Guinness modifications!

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dean_wales
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Guinness modifications!

Post by dean_wales » Fri Jun 24, 2011 12:39 pm

Hi Guys,

I did a 70 20 10 guiness-ish stout brew that is currently in the FV waiting to receive some yeasty goodness.

The OG is a little low so I am going to be adding some extra dark spraymalt to up the %'s a bit.

My question is this. I just had a bottle of Guinness and while its nice enough I would prefer something a bit thicker and sweeter for my stout. How can I achieve this? I mashed the brew at 66-67c but want a more draught like body.

I have heard about adding some lactose. I would appreciate some advice on that too in terms of quantity etc.

Dean.
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dave-o

Re: Guinness modifications!

Post by dave-o » Fri Jun 24, 2011 12:51 pm

Thicker - more flaked barley (i usually go 25-30%)

Sweeter - a bit of dark crystal perhaps. Molasses is also nice in a sweet stout if you like a slight treacle taste.

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dean_wales
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Re: Guinness modifications!

Post by dean_wales » Fri Jun 24, 2011 1:56 pm

Thanks Dave. I will bear those in mind for my next brew and maybe even some of my darker real ales.

In this instance I was thinking of what to add to the FV now the mashing etc is done?

Thanks,

Dean.
Click here for my cider pressing...
Click here to see my 20% Damson port experiment...
Click here for red wine from my allotment vine...

dave-o

Re: Guinness modifications!

Post by dave-o » Fri Jun 24, 2011 1:58 pm

Well you could certainly add some molasses now. 1/2 to a whole tin dissolved in half a pint of water and boiled for a bit.

No experience of lactose.

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Re: Guinness modifications!

Post by dean_wales » Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:51 pm

Is molasses very fermentable? I would have thought that being sugar it would just be fermented out and contribute mostly flavour and alcohol rather than body/sweetness.

Thanks,
Click here for my cider pressing...
Click here to see my 20% Damson port experiment...
Click here for red wine from my allotment vine...

dave-o

Re: Guinness modifications!

Post by dave-o » Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:53 pm

Actually it is not as fermentable as most sugary things. It's a very crude form of sugar. It's about 70% fermentable IIRC, so not too different to base malts. You can definitely taste it in the finished product.

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dean_wales
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Re: Guinness modifications!

Post by dean_wales » Fri Jun 24, 2011 3:31 pm

I love molasses so might give it a go, I have a jar of it at home. I will pasturise it first though.

Is about a jar the right amount for flavour?
Click here for my cider pressing...
Click here to see my 20% Damson port experiment...
Click here for red wine from my allotment vine...

dave-o

Re: Guinness modifications!

Post by dave-o » Fri Jun 24, 2011 3:46 pm

A whole tin is what i added to my stout. I've never added less.

There is definitely a treacley taste from it, but i wouldn't call it strong or sickly. There's lots of roastiness going on in a stout anyway, so the molasses is never going to overpower that.

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Re: Guinness modifications!

Post by Barley Water » Fri Jun 24, 2011 5:04 pm

Well I have had pretty good luck messing around with the Four Shades of Stout formulation I picked off this forum. The first thing I did as was suggested earlier was to jack up the amount of flaked barley in the receipe, it makes the beer seem more creamy and a bit bigger although the O.G. was fairly low. The unadjusted formulation yields a very smooth beer and I wanted just a bit more roasted barley bite so I started messing around with the proportions of the dark grains and I found a combination that worked, at least in my humble opinion. I also used WLP02 rather than the Irish strain since I wanted just a tad less attenuation and hopefully just a tad of diacetyl. Both those contributions are fairly subtle but noticable. By the way, I like Beamish Stout rather than Guiness just to give you an idea where I am coming from flavor wise.

If you want something sweeter you can go the milk stout route (by adding lactose and crystal malts) or the oatmeal stout route (which is sweeter than dry stout but not as sweet as milk stout) or something in between those styles. Of course, both those beers are traditionally bigger than dry stouts so they are not as sessionable. Also, try some Fuller's London Porter and Meantime Porter, not stouts but close, I really love both of those beers. Actually I would usually go for a porter over stout but dry stout is a great light beer.
Drinking:Saison (in bottles), Belgian Dubbel (in bottles), Oud Bruin (in bottles), Olde Ale (in bottles),
Abbey Triple (in bottles), Munich Helles, Best Bitter (TT Landlord clone), English IPA
Conditioning: Traditional bock bier, CAP
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Next up: Bitter (London Pride like), ESB
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