steep some roast barley and add it instead. Add the strained liquid (steeped liquid) with about 10 minutes of the boil to go. This will give you the flavour but not the harshness.
 
Interesting. It's tricky predicting the strike temp at different room temps, but I guess I should err on the lower rather than higher!

I have a calculation for that and made up a chart for my common temps and liquid/grain ratios. Unfortunately it's on a word document on the computer, which is in with my computer guy for some upgrades so not available. I'll post it for you when I have it back.
 

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