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

[barneey]

Its just been served from a traditional beer keg, which as Ditch has pointed out with CO2, most of my beers are served with just enough co2 to get it out of the keg after a condition period of 3 or 4 days at 15psi of co2.

I normally end up with a slightly carbonated product + a good head to a pint.

The beer enhancer as an additon with the Coopers kit has almost certainly improved the head retention. Carapils also does the same thing for AG brewing.

Best advice is to trial and error the brewing / serving equipment you have until you find the sweet spot / how you like to drink a pint. I`m not a member of Camra or the like and firmly believe in serving the beer to my taste / style not because an organisation says so. If and more importantly WHEN (because you will) you find that sweet spot - try and remember how you got there.

[GavH]

Ditch, Barneey, Thanks for the replies. I made my last Stout in the 'Ditch's style' up to a point - The point being when I had to bottle it as I didn't own a keg. The head retention doesn't bother me as much as the look and feel of it as the bubbles on mine seem quite big and nowhere near as creamy as the one in the pic. I'll need to do another Stout as soon as my Razorback IPA kit has been drained from my newly acquired KK!

[ianh82]

finally managed to put my ditchs stout on tonight at my temporary brewery round me mates and smelt lovely.

20 ltrs of water with half cambden
1 kg of dark malt
cup of brown sugar
coopers yeast
coopers stout

smelt devine. no hydro so don;t know gravity.

when i go to bottle it, do i use carb drops in the ltr pets?? i have the carb drops but not sure if i use them.

[Pinto]

Use plain white sugar - no real difference

[Ditch]

When i go to bottle it, do i use carb drops in the ltr pets?? i have the carb drops but not sure if i use them.

And ye were doing so f**king well, up till that point!

[ianh82]

lol. i need to bottle this lot ditch, no place for me keg at my parents

[Pinto]

You should ladle it out of the FV into a pint glass like the man himself

[Ditch]

I just dunk the glass in there. Stout halfway up my forearm

[tazzymutt]

I don't drink my brews as fast as Ditch does his so I use a cheapo pressure barrel, rather than drinking straight from the FV (actually I think even Ditch uses a glass; it's just that his brews don't get stored long enough to be worth transferring from the FV). To keep the brew fresh I prime the barrel (my only planned deviation from "The One True Way") with 40 to 50g of table sugar. This gives me enough pressure to get right to the bottom without needing to top the CO2 up and I have to crack the tap slowly to avoid a beer shower. Although I do get a significant amount of good creamy head on the pint, it settles back into the brew by the time I get to the bottom of the glass (no waste) and there is no discernible dissolved gas in the beer. Perfect. Thanks for the tips Ditch; I now have a bankable brew that all my friends agree is as good as anything they have had anywhere else.

Happy brewing (even happier drinking!),


Ian.

[widdersbel]

I made a Not-Exactly-Ditch's Stout this weekend - 1x Coopers Stout kit, 1kg Muntons dark DME, 200g sugar, all thrashed together with an electric hand whisk, topped up to 20L. I may have deviated slightly by adding a splash of EKG hop tea.

I have to say, the whisking made a very impressive head that took ages to die down - ought to be pretty well mixed and aerated, but I'll get a plasterer's paddle and do it properly next time.

I don't have a heater but it's already bubbling away nicely at room temp. It may take a bit longer to ferment out than an authentic Ditch's Stout but it'll be less messy.

Looking forward to this one!

[crafty john]

I made a Not-Exactly-Ditch's Stout this weekend - 1x Coopers Stout kit, 1kg Muntons dark DME, 200g sugar, all thrashed together with an electric hand whisk, topped up to 20L. I may have deviated slightly by adding a splash of EKG hop tea.

I have to say, the whisking made a very impressive head that took ages to die down - ought to be pretty well mixed and aerated, but I'll get a plasterer's paddle and do it properly next time.

I don't have a heater but it's already bubbling away nicely at room temp. It may take a bit longer to ferment out than an authentic Ditch's Stout but it'll be less messy.

Looking forward to this one!

dont count on it being less messy, if it wants to spew it will

[Ditch]

I made a Not-Exactly-Ditch's Stout this weekend - I may have deviated slightly by adding a splash of EKG hop tea.

Why???


Hand whisks? I tried one. It's still in the corner, years later, as I try to decide how to chuck it out.

I found it just tore into the top of the liquid and sprayed wet everywhere, including onto and into itself. Complete waste of time and dangerous. Liquid and electricity have never appealed to me, in tandem.

My long armed paddle now reaches down into the extracts at the bottom of the FV. Liquefies the lot and still leaves a crazy head or aerated nonsense on top.

I ferment, as said, at 22C. I don't like to be kept waiting!

[WalesAles]

Hello Everyone!
Bottled 34 pints of Stout Saturday in 1 1/2 hrs! 5.5% Result! Empty house, nobody in my way, Awesome! Lovely pint! 1/2 hr later another Stout made in FV at 22deg.
Added 2 mugs Sugar (instead of Sensei`s one), OG 1058 should be 6.3%. 18 Lt Brew.
Another taste test Sunday, Mmmmmm.......Stout.
Taste testing one now.......Mmmmmm.
Just ordered another heater off Father Christmas so I can get 2 brews on the go. (Mrs Ales asked me what I wanted for Christmas, so now she knows). Mrs Ales also bought me 2 Coopers Stouts and a Coopers English Bitter for £27 from Tesco Direct. Another result!
WA.

[widdersbel]

I made a Not-Exactly-Ditch's Stout this weekend - I may have deviated slightly by adding a splash of EKG hop tea.

Why???

I like hops! Not saying it's an improvement, and definitely not questioning the One True Way, it's just a personal taste thing. On my own head be it if it tastes horrible.

Hand whisks? I tried one. It's still in the corner, years later, as I try to decide how to chuck it out.

I found it just tore into the top of the liquid and sprayed wet everywhere, including onto and into itself. Complete waste of time and dangerous. Liquid and electricity have never appealed to me, in tandem.

Agreed, but a whisk is better than nothing, and safe enough if you're careful with it. I used the whisk before I'd added too much liquid, so it could reach to the bottom of the FV. I will probably get a long plasterer's paddle at some point, just haven't yet.

I ferment, as said, at 22C. I don't like to be kept waiting!

Me neither - hence I thought it would be better to get the brew on now rather than wait until I've got round to buying a heater!

[alexlark]

I took advantage of the latest tesco direct offers. Got myself 2 tins of coopers stout. Had my order from the homebrew company delivered yesterday so stocked up on dark dme. Ditch's stout here we come!