Smaller Stout Kits?

[Gill]

Hi all,

HHMBO is asking me if I have any plans to brew him a stout in the near future. I didn't, but he's giving me THAT look (the pout), so I may have to consider it. However, given that I don't generally drink stout, I was wondering if there are any decent kits out there that produce rather less than the 40pt standard? To be honest, about 20 would be perfect as I could bottle that up for him to drink over a good while.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Gill.

[Mike the pint supper]

I'd either just brew something like a coopers stout or anyother stout kit to 20 pints just don't add sugar and u will get a gravity of1040 just from the malt in the can. Will be a bit more bitter than a true 40pints but as it's stout should be fine or add 500g of sugar and make a imperial stout!

[Gill]

Ooh, now THAT I can see him going a bit doolally for! I'd definitely get brownie points - at least after he came around from the alcoholic coma.

Thanks for the info, I may well do that.

Gill.

[Normski]

Hi Gill
I agree with Mike the Coopers Stout is a cracker. Your man is gonna be well pleased. Another option that you may want to consider is a can of Coopers stout and 1 kg of medium Spray malt and only make it up to 30 pints its quick to make, usauly about a week and I start to drink it after another 3 days in a keg. Bottling it would be just as good. Get him to start collecting bottles. The coopers kits are great kits and easy to make and the stout is one of the best anywhere.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

Personally, I wouldn't push a one-can kit of any stout as far as brewing it down to 20 pints. It'll probably end up significantly more bitter that an IPA which may or may not suit your OH's tastes. Assuming you've got enough bottles, brew it at its designed 40 pints with 1 KG of spraymalt. I think you'll be surprised how quickly it disappears

EDIT: read some of the threads about Coopers Stout so you're forewarned about its somewhat lively ferment

[cwrw gwent]

Edme make a wonderful stout. You can make it to 40 pints by adding sugar or 24 pints merely using the contents of the can. Lots of people on this forum recommend Cooper's Stout. I've had good results from the Munton's Connoisseurs Export Stout kit (40 pints) as well.

It may be worthwhile making a full 40 pints and bottling them to enjoy the different range of tastes as they mature over the months - if you can make them last that long.

[Garth]

Gill,

Hop and Grape do a Brupaks Beers of the World Dry Irish stout, it makes 10 litres (roughly 17 1/2 pints) and is only £10.95

Brupaks are really good kits, I believe you've done a Fixby, one of their best, so you already knew that....!

[Gill]

Edme make a wonderful stout. You can make it to 40 pints by adding sugar or 24 pints merely using the contents of the can.

Ooh, my LHBS has Edme cans on offer at the moment - around 8 pounds I think? Might get one in as an inexpensive first foray. Does brewing it without adding the extra sugar, and making up to 24 pints, really still make a tasty stout?

It may be worthwhile making a full 40 pints and bottling them to enjoy the different range of tastes as they mature over the months - if you can make them last that long.

The thing is, it'd be almost exclusively NOT for me, I'm really not a stout fan. I tend to crave it about twice a year, drink a bottle, then be done with the stuff for at least another 6 months. So HHMBO would have a lot of booze to get through if you also factor in my Pilsner, the Fixby Gold coming up next for the keg, and the fact that I currently don't drink very much at all due to the fact I'm feeding a baby! Those points, and the fact that we have limited space in a 2-bedroom flat (already full of carboys, fv buckets and bottles!), are why I'd rather make a smaller batch.

Thanks for the advice, muchly appreciated.

Gill x

[Gill]

Hop and Grape do a Brupaks Beers of the World Dry Irish stout, it makes 10 litres (roughly 17 1/2 pints) and is only £10.95

Definitely worth knowing, thanks Garth! 17.5 pints sounds about perfect for a smallish but reasonable batch. Now I wonder...if I promise to brew him a stout, can I bribe him into brewing me a chablis-type wine in return...?

Brupaks are really good kits, I believe you've done a Fixby, one of their best, so you already knew that....!

I've not put the Fixby on yet, it's going on later this week and into the keg next week. I've heard very good things about Brupaks stuff though, hence buying it. Well, that and the fact that I was raised in Yorkshire, so the "Pride of Yorkshire" range appealed on a patriotic basis. *grin*

I love this forum. Can I move my comfy chair in and settle in for the duration?

Gill x

[pauljmuk]

How about getting a 1.5kg can of dark malt extract (liquid) from Brewgenie (Coopers, only 6.95) and looking up a recipe of your own. That way you can add less spraymalt / sugar and adjust a recipe to 19 pints only.

As the cans are only 6.95, even if you threw a fifth of it away to avoid over bitterness, you are not really losing much cash.

[Gill]

@pauljmuk - I hadn't thought of that, and I might do it for my next one when I'm a little braver and more confident with the general method. I'm afraid HHMBO has got rather attached to the idea of the Brupaks Dry Irish Stout in the last few minutes (I sent him a message with all the choices and he JUMPED at that one!), so it looks like that'll be my first stout brew.

So, next question: Is the Brupaks stout fantastic just 'as is', or would you recommend any particular additions? If I'm going to make him a stout when I don't drink it, I want him to LOVE it.

Sorry for all the blatant newbie questions, and thanks for your patience.

Gill x

[OldSpeckledBadger]

So, next question: Is the Brupaks stout fantastic just 'as is', or would you recommend any particular additions?

Everything you need is in the kit.

[Garth]

So, next question: Is the Brupaks stout fantastic just 'as is', or would you recommend any particular additions?

Everything you need is in the kit.

agreed, I never added anyhting to a Brupaks and they came out really drinkable.

[Gill]

agreed, I never added anyhting to a Brupaks and they came out really drinkable.

That just makes me look forward to my Fixby Gold even more.

Will definitely get the Dry Irish Stout kit. Wonder if Him Indoors will do the dishes more often if I threaten to withdraw his stout priveleges?