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

[WalesAles]

Hello Everyone,
Made `3 Gall Stout` last night. It was a bugger to cool it down to 21deg for the yeast. I put the FV in a trug under a running tap in the garden, I added Ice blocks from the freezer, still taking ages to cool! Ah Ha, I know, bags of peas and sweetcorn from the freezer! That`ll do it! Mrs Ales said `those bags are open`, No they`re not, Yes they are! Ooops, millions of peas and sweetcorn floating around in my trug! Looked quite nice actually!
WA

[GavH]

[quote="Ditch"]Just take a look at it in twenty four hours. See what it's doing by then. Then look again in another. I suspect you'll see some appreciable stuff [/quote]

Now all but subsided. The Krausen collar on the Coopers FV did the job nicely and, judging by the height of the residue on it, I had a good bit of headroom to spare. I'll leave it alone now for another week or so yet. On the whole, we're looking good!

[Ditch]

Made `3 Gall Stout` last night. It was a bugger to cool it down to 21deg for the yeast.

I don't understand this ~ although I do hear quite a bit of it. How do ye manage to get this simmering hot wort in the first place?

[WalesAles]

I don't understand this ~ although I do hear quite a bit of it. How do ye manage to get this simmering hot wort in the first place? [/quote]

Can in bowl of hot water to loosen the beer a bit, hot water to rinse out can. This is only to 3 galls so there is a lot less cold water going in the brew. OG 1060. If this gets down to 1010 it`s going to be a belter! Lid being pushed off FV this morning, 7 inches of Foam, pushed lid back down, 1/2 hr later lid pushed up again!
WA

[Ditch]

Can in bowl of hot water to loosen the beer a bit, hot water to rinse out can. This is only to 3 galls so there is a lot less cold water going in the brew.

Strange. That's exactly what I do. And, having got the gear in, I only top it up to about three gallons, with cold water. Else it'd swirl out of the FV when I take the drill to it.

I always just figured all that water was enough to cool a single cans worth of hot. Granted, I've never thought to stick a thermometer in it. But, it always works fine.

[WalesAles]

Bloody hell mun! My Cooper`s Stout was out of date 08/07/13. Made beer anyway. Took it back to Tesco for a full refund. They have already cleared the shelves, the b@stards, I could have had loads for free! Will check the dates before I buy next time! There is Coopers Cerveza on shelf with sell by date of 11/08/13, will keep an eye on that!
WA

[GavH]

Been 8 days now so looking to get this stuff into bottles spon and thought I'd take another hydrometer reading. Still sat between the 1012 and 1013 marks which is the same reading I got after about 4 days (OG was 1046) so I'm pretty happy with that. Will leave it til Monday (away over the weekend) and bottle.
Must say, the head on this just putting some in the hydrometer testing jar looks absolutely freaking amazing: rich, creamy and consisting of very fine bubbles. I'm almost tempted to bottle a few without priming and just stick em in the fridge for a week or so.

[Ditch]

I'm almost tempted to bottle a few without priming and just stick em in the fridge for a week or so.

Do yo thang, Gav!

[WalesAles]

Been 8 days now so looking to get this stuff into bottles spon and thought I'd take another hydrometer reading. Still sat between the 1012 and 1013 marks which is the same reading I got after about 4 days (OG was 1046) so I'm pretty happy with that. Will leave it til Monday (away over the weekend) and bottle.
Must say, the head on this just putting some in the hydrometer testing jar looks absolutely freaking amazing: rich, creamy and consisting of very fine bubbles. I'm almost tempted to bottle a few without priming and just stick em in the fridge for a week or so.

Without priming, Bloody lovely mun! With priming, Too sweet! Your choice!
WA

[GavH]

Just poured a half pint practically straight from the FV. 'OMG' is what I believe all the cool kids say these days! The taste, albeit too flat for my liking is unbelievable! Rich, roasty, coffee with more than a hint of liquorice all over. This will be amazing once it's been primed and bottle conditioned.

Thanks Ditch!

[tazzymutt]

Without priming, Bloody lovely mun! With priming, Too sweet! Your choice!
WA

Leave it a little longer next time WA, the added sweetness disappears and a stonking good head will form on your pint. I used 50g of household sugar in my most recent barrelling (a week ago) and the keg has so much pressure in it that the moulded feet are now 5mm away from the work surface it is standing on. I'll transfer the keg to a cool fridge (around 10C) tonight and leave for a week or two to allow the CO2 to absorb. By then brew 1 of the DS will be gone and this will be more than ready to take its place.

Happy brewing,


Ian.

[WalesAles]

Hello Tazzy,
What do you call a little longer? One day, two days or what? This stuff doesn`t like to be on it`s own in my house! I can hear it in the bottles `DRINK ME YOU WIMP!`. Mrs Ales said to me after my last `3 Gall Stout` `Where are you going now?`, I can hear the BEER calling me, it`s in the outhouse on it`s own and it needs to be loved and nurtured by me! Only lasted a week! Bloody lovely mun!
WA

[tazzymutt]

My first batch was a bit sweet when I first tried it and that softened and disappeared over a period of around two weeks. This I think is the chameleon effect that Ditch has reported many times. After a couple of weeks the flavour became far more consistent (and to my taste buds better). As for "How long does it take?" I only have the one datapoint so I can't say. However I suggest small samples until the flavour stabilises will answer that for you.

Happy brewing,


Ian.

[Ditch]

My first batch was a bit sweet when I first tried it and that softened and disappeared over a period of around two weeks. This I think is the chameleon effect that Ditch has reported many times.

That'd be it, Ian. As my stuff seldom lasts long, once I get amongst it, I'd more notice the virtually nightly differences. It's fun!

[punt1971]

Kicked off my Ditch's Stout last night. Looking forward to sampling the finished product