Thoughts on a recipe?

[CJR]

Hi everybody,

I'm planning the move to AG and I'm wondering if someone can give me any pointers on a recipe? I'm looking for a chocolate & milk stout with a strong malty character. Here's what I have so far:

CJR's Chocolate & Milk Stout

65% Pale malt
5% Oats
15% Crystal
5% Black
10% Chocolate

Lactose addition.

As for the hops, I'm looking at something(s) with a low AA content. Maybe something fruity, but not citrus. I'd like a very chocolatey/milky stout with just a hint of bitterness.

As for the lactose, where should I add this? Before fermentation when adding the wort or after in a bucket? My brews are ~23L so how much should be added?

Thanks for the help.

[seymour]

I bet that'll be delicious. I like the 10% Chocolate Malt, but the 5% Black Malt in addition might over-power the "chocolatiness" and require substantially more time for the flavours to peak. I could be wrong, and it all comes down to what you like.

In my Chocolate Milk Stout, I used 8.3% lactose, added to the boil. That's pretty high, and combined with my relatively low-attenuating Windsor yeast, I feared I had made a mistake. As time went on, though, it turned out really delicious. It definitely makes its presence known, so if you're nervous, perhaps around 5% would be a good starting point.

Also, since lactose isn't fermentable by most yeasts, my hydrometer readings were confusing. Again, in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter because it all worked-out, but Pattered Ale wisely recommended:

I wouldn't worry about thinness or lack of mouthfeel with the lactose in there. You may find however that the lactose is responsible for the apparently high OG, deceptive stuff. I add it now in solution once FG is reached. Had too many issues and like to know what is going on without readings being masked by lactose...

[Matt12398]

I can't comment on the grain bill but if your Devon water is anywhere near as soft as our Cornish water a stout is never going to properly hit the mark unless you understand a bit about water treatment. You time at the brewery may have already educated you in this so if that's the case you'll probably make a great beer and ignore my comment.

I found that until I treated my water darker beers always exhibited all of the characters of low mash pH and you might struggle to get the nice malty beer you're looking for. For a first attempt you could make an awesome pale ale.

[CJR]

@ Matt: For this recipe I'm hoping to acquire a few things from work including some DLT, bits of malt and maybe some hops. I would like to do a Pale Ale though. Stay tuned for the basis of a recipe.

@ Seymour: I like the toasty-chocolatey taste you get in certain very strong stouts. I figure the lactose will add a certain smoothness to the brew. I might take PA's advice though. As for the 5% Black, should I possibly add more chocolate to compensate? 12% choc, 3% black instead?

[seymour]

...I like the toasty-chocolatey taste you get in certain very strong stouts. I figure the lactose will add a certain smoothness to the brew. I might take PA's advice though. As for the 5% Black, should I possibly add more chocolate to compensate? 12% choc, 3% black instead?

Possibly, it's your call. I only used 8.3% Chocolate Malt, and it still tasted insanely chocolatey. But then, that was American Chocolate Malt, which is 350°L, much darker and stronger overall than typical English Chocolate Malt. Perhaps 12% of your Chocolate Malt would bring-about a similar result, I dunno. A friend of mine often brews with >10% Chocolate malt, and it's tasty, but I confess it's so dominant that it becomes one-dimensional.

Here's more food for thought: true-to-style porters and stouts ALWAYS benefit from some Brown Malt. So far, you have suggested 2 parts Chocolate to 1 part Black, or 4 parts Chocolate to 1 part Black...but what about filling-in that middle ground with something like 3 parts Chocolate to 1 part Brown and 1 part Black (9% Chocolate, 3% Brown, 3% Black)? Just an idea. No matter what you decide, with the addition of milky residual sweetness, you're talking about a crazy cool, complex dark ale.

Which yeast strain are you thinking? Please don't say Chico.

Happy brewing!

P.S. Matt12398 makes a great point. I don't claim to be an expert on water treatment, but at the very least, I'd highly recommend some Calcium carbonate (chalk) in this particular mash.

[CJR]

I like the ideas. So far I've based my malt on what I can acquire from work and we don't have brown malt in any beers. Just Pale, Crystal, Black, Chocolate, Torrefied Wheat and Crushed Wheat. I will see if I can get some dry liquor treatment too.

As for the yeast strain, I'm undecided. I could go with work yeast which, being a wet yeast, has developed its own character with all the beers we've brewed but I might go for something different. I know we use the same strain as the RCH brewery but apart from that, I'm not sure. I'm hoping to Bacchus that it isn't Nottingham based.

[keith1664]

You might think it not the most adventurous choice but I've found that S-04 makes a very nice stout.... I don't use it in anything else mind.