Screwy's Recipe #38 - Barley Stout

 The last stout I brewed back in September was the first stout recipe I had made using DME and steeping grains. In this first recipe I included 6 different types of steeping grains added to a dark DME base. The yeast I picked for that brew was Safale S-04 dry ale yeast and after sampling before bottling it tasted good.

 The recipe I'm about to describe is a bit different than the first recipe in that it uses only 3 different types of grains added to a light DME base this time. Both recipes use Kent Golden UK hops but the new recipes doubles the boil time to a total of 60 minutes to add more bitterness.

Kent Golden UK Hops Boiled For 60 Minutes

I used qBrew's default 'Dry Stout' style guidelines to crunch the recipe's numbers. You can download the latest qBrew database below and use it to upgrade your current ingredient database. This latest ingredient database includes more yeast, fruits, extracts and other helpful entries then ever before.

 Click to download Screwy's latest qBrew database   

Recipe:
Click to download this recipe file for qBrew 
Size 2.13 gallons: Estimated IBU=37, SRM=31, OG=1.049, FG=1.012, ABV=4.7%

1/8 pound Carapils 
1/8 pound Crystal 10L
3/8 pound Roasted Barley
2 pounds Muntons DME - Light

1 ounce Kent Goldings (UK) pellet hops boiled for 60 minutes

11 grams Danstar Windsor British Ale yeast
Pitched at 65F and fermented at 65F

Directions:
Heat 10.5 quarts of filtered water to 160F
Add grains and steep for 30 minutes between 152-157F

Remove grain bag and add hops then boil wort for 60 minutes
Rehydrate yeast in 90F sterile water with 30 minutes left to boil
Add DME to wort with 15 minutes remaining in the boil
Add 1/8 tab of Whirlfloc with 10 minutes remaining in the boil
Remove from heat and remove hop sack

Use Screwy's Cooler until wort temperature cools to 65F
Pour cooled wort into fermenter keg and pitch yeast  
Ferment at constant 65F temperature for 21 days

The primary fermentation took off really fast and it produced a lot of trub. I am determined this time to pour a beer as clear and clean as I can without resorting to filtering of any kind. I figured it was time to rack the Barley Stout over to a secondary fermenter where it will finish out the rest of the fermentation. 

 Router Table Used As The Racking Platform

 I found an old discarded metal router table that was just perfect for the job, it was sturdy and just the right height for moving beer from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter. I put the primary fermentation keg on the top of the racking stand and inserted a length of rigid plastic tubing inside the locking spigot of the primary.

 The rigid tubing was cut from an extra bottle filling want I had ordered when I ordered the locking spigots from the Mr. Beer website a while back. The tubing is cut long enough so that the bottom of the tube is about 1/2 inch up from the bottom of the secondary fermenter to eliminate splashing when the beer flows into the secondary. Excessive splashing can cause oxidation of your beer and introduce unwanted 'wet cardboard' flavors, you want to reduce or eliminate splashing whenever possible.

Racking Fermented Beer To A Clean Sanitized Secondary

I rack my bigger beers that tend to have a lot of malt, hop debris and fallen out yeast to secondary fermenters to keep them clear and free of trub. The idea is to leave all the debris behind in the primary fermenter so very little of it ends up in the bottled or kegged beer.

Recipe #35 - Irish Stout

 This recipe marks a turning point for me for two reasons, it's my first recipe using grains and Dry Malt Extract (DME) instead of canned extract and it was given to me by a really experienced brewer, Joe Bair at Princeton Homebrew. As Joe explained it when using canned extracts like Un-hopped Malt Extracts (UME) you don't know what is actually in the extract, the amounts and types of ingredients are never published by the manufacturer. The same is even truer for Hopped Malt Extracts (HME) with the added mystery of not knowing what type or quantity of hops were used for bittering, flavor and aroma.

Stout Bottling Sample With Residual Co2

 Brewing beer using DME allows a brewer to put their mark on the beers they brew since the bags are clearly marked with which types and percentages of grains were used to make it. Using DME also makes your recipe's hop selection and schedule easier to figure out since DME has no hops already added to it. This allows your to be more creative in selecting the type of hops and boil times needed to get the right flavors, aroma and bitterness into your beer.

  The addition of the freshest specialty grains to the recipe's base malt provides the color, flavors and caramelized sugars that add the depth and complexity needed to produce a superior beer. The English Ale yeast was selected for its ability to form a compact sedimentation that produces a beer with improved clarity and the use of traditional English hops add the authentic Stout taste. 

I used qBrew's default 'Irish Stout' style guidelines to crunch the recipe's numbers.

 Click to download Screwy's latest qBrew database   

Recipe:
Size 2.13 gallons: Estimated IBU=38, SRM=34, OG=1.047, FG=1.012, ABV=4.5%
Click to download this recipe file for qBrew
1/8 pound Black Patent
1/8 pound Carapils
1/8 pound Chocolate Malt
1/8 pound Crystal 60L
1/8 pound Roasted Barley
2 pounds Muntons DME - Dark

1 ounce Kent Goldings (UK) pellet hops boiled for 30 minutes

11.5 grams Fermentis Safale S-04 yeast
Pitched at 65F and fermented at 65F

Directions:
Steep grains for 30 minutes at 155-165F in 5 quarts filtered water

Heat wort to rolling boil

Add and boil 1 oz. hops for 30 minutes

Stir in DME and boil for 5 minutes

Use wort chiller or ice bath until wort temperature cools to 70F

Add 3 quarts cold filtered water to Mr. Beer fermenter

Pour cooled wort into fermenter keg, aerate and pitch yeast

Ferment at constant 65F temperature for 21 days

 Stout Wort Boil With Kent Golding Hops

Recipe #34 - St. Patrick's Irish Stout

 In keeping with my promise to create and brew 6 interesting new versions of Mr. Beer favorite recipes using grains and upgraded yeasts for fermentation, I came up with the following St. Patrick's Irish Stout recipe. All the ingredients used, except for the grains, are available to order on the Mr. Beer website.

I used qBrew's default 'Irish Stout' style guidelines to crunch the recipe's numbers.

 Click to download Screwy's latest qBrew database

Directions:
Steep grains at 155F for 30 minutes in 1.5 quarts water
Boil hops in wort for 30 minutes, turn off flame and remove hops
Stir in HME and UMEs after flame out
Place in ice bath until wort temperature cools to 70F
Add 6 quarts cold filtered water to Mr. Beer fermenter
Pour cooled wort into fermenter keg and pitch yeast
Ferment at constant 62F temperature for 21 days

Recipe:
Size 2.13 gallons: Estimated IBU=32, SRM=38, OG=1.065, FG=1.016, ABV=6.3%

1/2 pound Crystal 10L steeped at 155F for 30 minutes
1 Can St. Patrick's Irish Stout (HME)
2 Cans Mellow Amber (UME)

1/4 ounce Goldings (US) pellet hops boiled for 30 minutes

1 Pouch Mr. Beer Liquid Stout yeast
Pitched at 62F and fermented at 62F