RecipeDB - Bullshead SSS

[Tony]

Bullshead SSS

Ale - Foreign-Style Stout
All Grain

Brewer's Notes

This stout turned out great. My brother tasted it and pulled a face in pleasure and said....... Its soooo........ CREAMY! It was mu first go a adding the roast malts late in the mash, with them going in 10 min before i started to sparge. I also used my own home grown POR so im not really sure of the exact IBU of the beer but i estimate around 40 IBU. Its very well ballanced, not sweet but not bitter.
1.064, 40ish IBU, 80 EBC. Fermented with 1882-PC Thames Valley II at about 20 deg.

Malt & Fermentables

%	KG	Fermentable
	8.5 kg	TF Maris Otter Pale Malt
	2 kg	TF Flaked Barley
	1 kg	Weyermann Chocolate Wheat
	0.3 kg	TF Pale Chocolate Malt
	0.3 kg	TF Crystal

Hops

Time	Grams	Variety	Form	AA
	120 g	Pride of Ringwood (Pellet, 9.0AA%, 45mins)

Yeast

500 ml

Wyeast Labs 1275 - Thames Valley Ale

46L Batch Size

Brew Details

• Original Gravity 1.064 (calc)
• Final Gravity 1.017 (calc)
• Bitterness 50.1 IBU
• Efficiency 80%
• Alcohol 6.12%
• Colour 80 EBC
• Batch Size 46L

Fermentation

• Primary 7 days
• Secondary 7 days
• Conditioning 4 days

 

[Tony]

teaser

 

[Tony]

Mashed in at 2L/kg @ 52 deg for 10 to 15 min (FM MO and FB) and then infused up 65 deg for a 90 min mash. Added all the spec. malt after 80 min mash time and stirred in. Rested 10 min then drained mash and single batch sparged as normal.

This beer so very smooth and i added no brewing salts at all. All the flaked barley, and also the late addition of the spec. malt did the trick. I had a think about it and when you sparge the sugars have nostly gone, so the higher pH water raises the sparge mash pH but all the late roast malt counters this and negates the need to buffer the water with lots of chalk. The mash is as normal with the pale base malts and it just worked so well.

Im very happy.

The POR i used was the early pickings from the plant and i think i picked them a bit early, so their AA% was down. The ones i left and picked later and much more bitter to taste so i degraded them to 7.5% AA for this beer....... I have used a bit of experience on the IBu gestimation but id say 35 to 40... closer to 40.

cheers

 

[Steve@PMF82]

Geez that looks the goods!...its cold, wet and windy here, i want one!

So you dont think it would be as smooth if all the spec malts were mashed from the start? or have you made this before and can def tell the difference?

Have not made a stout yet but it is on the cards one day and this just looks so dam good.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Bloody dark Pils :lol: I hold back on my dark grains when I make my Munich Dunkle, just add them in the last part of the mash.
Nev
GB

 

[Tony]

I have nade many stouts over the years and they always had a slightly harsh acrid finnish. I have tried all sorts of combos of dark malts, salt additions and water treatments........ to no real avail.

This one has a smooth roast character..... lots of flavour but no acrid tannic like finnish i get if i mash all the dark grain for the entire time.

There is no real need to anyway....... its the base malt you have to mash, the dark stuff is only there for colour and flavour...... and a short rest, IMO, turned out much better. All the dark malt only lowers the mash pH too far which is bad for the beer so you have to add carbonates to raise the mash pH, which arnt soo good either.

I will be using this method again!

cheers

 

[matho]

teaser

Looks really nice Tony

Cheers matho

 

[jusman]

Tony

Am planning this brew soon. Just wondering what your thoughts would be about FWH this beer. I remember reading in a topic about Aussie Pale Ale, you talking about FWH some of the Pride of Ringwood hops, then also adding a 60 min addition. Would this work with this stout in a simlar same way? What are your pros/cons for only having a 45 min hops addition with this beer?

Cheers, Justin.

 

[Tony]

Hey justin

That will work fine! FWH 10 IBU and do a 60 min or 45 min boil...... just dont add any late hops! This beer is all about the malt, smooth as silk from adding the spec malt late in the mash!

I use a 45 min boil because i find it lends a nice hop character from the shorter boil and having to use more hops to get the IBU's. I believe the character of late hops in a stout (while it has its place in some styles) isnt the best in a beer like this. Some hop character helps ballance the beer and a big hit of hops at 45 min to bitter gives a smooth character that has more long term stability in the beer also.

