Chestnut stout.

[TheSheeprug]

Well here in Suffolk it's raining sweet chestnuts if you stand under the right tree, so since it's a very starchy nut - more of a fruit really - I'm thinking it might work as an adjunct during the mash. Looking back through the forum I see other people have tried brewing with chestnuts and chestnut syrup, so what I'm planning is taking a Guinness clone recipe and substituting some of the flaked barley with crushed roasted chestnuts. Thus we end up with something like:

Pale malt: 3500g
Flaked barley 500g
Roasted chestnuts: 500g
Roasted barley: 450g

plus bittering hops to about 40 EBU.

Any thoughts on this?

SR

[subfaction]

I can't comment on the recipe formula. But the chestnut thing sounds awesome... keep us posted on how it turns out!

[seymour]

I LOVE this idea. One of my favorite beers, from one of my favorite brewers, is Urban Chestnut Winged Nut. It is absolutely delicious. Theirs also contains actual chestnuts, but is based on a German Dunkelweizen instead of stout. The brewer is pretty forthcoming about his process, but unfortunately doesn't reveal much about the chestnut usage, percentage of fermentables, etc...
I know you said stout, but in case you're interested:

Winged Nut, Revolution Series #1:
We affectionately refer to the first beer in our Revolution series of modern, American craft beer, as our unusual little bird. It’s a little on the flighty side @ 5.7% ABV, and it’s a little on the wacky side because we brew it with finely milled chestnuts (genus castanea …for you nut freaks), Willamette hops, and we ferment it with a Bavarian Weissbier yeast strain. All of these nuances contribute to its ‘nutty’ personality. Stats: 25 IBU, 5.7% ABV, 14.5 Original Gravity

Brewer's Tips:
Original Gravity: 13.0%
Mashing: Infusion mash
Mash in at 131 deg F
Rest at 146 deg F for 45 min
Heat to 162 deg F and rest for 45 min
Heat to 172 deg F
Transfer mash

Boil: Boil for 90 min

Hops: Oregon Willamette
Target IBU: 25
Hop Additions: Add 70% of total amount at the start of the boil, Add 30% of total amount at the end of the boil
Yeast: Bavarian Wheat Yeast
Fermentation Profile: Ferment at 66 deg F. Mature at 32 - 34 deg F for 3 weeks

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/urban-ches ... ut/139194/
http://urbanchestnut.com/age-verification-default

[TheSheeprug]

Thanks Seymour, Subfaction,

The winged Nut looks interesting - thanks. I was thinking of stout simply because it already has quite a lot of unmalted mash content and worked very well, but also I wasn't sure how well the final result would clear. I think i'll have a go this weekend. I'm also rather minded to add a little chocolate malt too, though that might confuse things a little.

SR

[seymour]

Bump.

So, did you end up brewing your Chestnut Stout idea?

[TheSheeprug]

Bump.

So, did you end up brewing your Chestnut Stout idea?

Yup - brewed it in the end, but with a modified recipe since I'd run out of roasted barley, and after lightly roasting the chestnuts they weighed a little less than I hoped.

Crystal Malt 130 EBC 0 lbs. 14.0 oz 400 grams 7.5%
Flaked Barley 0 EBC 0 lbs. 14.0 oz 400 grams 7.5%
Black Malt 1300 EBC 0 lbs. 5.3 oz 150 grams 2.8%
Chocolate Malt 1050 EBC 0 lbs. 5.3 oz 150 grams 2.8%
Pale Malt 5 EBC 8 lbs. 13.0 oz 4000 grams 74.8%
Chestnuts - light 10 EBC 0 lbs. 8.8 oz 250 grams 4.7%

Target Whole 11.4 % 90 mins 0 lbs. 1.1 oz 30 grams 100%

Final Volume: 23 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.054
Final Gravity: 1.015
Bitterness: 35.4496176344824 EBU
Colour: 149 EBC

i've just sampled a little and the flavour is very good indeed, though the chestnut flavour is difficult to detect. I think I probably overdid it on the other malts. I've still got some chestnuts, so maybe I'll try again in in a few weeks time - probably with the original recipe.

SR

[seymour]

...I've just sampled a little and the flavour is very good indeed, though the chestnut flavour is difficult to detect. I think I probably overdid it on the other malts...

Still sounds like a great beer to me. Feel free to increase the chestnuts, but on the other hand, the philosophy of Belgian brewmasters is to use any creative ingredient but if you can recognize it in the final beer, you used too much. I notice nuts in beer, not so much the exact nutty taste, but more like the dry, almost-astringent-but-not-in-a-bad-way tannins in the mouthfeel, like nut skins/shells or unripe fruit or tea with the bag soaked for too long. Not sure if that makes sense, but read it again while sipping your next beer and I bet you'll see what I mean.