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

[poo hed]

ditch; what's the difference in taste between someone having a sample from the fv (made to your recipe) before priming on bottling day and you "getting at it" on "kegging day" ?

[Fish'n'Chips]

Not the exact Ditch's Stout as I bottled it but this stuff is A1.....had a bottle after 1,2 and 3 weeks.....if it gets any better I'll be making sure I never run out

[Ditch]

if it gets any better I'll be making sure I never run out

That's a policy I've adopted and tried to abide by since some time ago!

[LeeH]

Wahooo! Ive got a brew on the go.

I put the yeast in at 25deg and its been there for 10 hours. Heater is set at 20deg.

No sign of much life yet, hope its OK. It smelt fab!

[Ditch]

Ive got a brew on ..... its been there for 10 hours..... at 20deg..... No sign of much life yet.....

Be careful what ye wish for ..... 10. 9. 8 .....

[LeeH]

Oooo, its starting to move!

[Ditch]

Now just leave the lod alone. If ye have an air lock in there? For chrissakes throw the damn thing away! By later tonight, certainly by morning, that bastard'll have blown the f**king lid clean off. Sealed down or not. Mine do this, even with the air lock hole open. God knows what happens in that room

[LeeH]

Yeah, got an airlock in it. Best take it out before it shoots itself through the kitchen ceiling.

[LeeH]

Delete me...

[Ditch]

Sorted that out for ye

See? What did I tell ye? And what purpose is that silly babies rattle thing in the top serving?

[LeeH]

Cheers, my heater goes through the bung so i thought id keep it in.

What code did you use to get the image up? I put the img tags around it....

[Ditch]

Actually, mate; Those were the HTML tags. Ye need to use [IMG].

[Fish'n'Chips]

Lent has cometh....no more stout for me

At least it should taste even better at the end

[Ditch]

Happily, following No religion, I get to stay pissed permanently!

However, while I'm trying to get my sh!t together, between bouts, I study ways of pushing forward the frontiers of " Ditch's Stout ". This, obviously, involves following other threads on here. Various people offer their ideas on how to add a zest of this, or that, to a beer. Often as not a stout ~ where I read.

Again, the push usually focuses on Chocolate. And everything out there has been mooted, tested, discussed. Melted in chocolate. Chocolate Malt. Chocolate Essence. Co Co Nibs. What ever.

Cutting to the chase? Inspired by a thread featuring the 'successful' use of " Chocolate Essence ", I went into town, roday, and managed to find the seeming next best thing. " Coffee Extract ".

This outfit do a Chocolate Extract too. Shop in town just doesn't stock that one, yet. Coffee is always a second choice in stout. So, I bought a bottle and have been 'experimenting', all night.

Verdict ~ just before I collapse in a f**king heap? I've been using an eye dropper. Started at two drops and have worked my way up. Per pint. Finally sampling the same measures over, of course, to home in on the right level. I'd suggest ye try Fifteen Drops in a Pint.

At that level, ye getting Definite coffee tones. Thirty, thirty five drops in a pint? It's getting more like alcoholic coffee!

I have a 2.5 ml syringe here. Might it help if I tried to match these 'Drop' values to ml's?

Please remember; This is an experiment in purest 'second best', for me. I wanted chocolate. I could only get coffee. Anyone can get this outfits Chocolate Extract and run some taste tests, on my stout? I'd be interested to hear about it

[gratefuldave54]

Good job you aint religious Ditch cos coffee in Ditch's Stout could be sacrilege