Stout

[pipsyboy]

Hi guys,

Only just started my first brew on Saturday (just straight from the tin following the instructions to the letter) but already have itchy feet to get moving on my second.

Was thinking of a stout. Any suggestions as to a good one and anything else I can do to enhance it. Read a few online reviews and a common theme is that they lack body.

Cheers

 

[manticle]

Coopers heritage stout, 500g light dried malt extract, 750 g dextrose, 250g lactose. Boil sugars in 2-3 L water, make up the rest according to instructions.

Use fermentis US05 yeast and ferment around 20 degrees.

 

[pipsyboy]

Cheers.

What difference would a fermentation temp of 24 make as that's what my first brew, and therefore my house, is sitting at?

 

[manticle]

More esters and fusel alcohols.

Esters can be a good thing in moderation but can make beer taste really fruity and odd in too high amounts (or wrong types - there are many which range from tasting like red apple to rose to banana to pear to medicine).

Fusel alcohols can range from tasting hot and solventy to giving headaches if you have too much. Lower temps will give you a cleaner tasting brew - temperature control is one of the key aspects of good fermentation and pleasant tasting beer.

 

[Bribie G]

In Ireland, Guinness is fermented at just over 24 degrees and the yeast has been "bred" or evolved to do that. Fortunately we can get a very similar yeast ( close cousin ) as a liquid yeast, Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale that, not surprisingly, goes brilliantly in nearly all stouts.

It'll cost you about ten dollars for a pack and you would need to study up a bit on how to use liquid, as opposed to dry, yeasts. However it's not hard and if you like the resulting brew you can save yeast sediment in a sterile jar, put it in the fridge and reuse it several times, that puts it at similar price to using the cheaper dried yeast.

If you don't have temperature control and don't want to go to a liquid yeast for this brew I'd seriously just use the kit yeast supplied, it tends to be more "forgiving" than some of the varietal ale yeasts such as S-04 or US-05.

edit: where in the house are you fermenting? Mid May onwards, if you have a brick garage for example, you should be hitting good ambient brewing temperatures in Brisbane, used to look forward to this time of year when I lived on Bribie Island that can actually be a bit milder than most of Bris.

 

[manticle]

Guiness is possibly fermented under pressure which is more forgiving of high temps too.

Don't want to confuse a new brewer with too much extra but temperature control is really crucial to get a handle on.

 

[pipsyboy]

I have it in the laundry at the minute Bribie G as I thought inside the house with the heating on (on colder nights) was the best way to keep a more constant temp. Thought the brick garage would get too hot during the day and too cold on colder nights. I might do some temp tests around the house.

Whilst we are on the subject, how do us Brissy brewers go about it in the summer when average temps are almost always above what would be considered acceptable for fermenting?

 

[Bribie G]

A fermenter of wort in the garage has a fair thermal mass, and is sort of insulated to start off with, as the garage will vary less than the outside air over the course of a day, then if you lag the fermenter with a sleeping bag or doonah (after the initial exothermic fermentation) it will hold steady even better. I've only noticed a degree or two difference over the 24 hours, even here on the coast near Taree when it can be chilly at night and 22 degrees daytime over the winter.

In SEQ for the summer, you really have to get a fridge off Bumtree and a temp controller. I bought one of these from CraftBrewer as a fermenting fridge - minus the taps of course, its sister sits next to it with the taps - and combined with a temp controller such as an STC1000 you have precise control all the way down to -1 degree.

Because the fridge is short and squat, geared towards beer, not salad and margarine, it's actually far cheaper and much more practical than most offerings from Good Guys or HN . Price of 10 slabs, but of course it depends on your budget and whether you can slip it past SWMBO :lol: :lol:

Edit; Manticle is right, I've use the Irish yeast but don't push to extreme just to prove a point, and generally I always use it in the low 20s so if your ambient drifts down to low 20s you would be playing it safe.

For the next few months I reckon you'd be sweet, we seem to be having a bit of an Indian Summer again this year, up and down the East Coast, shouldn't be long now till we get the woolies out.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I have it in the laundry at the minute Bribie G as I thought inside the house with the heating on (on colder nights) was the best way to keep a more constant temp. Thought the brick garage would get too hot during the day and too cold on colder nights. I might do some temp tests around the house.

Whilst we are on the subject, how do us Brissy brewers go about it in the summer when average temps are almost always above what would be considered acceptable for fermenting?

Temp control - I had a fridge, then an icecream freezer with an STC1000 temperature controller for summer. Absolutely imperative in summer (or use a Saison yeast, but that has a limiting ability on the types of beers you want to brew).

In winter, my 1970's brick house in Wavell Heights got perfect temps under the house - pretty well stuck at 17 degrees day and night. I still used temp control at times but got away without. That was using mainly US05, Nottingham (for ales)*, Windsor.



* I have used Nottingham as a faux-lager yeast to good effect at 14 degrees, but in this context, I'm referring to its original purpose as an ale yeast.

 

[pipsyboy]

Cheers guys. All duly noted.

On the subject of SWMBO she drinks almost as much beer as me so hopefully should be an easy win over, lol.

 

[pipsyboy]

Ok guys, went to the LHBS with my list of stuff as suggested above but got talked into this. [
attachment=71163:ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1400233509.193561.jpg]

How much, if any, lactose should I use?

Also, if I wanted to give it a hint of Tia Maria taste (I love a Guinness with a Tia Maria bomb in it) how would I go about that.

 

[peas_and_corn]

Half a kilo would be about right. If you want a tia maria flavour, just add some. Get a glass of the fermented beer, and add a small, measured amount. When you have the dosage right, upscale for the whole batch and add it in

 

[Wolfman1]

I have it in the laundry at the minute Bribie G as I thought inside the house with the heating on (on colder nights) was the best way to keep a more constant temp. Thought the brick garage would get too hot during the day and too cold on colder nights. I might do some temp tests around the house.

Whilst we are on the subject, how do us Brissy brewers go about it in the summer when average temps are almost always above what would be considered acceptable for fermenting?

 

[Spiesy]

In Ireland, Guinness is fermented at just over 24 degrees and the yeast has been "bred" or evolved to do that. Fortunately we can get a very similar yeast ( close cousin ) as a liquid yeast, Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale that, not surprisingly, goes brilliantly in nearly all stouts.

Or White Labs WLP004

 

[pipsyboy]

Hi guys.

I put the stout in on Friday night and it was bubbling away nicely yesterday but has stopped this (Sunday) morning.

It's sitting in the garage at 24 degrees and I used the ingredients as above.

What is happening/has happened?

Cheers.

 

[Grott]

don't get fooled by airlocks, the gas could be escaping elsewhere, eg. via lid. take the airlock out and look in (might need a
torch) and check to see if there are bubbles, i'll bet there are and therefore all is ok.
cheers

 

[Bribie G]

One sure sign that Wyeast Irish has done its job is when the brew starts clearing from the top - I've often had this happen on day 3

edit: stout appears black and opaque but is actually clear, with garnet highlights - yes a torch would help.

Then give it a few more days to settle out. If bottling, then a couple of hydrometer readings (from the tap not the top) two days apart is a good insurance policy to avoid gushers which can be horribly messy with stout.

 

[pipsyboy]

Took a reading and it's 1030 down from 1047 so a bit to go or a weak stout.

Ah well. Might just have to stick a shot of Tia Maria in each one. First world problems.

 

[wereprawn]

Not done yet pb. Give it a few days and take another reading.

 

[pipsyboy]

Currently sitting at 1022 and will test again on Friday.