Stout recipe critique

[hyjak]

Hey all,
I have just been trawling around for a Stout recipe and after much thinking i have come up with the following kit based recipe:
1 Coopers Lager tin
1kg Dark Dry Malt
200gm Choc Malt
100gm Roasted Barley
500gm Dex?
Safale S-04

Just after some opinions on the recipe, anything i should change or add?
Oh i have missed hops off the list as im not sure which to go with out of Cascade, EKG or Fuggles.
Any comments would be welcome.
Cheers
Jez

[Bizier]

The lager kit will probably add enough bitterness to just balance the beer given all the roast (which should counter the sweetness).

I suggest use Fuggles and perhaps a smaller portion of EKG.

If you already have the dark DME, then use that, but if you are buying it, I would suggest light DME, perhaps more DME instead of the dex addition.

I think you should outline what sort of a stout you are shooting for. This recipe will make a stout. It is as simple as that. But if you want to do something similar to a Guinness (dry stout) or a Sinha or Coopers (best classed as a foreign extra stout), then people might be able to give you more feedback.

[hyjak]

Thanks Bizier, well it's my first stout so not sure what im shooting for with this one.
I do like the Coopers stout and something similar would be nice but im not that fussy for this one.
I already have 1kg of DDM and LDM so can ditch the dex in favour of malt.
If i was to shoot for a 'Coopers like' stout what should i change to get closer to it?
Any advice is more than welcome.
Cheers
Jez

[Bizier]

If i was to shoot for a 'Coopers like' stout what should i change to get closer to it?

Use POR ?
Coopers stout is almost weizen like from the fermentation and has loads of banana on the nose, perhaps you could mix some other yeast in such as windsor.

I think the best way to do it is to get some brewing software trial Beersmith or Promash, or get BrewMate by a local http://www.brewmate.net/
Download the BJCP style guidelines for the style you are shooting for (if you have not brewed the style, then they are a GOOD place to start)
EG: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style13.php#1d
Plug in the bitterness of your kit somehow (I used to add 1.7kg of pale liquid extract and add a "60 minute" addition to the kit IBU)
Tinker with the software until you are in the middle of the numbers, and ether brew that, or adjust up or down if you prefer it say less or more roasty, sweet, hoppy or bitter.
Brew, drink, repeat, go to comp, retire, come back from the dead like the Greg Norman of homebrewing.

Have you seen Smurto's recipes here ? : http://homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewto ... =20#p90585

[drsmurto]

As far as Coopers Stout goes you dont really need to add any additional hops.

Aim for enough bitterness from the tin so maybe use a tin of coopers bitter instead of lager.

1 Coopers Bitter tin
1kg Light Dry Malt
250gm Choc Malt
250gm Roasted Barley (or Black Malt)
Safale S-04

Top up to 20L

Coopers Best Extra Stout is bigger than this. 6.3% abv and quite roasty. so i would increase the amount of roast malts and up the OG (use 2kg of LDME) as well as using the Coopers yeast, re-cultured from a few bottles of the pale ale.

The 4 shades of stout recipe listed in the link by Bizier is my thoughts on how to convert an AG recipe i brew (based on another brewers recipe on AHB, not an original of mine) but i have never brewed it as a kit so i am only guessing. In hindsight i would probably drop the crystal in that recipe.

Hmmm, its almost stout drinking season so i should make use of all those extra kegs i bought and belt out a few batches of stouts and porters to sit for a few months.

[hyjak]

Thanks for the replies guys!
Went searching for a Coopers Bitter tin today and lo and behold it has been discontinued!!
Guy from my local brew shop said that the English Bitter is essentially the same kit just with a different yeast and an increased price, thoughts??
I mean its only $2 so if it will do the job then i'll get it, just means i cant walk across the road at work to Coles and picking up a tin of goo.
Cheers for the link to 'Brewmate' too Bizier will check it out tonight and see what i can figure out.

At the moment i'm leaning towards making what the good Dr has posted with 2kg of LDM and maybe up the roasted malts to 350gm with the re-cultured Coopers yeast.

Jez

My exact thoughts on stout and porters Dr, thats why i started this thread. Im doing a stout this weekend and Wassa's Honey Porter next weekend.
Should be just right for those cold Tassie winter nights.

