Foreign Extra Stout

[Josh]

Any Stout brewers out there? I haven't brewed a good all grain stout yet. Came up with this recipe when I was daydreaming at work one day.

80% Simpsons Maris Otter
7% Dark Crystal
3% Light Crystal
7% Roasted Barley
3% Carafa Special III

OG 1.070

PoR 60 mins to 70IBU

Wyeast Pacman yeast @ 20C

I'm looking for the dark fruit, raisin flavour from dark crystal, and a bit more sweetness from the light crystal. Is the 7% Roast too much? Should I could swap the Carafa and Roast around?

 

[Kai]

I would, both are roasty but the RB is roastier. 10% roasted malt is a heavy load on a 1.070 OG beer, but it's not excessive. 70 IBU is pretty intense too, combine that with the 10% roasty bits and you'll have a beer that will benefit from a bit of cellaring by my reckoning.

Personally I would flip the carafa and roast barley percentages, but I'd also drop the bitterness by almost half. Roast malt contributes significantly to balancing out the sweetness from malt even in a big beer.

 

[benno1973]

I'd keep the RB and Carafa Special at those percentages. I tend to do about 10% RB and it's not overpowering, and subbing some of that for Carafa Special will lighten the roastiness even further.

Id' agree with Kai - drop the IBU's a little, although I'd only go down to around 45-50.

 

[Barry]

Go with what you have got IMHO. You need at least 10% dark/roast malts for a foreign. You could drop the IBU's to 60 but it is OK at 70. A good foreign does need a bit of time to mellow and meld. A good foreign needs character.

 

[Kai]

Hey Barry,

Yes I agree a good FES needs character. However, more stuff doesn't always equal more character. Otherwise the Americans would brew the subtlest beers around

Yes Josh's recipe will make a good FES that may need a decent maturation period, but it's definitely a FES well on the high end of the scale. I guess that's the point I was trying to make...

 

[Josh]

Thanks for the help guys. I think I'll go ahead and brew it as is first up. Perhaps dropping the IBU slightly. Although with 6 month old hops, I might just leave the calculations at 70IBU and let the natural drop in aa% lower the IBU.

After that one's in the bottles, I'll go easier on the roast and hops and see what difference it makes.

Going home in 10 minutes. With any luck I'll be mashed in by 10pm.

 

[Barry]

You are right Kai, my weakness is virtually always going for the high side of the style. Habit I guess.

 

[Kai]

You are right Kai, my weakness is virtually always going for the high side of the style. Habit I guess.

Nothing wrong with that, Barry. It's the best way to win competitions

 

[Screwtop]

This makes a nice FES.

Cheers,

Screwy



Style: Foreign Extra Stout

47.00 L
Boil: 90 Minutes
OG: 1.062 SG
Color: 35.2 SRM
IBU: 59.2 IBU

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.64 kg Pale Malt, Ale (Barrett Burston) (3.0 SRMGrain 54.37 %
2.82 kg Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (3.0 SRM) Grain 27.18 %
0.56 kg Roasted Barley (600.0 SRM) Grain 5.44 %
0.47 kg Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.53 %
0.32 kg Chocolate Malt (Bairds) (450.0 SRM) Grain 3.08 %
47.00 gm Northdown [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 25.4 IBU
47.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 14.9 IBU
65.80 gm Fuggle 2006 [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 18.8 IBU
0.56 kg Treacle [Boil for 15 min] Extract 5.40 %
2 Pkgs British Ale (Wyeast Labs #1098) Yeast-Ale



75 min Saccharification 66.0 C
10 min Mash Out 77.0 C