Home Brew Forum

I brewed this last night and pitched the yeast this morning. I hoped to take pictures but the camera battery was dead. I'll try to add some updates as it goes. I'm at work now, but I swear the glorious aromas are still filling my sinuses. Cannot wait to try this one!

SEYMOUR CHOCOLATE MILK STOUT

6 US gallons = 5 Imperial gallons = 22.7 Liters

FERMENTABLES: 12 lbs/5.44 kg total
50% = 6 lb = 2.72 kg, English Maris Otter 2-Row Pale Malt
16.7% = 2 lb = 907 g, Torrified Wheat
8.3% = 1 lb = 454 g, American Chocolate Malt, 350°L much darker and stronger overall than typical English type
8.3% = 1 lb = 454 g, Dark Brown Cane Sugar, in boil
8.3% = 1 lb = 454 g, Lactose, in boil
3% = 6 oz = 170 g, Brown Malt, home roasted
3% = 6 oz = 170 g, Steel-cut Oats, unmalted
2% = 4 oz = 113 g, German Aciduated Malt

Pinch of Calcium Carbonate in mash.

MASHED @ 150°F/65.5°C for 90 minutes. I chose this relatively low temperature because I'm using Windsor yeast which is a fairly low attenuator, and I included lactose which is unfermentable. Used a picnic cooler mashtun. Added ≈ 4 US gallons strike water @ 166°F/74°C. Added a tea kettle of boiling water three times to raise the temperature a couple °F each time.

HOPS: 1.1 oz/31.2 g, Cluster, whole, 7%AA, 90 minutes

BOILED 90 minutes. I added brown sugar, lactose, and hops at beginning. Afterwards, I set outside to cool ambiently (overnight low of 36°F/2.2°C.) I normally use a wort chiller but it was so late I didn't feel like messing with it. I don't really care how this one clears anyway.

In the morning, I poured through metal strainer into fermentor, recorded temperature and OG, then aerated and pitched yeast. I was pleasantly surprised at the OG. I didn't expect such high efficiency, given the high percentage of dark malts and unmalted grains. It's a really nice dark reddish brown color, but not as opaque and black as most stouts.

YEAST: Windsor

I'm hoping to have some cask-conditioned mini-kegs ready when family comes to visit for Thanksgiving in two weeks, but that's wildly optimistic.

STATS: 85% mash efficiency and 75% yeast attenuation
OG: 1.064!
FG: 1.016
ABV: 6.3%
IBU: 23
COLOUR: 30°SRM/59°EBC

That looks tasty Seymour, Very good efficiency also. Is that down to the acidulated malt working its magic on the adjuncts?

barney wrote:That looks tasty Seymour...

Thanks, man! Not far off from a strong mild, huh?

barney wrote:...Very good efficiency also. Is that down to the acidulated malt working its magic on the adjuncts?

That may have contributed, but I don't know, the calcium carbonate in the mash probably neutralized it to some extent. I think it was mainly due to strong diastatic action from the pale malt with a long mash at an ideal temperature. I just hope it doesn't ferment too thin, I'm counting on the Windsor and lactose leaving some much-desired body and mouthfeel. That said, I expected a 5% beer and it looks like I got a 6% one. No arguments here

I wouldn't worry about thinness or lack of mouthfeel with the lactose in there. You may find however that the lactose is responsible for the apparently high OG, deceptive stuff. I add it now in solution once FG is reached. Had too many issues and like to know what is going on without readings being masked by lactose.
Looks delicious, let us know how it goes.

Good advice, Patterd Ale, thanks. Do you just stir-in the lactose powder; any concerns about sanitation so long after the boil?

I mix it with as small a volume of boiling water as possible, and very gently mix with the beer at FG. The problems I have had have been on a commercial scale, so may not be such an issue on home batches. I just found it hard to know where the fermentation was with the lactose present.

Patterd Ale wrote:I mix it with as small a volume of boiling water as possible, and very gently mix with the beer at FG. The problems I have had have been on a commercial scale, so may not be such an issue on home batches. I just found it hard to know where the fermentation was with the lactose present.

Yeah it makes perfect sense. I just figured sugar was sugar and would be accounted for in the OG reading, whether it ferments or not. But I see your point about not really knowing the true attenuation along the way, having added it at the beginning.

And now for something truly different:

I've been experimenting lately with making sour small beers from my spent-grains. I mean, why not? It's being disposed either way. This time, I let my spent Chocolate Milk Stout mash tun "ripen" for three days. Reminder: it contained a small percentage of aciduated malt to hasten the souring. I then added a few hops to the mash tun, sparged again with 3 US gallons (11.3 L), stirred-in 2 lbs golden brown cane sugar to OG 1.048. No boil.

Finally--and this is the really crazy part--I pitched dregs from a mate's delicious wild fermented beer, plus dregs from my seriously sour Imperial Berliner Weiss, plus a wild yeast I cultured from Bulgarian juniper berries, plus a small Duvel bottle culture. It's a whole zoo of microorganisms, but I'm very excited to taste this experiment in a month or so.

Bloody hell Seymour you will drink anything,

barney wrote:Bloody hell Seymour you will drink anything,

Au contraire mon cheri, I'll TRY anything. But if it tastes bad, no way am I drinking it

P.S. Ark of the Covenant?

Always a good policy Seymour.

Glad you like The Ark.

You are a brave and inventive fella, I fear however that you may not be long for this world with such attitudes. Nevertheless, I salute you. Lambic, Bleurgh!

Patterd Ale wrote:You are a brave and inventive fella, I fear however that you may not be long for this world with such attitudes. Nevertheless, I salute you. Lambic, Bleurgh!

Are you kidding?! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. With all this flora in my guts, I can digest anything. Probiotics like lacto bacteria from yogurt and kvass are the reason Monguls, Bulgarians, people of the Russian steppes are the longest lived on earth. Look it up!

seymour wrote:And now for something truly different:

I've been experimenting lately with making sour small beers from my spent-grains. I mean, why not? It's being disposed either way. This time, I let my spent Chocolate Milk Stout mash tun "ripen" for three days. Reminder: it contained a small percentage of aciduated malt to hasten the souring. I then added a few hops to the mash tun, sparged again with 3 US gallons (11.3 L), stirred-in 2 lbs golden brown cane sugar to OG 1.048. No boil.

Finally--and this is the really crazy part--I pitched dregs from a mate's delicious wild fermented beer, plus dregs from my seriously sour Imperial Berliner Weiss, plus a wild yeast I cultured from Bulgarian juniper berries, plus a small Duvel bottle culture. It's a whole zoo of microorganisms, but I'm very excited to taste this experiment in a month or so.

Somehow you make my imagination seem inadequate.

gnutz2 wrote: ...Somehow you make my imagination seem inadequate.

Nah, you just need to free yourself to break some rules. I've noticed homebrewing in the UK is mainly about cloning classic commercial beers, which is great fun. But it would be fun to invent your own recipe that people want to clone, too.

Start with an assumption that everything you know about brewing could be wrong. Pick an aspect to toy with, do a few internet searches on the topic, maybe consult a couple books or historic sources, gather your ingredients, maybe tweak some equipment, then conduct an experiment.

This site is great for inspiration, though, isn't it?! Of course, report back here with your findings