Black Dog Stout - 060909

[adm]

Bobba,

It came out so well, that the whole keg only lasted a week or so! I'll brew that again with the same grain bill.

Stouts are pretty forgiving so it should make an easy first AG - plus the hops don't really matter too much as you are only looking for the bitterness.

For the yeast, I'd probably go either Nottingham or SO4.

Have fun with it!

[mysterio]

Which yeast did you use in your version ADM. I like the look of the recipe

[Bobba]

Bobba,

It came out so well, that the whole keg only lasted a week or so! I'll brew that again with the same grain bill.

Stouts are pretty forgiving so it should make an easy first AG - plus the hops don't really matter too much as you are only looking for the bitterness.

For the yeast, I'd probably go either Nottingham or SO4.

Have fun with it!

That was the answer I was looking for! haha thought it looked like a tasty one!
Figured a stout would be a good starting brew, and they're also the ones you can't brew in Graham's book without going AG
Just need to sus my vessel/mash tun/hlt combo....but that's best left for another thread!
Cheers for the info and the recipe, I'll be sure to report back!

[roger the dog]

Can you remember the F.G. on this one ADM ? I pitched 2 packs of Nottingham in mine a week ago (S.G. 1.052) & it looks like it's finished at 1.023 which seems a little high to me, although looking back through my brew log the other 2 stouts I've done have both finished around 1.020

[adm]

I can do better than that.....I can consult my extensive, voluminous and somewhat boring digitally archived notes ( I know that one day, these recipes and process notes are going to be worth millions. Millions, I tell you....)

This finished up at 1017 after two weeks in the FV at 18C. I roused it after the first week, then left it alone for another week. Target FG was 1012-1014, and I forgot to use any yeast nutrient (which I normally do, just as a belt & braces approach)

[roger the dog]

Hmmmm, I wonder if I should give it a gentle stir then or maybe pitch some S-04 to see if that'll finish it off. The fermentation did get off to a slow start on account of the temp. being too low so the yeast might not have been too happy

Anyway, thanks for the info

[crookedeyeboy]

Hi ADM

This recipe IS going to be worth millions one day as I have been recommending it to EVRYONE! I have converted a few people already who were dubious of stouts! Anyway...

This finished up at 1017 after two weeks in the FV at 18C. I roused it after the first week, then left it alone for another week. Target FG was 1012-1014, and I forgot to use any yeast nutrient (which I normally do, just as a belt & braces approach)

Do you always do this with all brews or just the heavy stout kinda stuff? Ive got some and wondered about using it next time as I did a Gobhoblin and it stuck at 1019....although I had no trouble in getting the BDS down to the correct FG...

Cheers

[roger the dog]

....although I had no trouble in getting the BDS down to the correct FG...

What did you get yours down to then CEB ? It was your rave review of this that inspired me to do it BTW

[adm]

Hi ADM

This recipe IS going to be worth millions one day as I have been recommending it to EVRYONE! I have converted a few people already who were dubious of stouts! Anyway...

This finished up at 1017 after two weeks in the FV at 18C. I roused it after the first week, then left it alone for another week. Target FG was 1012-1014, and I forgot to use any yeast nutrient (which I normally do, just as a belt & braces approach)

Do you always do this with all brews or just the heavy stout kinda stuff? Ive got some and wondered about using it next time as I did a Gobhoblin and it stuck at 1019....although I had no trouble in getting the BDS down to the correct FG...

Cheers

Thanks!

I always bung in about a half teaspoon of Brupaks yeast vit (the stuff that smells like Marmite)- not sure if it actually does anything or not, but better safe than sorry in my opinion!

[crookedeyeboy]

What did you get yours down to then CEB ? It was your rave review of this that inspired me to do it BTW

I think I was aiming for 1018 and got it bang on for once! It is still one of my personal faves only got a few left so will get another one on the go soon!

[Bobba]

Planning on whacking this on this weekend. How much of the hops do you use for the first wort?

[Deebee]

I dont have any cara III

I do have both light and dark crystal though.

Could this be an option and still produce the smoothness and body.

what was the mash temp?

[adm]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the slow replies, just got home from a trip.

@Bobba: All of them!

@DB: Not sure on the crystal malts....I think if I had no carafa, I'd use a bit of dark crystal, but it would give you a sweeter result. I'd probably only use 250g of it - and maybe up the chocolate and roasted malts a tad.

As for the mash temp, my notes show it was 67C, but the pictures show 66.6C - the Devil's mash temperature!

[Bobba]

@Bobba: All of them!

Wow! Is that right! Craziness. The only bits I've read about first wort hopping is you do 10-30% of the hops. Never seen anyone put all of them in. Great stuff.
I've seen you first wort hop a lot ADM, do you always throw them all in, or sometimes hold some back for the boil to start at least?

[adm]

I like first wort hopping..... I can't say for sure whether it makes any better beer, but it certainly makes good beer! For me, it's just easier to bung the bittering hops into the kettle as I get set up for the brewday. I only do this for the bittering hops though - I'm also a demon for large amounts of late hops too....unless I'm brewing a Weiss or a Stout or something like that.