Guinness

[johnmac]

I've not noticed much mention of brewing Guinness on the forum. Is it worth having a go, or is it difficult to replicate the real thing?

[tubby_shaw]

IMO it's fairly easy to brew a dry Irish stout.
The problems come in serving it and getting the tight creamy head.
Only possible to fully replicate with CO2/N2 mixes.
Recipe available if wanted

[RabMaxwell]

It also needs to be a 70 / 30 mix that luckily i have

[Garth]

I wouldn't have said it was exact, but I've put my Oatmeal stout through my beer engine using the white 'tight head' sparkler and it was pretty damn close.

The bubbles were so tight you couldn't see them, just looked like a smooth white blanket which stayed all the way down and the stout itself, and tasted loads better than Guinness, obviously......

[Frothy]

Once you try you'l instantly realise how cheap & overmanufactured modern Guinness actually is. Your homebrew version will undoubtedly be better.
It's just a Dry Irish Stout, that is with one hop addition at the start of the boil to give bitterness but little hop flavour, virtually any hop will do. The Mash is pale malt, roasted barley which gives it the colour & flaked barley which adds proteins for body & head retention, nothing special.
These two recipes are spot on
Pensans Black & Roasty
EB's Irish Stout

just be sure to adjust your mash pH between 5.1-5.7 as that dark malt is acidic
Frothy

[johnmac]

Thanks for that chaps! Is it important to have the right water?

[tubby_shaw]

Thanks for that chaps! Is it important to have the right water?

I have brewed stout in a number of different parts of the UK using differnt liquor and it doesn't seem to make much difference
I think this is mainly due to the high amount of roast barley, it significantly acidifies the mash and then has a buffering effect on the pH that most dissolved salts in drinking water can't affect.
To be completely true to style though I believe soft water is required and I have even seen recommendations to add Chalk to the mash liquor.

[RabMaxwell]

I have made Guinness many times & dispensed by 70 / 30 suremix & it's better than you get in most pubs. The only thing you don't seen to be able to get is the pure white head on top. I read somewhere before that it is because Guinness is filtered. But personally i prefer Wheelers Murphy's / Beamish & one called Linfit English Guineas Stout yum yum. Cheers

[SteveD]

Thanks for that chaps! Is it important to have the right water?

I have even seen recommendations to add Chalk to the mash liquor.

This has been erroneously perpetuated by a number of homebrew writers. As Wheeler points out, chalk is insoluble. Add it to mash, and it just sits there. Unless you're prepared to add sulphuric acid to generate bicarbonate, then nothing is going to happen. And, why would you want to? Bicarbonate is a bad thing, why do you want even more than is already in the liquor. Soft water required for stouts? Hey....lets try and make it harder!! Go figure!!

I'd just add a campden tablet to kill the chloramine/chlorine and if you're water's already soft, leave it at that. If your water is hard, add a teaspoon of lactic acid. The roast malt will acidify the mash beyond that.