PoP's Stout 17/4/2008

[Jymbo]

I just finished brewing a 16L batch of PoP's Stout. I adjusted the recipe to 16L and changed the hops to suit my inventory. Came up like this:

PoPs Strong Stout (16L)

3.5 kg Maris Otter Pale
700g Crystal
350g Flaked Barley
350g Carapils
350g Roasted Barley
210g Chocolate Malt
175g Black Patent

Bittering Hops (boiled 70 mins)

60g EKGs (4.2%)
15g Northern Brewer (9.5%)

One third tsp Yeast Nutrient (AKA Fermax) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
1 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1 tsp gypsum to mash and sparge liquor (half each)

I intended to set the strike temp about 71 degrees but ended up with a temperature of about 61 degrees after doughing in so I had to add extra boiling water which made the mash a little thin. Mashed at 66 degrees for 90 mins.

Batch sparged - think I used a little too much water - not used to brewing 16L batches!

Anyway, added hops at start of boil and boiled for 70 mins adding Irish moss and yeast nutrient 10 mins before the end.

Pitched 2L starter of Wyeast Irish Ale yeast (made two days ago).

Sadly I missed the target of 16L at 1072 by a country mile. Ended up with 17L at 1057. This was further diluted by the 2L starter.

I'll have to do some serious research into efficiency before my next brew!

Hopefully this one will turn out decent anyway. If it ferments well enough it should come out around the 5.5-6% mark.

Jymbo

[flytact]

Looks good.
If you boiled down that extra liter, you may have gotten closer to 1072.

[Jymbo]

Cheers, flytact,

I was planning for a 60 min boil and extended it to 70 as I knew the gravity was a bit light, but I didn't know how much I'd lose to hops and trub so I stopped at 70 mins. Hopefully it'll taste good anyway. The airlock's starting to bubble now after about 4 hours so it's off to a good start.

Jymbo

[Jymbo]

Took the gravity this morning and it's down to 1017. Had a taste too - lovely rich flavour - I detect a very very slight fruit flavour/sweetness which is probably not right for the style, but it's not altogether unpleasent. I reckon I probably fermented a bit on the high side, temperature has been around 20C for most of the time. This probably accounts for the quick fermentation too.

All the same, I'm pretty happy with the taste - I was worried it would be far too bitter because of the poor efficiency, but it seems spot on.

[Jymbo]

I make my efficiency out to be 68.75% for this brew. Can anyone verify that I've done the figures right?

I calculate the potential to be 1088 for 16L (assuming Carapils to yield the same as Crystal)

I achieved 1057 in 17L which I calculate to be the equivalent of 1060.5 in 16L.

60.5/88 * 100 = 68.75%

Is this right?

Jymbo

[Jymbo]

Cheers, DaaB, I thought the dark malts contributed no sugars. Need to do some serious reading up on efficiency

[Jymbo]

That's a useful piece of information. I'm sure my efficiency wasn't as low as that on previous brews but I've never done anything with a gravity this high before.

[Jymbo]

FG finished up at 1014. Bottled last Thursday after a week in the FV. This was probably a bit early as there is a fairly thick sediment in the bottles already, but I've been used to S-04 which is much more flocculant. But the airlock had stopped bubbling for a few days, and the gravity had stopped falling so I thought it was time.

Anyway, I couldn't resist opening a bottle last night (after 3 days in the bottle!) and it tastes excellent already. It's lightly carbonated, just as I like it, so I suppose it may end up a little bit too carbonated.. or maybe it won't get the chance