If i am using POR late in the boil, i tend to boil the bittering addition for longer (FWH and 60 min) but over the years, experience is telling me a single 45 or 40 min addition works!

It all depends on the final character and ballance of flavours you want in the beer. I tend to pre plan the beer in my minds taste zone (best way i can describe it) and using experience from trying multiple methods with the same hop in the same beer...... set up the hop schedult to acheive this result. Its all about planning!

:icon_offtopic:

Try a single 40 min addition with low alpha hallertau or tetnanger in your next euro lager or Pilsner! :icon_drool2:

 

[Barley Belly]

I use a 45 min boil

Am I reading this right Tony?

Do you only do a 45 min boil?
Or do you do a 60 or 90 min and only add the bitterness hops at 45 min?

 

[Tony]

yep...... one hop addition with all the hops boiled for 45 min.

sometimes i drop this to 40 min for euro lagers for the awsome character it gives the beer.

You use more hops but bugger the expense!

 

[Barley Belly]

yep...... one hop addition with all the hops boiled for 45 min.

sometimes i drop this to 40 min for euro lagers for the awsome character it gives the beer.

You use more hops but bugger the expense!

I do 40 min no chill bittering additions but I boil for 75min, adding hops 35min into the rolling boil.

So do you do 90, 60 or 45 min total time from rolling boil to flame out?

Sorry if this seems a dumb question

 

[Tony]

Or do you do a 60 or 90 min and only add the bitterness hops at 45 min?

I just re-read this and went a bit cross-eyed

ok..... time to step outside the "safety" square

I liken the 90 min and 60 min bittering addition obsession to AG brewers continuing to brew 23 liter batches because thats what they made as K+K brewers. I was the same but was struggling to make my beers really shine. I stepped outside the square and found another world of character to be had in the beer. same ingredients... just different times and techniques..... not unlike the adding the dark malts late in the mash...... WOW what a difference that made for me.

Im my books..... any hop addition used to add bitterness is a bittering addition. If i use half a kilo of hops in a 10 min boil...... thats a 10 min bittering addition. Just inagine the hop character! I have made APA's using a 20 min bittering addition, having boiled the wort for 70 min before adding any hops. This is home brew and there arnt any rules to when you add your hops. It all comes down to the character you want, and the possibilities are near endless.

Boiling hops for 60 or more minuites will extract more bitterness, and save you a couple of cents per glass on your hop bill, but at the cost of the hops volitile character..... which we all crave, being blasted out of the beer by the boil. Simple...... dont boil it so long and lock some in!

Using a larger amount of hops for a short boiling time, will produce a mellow, smoother and more stable hop character that using a long bittering addition of high alpha hops and adding late hops. This method gives a big hop hit early in the beers life, but it fades quickly.

Like i said..... its all about how you want the beer.

Hope ive got some minds ticking over now

 

[Tony]

I boil for 90 min with......

...... one hop addition with all the hops boiled for 45 min.

Sorry if this seems a dumb question

No such thing as a dumb question!

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

I've brewed nearly all the man's beers - He is the "one" ..........
Morpheus

Seriously - thanks Tony (just did your Kolsch - :icon_drool2: . )
Cheers
BBB

 

[hatchor]

Love ur work Tony, and some good advice there for some newbies in that brewing is ALL about trial (end errors....) and that includes times, qty's and techniques.
I'm about 60 AG brews in and am continually tweaking and trialling different things...... and I agree on the late hopping character, I just dropped 225g in the last 25 minutes into an IPA...... :beerbang:

 

[Tony]

I've brewed nearly all the man's beers - He is the "one" ..........
Morpheus

Seriously - thanks Tony (just did your Kolsch - :icon_drool2: . )
Cheers
BBB

:lol: your welcome mate.

And the "one" was Neo........ LOVE those movies :super:

Edit...... oh DING... just worked out what you were saying.

I just made the Kolsch too.....for the NSW state comp, and it's drinking nicely already..... cant wait for it to finnish fermenting

 

[Tony]

I'm about 60 AG brews in and am continually tweaking and trialling different things......

And when you have done 260 you will just be tweaking much better beers trying to make them even better again....... love it

 

[Tony]

yeah i worked it out after i posted...... so i added an edit

Im tired... time for bed!

 

[jusman]

Thanks heaps Tony. Will give FWH (10IBU) & a 45 min (30IBU) addition a try and let you know the results.