[bullfrog]

Was thinking of making something along the lines of a honey stout or porter myself recently (an apiarist friend of mine just gave me about 1.5kg of fresh honey but I don't eat that much toast! Figured I'd throw it into some beer). Knocked up this recipe and figured I'd get some advice on it:

FERMENTABLES:
1.5kg Amber LME
1.5kg Light LME

300g Choc Grain
200g Crystal Grain

500g Honey

HOP SCHEDULE:
10g Fuggles @ 60min
10g Goldings @ 60min

20g Fuggles @ 20min
20g Goldings @ 20min

PROCEDURE:
Steep grain in 3L of 70 degree water for 60 minutes. Strain and rinse with 1L of 70 degree water.
Top up to 10L with water and add half a container of LME.
Rolling boil, add hops as per schedule, add remaining LME and honey with 15 minutes left in the boil.
Cool to below 25 degrees, add to fermenter, top up to 23L and pitch Nottingham yeast.
Ferment at 18 degrees.

---

Any thoughts? I've only ever brewed ales (happen to be a big APA fan) and this will be my first attempt at a stout (or a porter, whatever the above will make) so I'd like all the advice on it I can get.

Cheers

[drsmurto]

Your recipe is for a dark ale/brown porter.

If you want a dark, malty porter replace the 300g of choc and 200g of crystal with 500g of carafa special II or III. That will give you a nice robust porter.

If you want a stout you need roasted malts. Either roasted barley or black malt. 250g of either plus another 250g of choc malt.

[bullfrog]

Crap, looks like I'm getting a brown ale then. I bought all my bits and pieces yesterday and it only just now occurred to me that I should have got some advice on it first. Oh well, got plenty of honey, might save some and pick up some different grain next week for a stout. Cheers for the help, Doc.

[hyjak]

Well I put down my stout last night it ended up being.
2kg Light Dry Malt
Coopers English Bitter can
250gm Choc malt
250gm Roasted barley
20gms POR hops
Re-hydrated Safale S-04
Volume 20l -+2lt (my 2nd fermenter doesn't have litre markins on it.

30min boil, POR at 15mins.
Yeast pitched at 24c.

[bullfrog]

Just put on the brown ale that I was talking about. Transferred to fermenter after chilling wort to find that the bloody tap was open. First time I've done that, but, according to my LHBS guy, I'm a real brewer now.

Gotta say, it's both a good and bad thing that the missus was standing there watching me when I did it. Good in that she noticed quickly and was able to turn the tap off in a hurry; bad because she was none too happy about it all!

Oh, first time using my new tempmate, too. That thing is bloody terrific.

[Trough Lolly]

Well I put down my stout last night it ended up being.
2kg Light Dry Malt
Coopers English Bitter can
250gm Choc malt
250gm Roasted barley
20gms POR hops
Re-hydrated Safale S-04
Volume 20l -+2lt (my 2nd fermenter doesn't have litre markins on it.

30min boil, POR at 15mins.
Yeast pitched at 24c.

G'day Jez,
Congrats on the brew - looks quite tasty....and you did well avoiding the dextrose and upping the DME. I don't use Choc Malt unless I want a brown ale or porter, or sweet stout. By all means, if what you brew tastes good then fill ya boots! I used to find that choc malt additions tended to muddle the roasted grain flavour profile. My all time favourite dry stout recipe has only UK pale malt and roasted barley in the grainbill - as simple as that. Occasionally I add some flaked unmalted barley to accentuate the silky mouthfeel, but that depends on whether I'm using a UK base malt or local base malt in the grainbill.

I read with interest one of the UK homebrew forums where it seemed like everyone there was going ballistic with Coopers Stout kits, a kilo of dex and that's all! They were raving over the stuff. Your recipe has interesting complexity and I like the decent hop addition you gave to balance the beer after all that extra malt was added...

Let us know how you go with it.

Cheers,
TL

[Bum]

I read with interest one of the UK homebrew forums where it seemed like everyone there was going ballistic with Coopers Stout kits, a kilo of dex and that's all!

I find myself being constantly reminded that a Coopers Stout toucan with a kilo of table sugar won a comp in Queensland. Supposedly a very nice kit.

[Trough Lolly]

I personally think it's one of the best kits going around. It's very hard not to succumb to the kit when you're looking down the barrel at 6 to 8 hours of all grain stout brewing!

Cheers,
TL

[hyjak]

Hey there
Cheers for the response TL, nice to know it should be a nice drop.
It is still sitting in the fermenter, i let it sit at 18-19c for a week and a bit and have recently moved it into my 'fish room' to sit at 22-23c for prob another week.
Will take a gravity reading tonight to see where its at.
Cheers,
Jez

[hyjak]

Bit of an update, just cracked one of these to see how it was progressing.
Mmmm tasty stuff!
Should only get better with age!
Has only been in the bottle since the 18th of this month so not long at all, has been moved into 'storage' so i don't get tempted to start drinking it.