" Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

[Ditch]

Does it look vaguely like a brain, Bev's?

Re Hydrating? I used to. Haven't bothered in ages. Just unnecessary faffing about.

[bevvy_merchant]

nope not this time m8, it was like a spiky artex job. its settled down now to yeast bubbles on the surface.

[shazza]

Time to put this one to bed.Over the last few weeks I've tried three different recipes based around Coopers Original Series Stout.(COS)
1:Ditch's Stout ,ie. 1 can COS,1Kg Medium Malt Extract,21Litres spring water.
2:Shazza's Stout :1 can COS,1Kg Muntons Beerkit Enhancer(50/50 Med(?)Spraymalt/Dextrose),21 Litres spring water.
3:Coopers Can Recipe:1 can COS,1KG white sugar,21 Litres spring water.
Method:Heat 5 Litres of water in big pot and dissolve malts and/or sugars in same.Warm can of COS in another pot of hot water simultaneously.Pour can contents into FV.Pour some of hot liquor into partially empty can and rinse out contents.Repeat if neccessary.Pour remainder of cold water from a height into FV(aids oxygenation).Pitch yeast(that's fancy talk for "add yeast").Cover and leave for several days depending on ambient temp. or if a brewbelt or fishtank heater is used.Keg,bottle or Corney and enjoy!
Stats: 1:OG:1032 FG:1012
2:OG:1036 FG:1009
3:OG:1038 FG:1006
These gravity readings are approximate.

Taste testings:First,a declaration of interest.My preferred stout is No.2;been doing it for 18 months now and am well happy with it winter and summer.

No.1:A delicious,nutty full bodied beer suited to cooler climes.I found it
cloying and overly viscous for everyday drinking in any sort of quantity.Would suit an occasional drinker or one happy with one or two pints per night.

No.2:My daily tipple.I dispense from a corney and so have a lovely Nitrogen head on my pints which I consume with irresponsible abandon .Off-white head,medium body,clean finish.Delivers the same sense of satiation that a night in the pub with copious pints of Beamish and loads of cigarettes used to deliver.

No.3:Too thin for draught drinking.Bottled, would make an excellent bottled Guinness substitute.Nontheless a superb tasting beer of character.

In conclusion;Coopers have a fabulous product in this stout kit.It readily accepts deviation from the original recipe and fair play to Ditch for championing this superb stout kit.The only thing I will be considering in the future with regards to this kit and the Coopers Real Ale/Bitter kits will be Dry hopping with Fuggles or Goldings.Any suggestions would be welcome.Cheers fellow brewers!

[Friary]

I'd also be interested to see what kind of effect adding hops would make. Anyone tried doing this?

[marklale]

Hi Ditch , thanks for the post. Ive just ordered the stuff to get one of your stouts on the go. Ive just got a question about the raw can suger.You say that is a late addition. Have you added it to make the stout sweeter or is it for another reason.Cheers.Marklale

[Ditch]

Marklale; That sugar's just to add a bit more to the possible OG, mate. To what extent it might be doing, I couldn't honestly say, as I don't play with hydrometers.

Would ye believe the consideration of it making the brew sweeter never even entered my head? I certainly don't think it makes an appreciable difference though. I've never consciously took a sup and thought, " Blimey, that's sweeter than before."

Oddly, I've been getting the impression my brews of today seem a shade more bitter than 'earlier days'. Perhaps an effect of the ambient temperatures now?

[marklale]

Ok , cheers mate. Looking forward to getting it brewed. Marklale

[Manx Guy]

Hi,

From what I can rememeber sugar will lead to a higher ABV by adding points to the OG and as this ferments out completely (unlike malt) the final gravity is lower compared with (weight for weight) malt extract...

So it may seem drier or more bitter as there is less residual malt to balance the same amount of IBU's in the kit...


Hope that helps!

Guy

[Ditch]

Aha! Cheers for that, Guy. So, it seems like I might actually have a better appreciation of the subtleties of what's going on here, taste wise, than I would ever have given myself credit for?

I'll be buggered.

[Christy Ryan]

Just a bit of advice. Dont use dark muscavado unrefined brown sugar. Mines been in the bottle over a month and a half and there's still a tawg of this stuff off it but you dont notice it after 3 pints! Not waiting any longer to see if it will mellow out any further!

[Dogman]

In my haste to get out of the shop I have bought 1 kilo dark malt rather than medium for my 2nd 'Ditch's Stout'.

Should I ;

1) Just crack on with it.
2) Go back and swap with medium spraymalt.

I do think that this stout is the best kit I have tried so far done as per Ditch's instructions.

[danbrew]

Option one if it was me.

[Dogman]

Cheers for your quick reply beerkiss, I'm at work until weekend then off to beer festival in the lake district at the weekend so will start beer on monday prior too night shift

[micmacmoc]

Hooray!
My wonderful wife has bought me a tin of Ditches, sorry, coopers stout, excellent! I have some malt extract and a spare bucket fermenter. Thats saturday morning taken care of, go raibh maith agat Ditch!

[Ditch]

Dogman; Sorry, mate. I've had a nasty couple of weeks and have been a bit distracted. Bloody back went again and I've virtually been drinking my last dozen gallons through a f**king tube myself!

Anyway, one or two of the last batches I made, I'd made with Dark malt. (I'd cleaned my supplier out of Medium with a big order and he'd had to make it up with some Dark).

Fact is, I forgot which keg held the Dark and never gave it much thought. I never noticed any difference in the eight gallons I got through

As Beerkiss suggested then; Crash on and enjoy! It'll be Officially Acceptable Ditch's Stout