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Home Brew - Need Stout Recipes

Unread postPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 5:37 pm
by BourbonDrinker
Thanks to my wife (for the encouragement) I'm getting into home brewing. I just finished my first batch of a pale ale and I'm looking forward to my next venture... (Not to worry---bourbon whiskey still comes first and foremost before everything else.)

I'm looking for recipes and recommendations for making a good stout. I especially enjoy Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. I'm also interested in making a chocolate stout... Any suggestions?

Unread postPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:10 pm
by Dump Bucket
Have you considered a keg of Guinness :wink:

I like to keep one at home myself :toothy10:

but seriously... I will send you one tomorrow on your PM... I make wine, but most my friends make beer... I will see what I can drum up...

Unread postPosted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:11 am
by BourbonDrinker
I'm not really a fan of the Guiness. I prefer my stout a little... stouter.

What sort of wines do you make? I've been considering trying this myself.

Unread postPosted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:26 am
by Mike
I have made both stouts in the past but don't have the recipes, probably got them off the internet or from Charlie Papazien (sp?) books. Both the Oatmeal Stout (SS OMS is also one of my favorites) and the Chocolate Porter turned out to be excellent.

I do remember that the CP, which is the last beer I made (about 9 months ago) used a half a box of Hershey's cocoa powder and made filtering the wort very messy. Also, the CP improved greatly after a couple of months in the bottle.

Unread postPosted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:50 am
by Mark
I know Bob has brewed his own beer a couple of times and the ones I have tried were very good so hopefully when he sees this he has a stout recipe. 8-)

Unread postPosted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:02 pm
by Brewer
I'll have to look for my recipes. One that was awesome was for a Russian Imperial Stout. Damn good, with a good kick...definitely over 10%. I may have some other stout recipes as well. As Mike mentioned, Charlie Papazian's book has some good reciepes in there, and is a must have IMO for any homebrewer.

Unread postPosted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 6:37 pm
by Dump Bucket
I like the red. Started with a Chianti (seemed only right). I have a made a kit and some from grapes (that was fun). Making a Grenache right now as well.

Beer will be next

Unread postPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 3:55 pm
by Dump Bucket
Here is the first one from my brew-loving friends....

Unread postPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:29 pm
by BourbonDrinker
Awesome! Thanks!

Stout Recipes

Unread postPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 4:10 pm
by PaulO
I have made many batches of homebrew. All were good, and some very good. Papazian's books are where I started. Most batches were made from malt extract: syrup or dried, or some combination. If you decide to buy a "kit" can of hopped extract with an envelope of yeast Do Not add table sugar when tou are making it. Add more malt extract. Special strains of brewing yeast are worth finding. In summary a canned stout kit and some dried malt can be an easy way to start brewing.

Re: Stout Recipes

Unread postPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:21 pm
by Mike
PaulO wrote:I have made many batches of homebrew. All were good, and some very good. Papazian's books are where I started. Most batches were made from malt extract: syrup or dried, or some combination. If you decide to buy a "kit" can of hopped extract with an envelope of yeast Do Not add table sugar when tou are making it. Add more malt extract. Special strains of brewing yeast are worth finding. In summary a canned stout kit and some dried malt can be an easy way to start brewing.


The man knows whereof he speaks...........no sugar! Next step up is to use adjunct grains, which don't add fermentables, but can add flavor. Step three is to do a partial mash, which adds some fermentables and is significantly more trouble and much more time consuming.........do it with some buddies and prepare some food and have some beer along the way. Do this at least once for the fun of it!

Step four, should you choose it, is the full catastrophy.........full mash brewing........something I have not done myself and have no plans of doing.........too much work what with me being a lazy old bastard.

Gatting Ready To Brew

Unread postPosted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:58 pm
by PaulO
I coicidentally had been sorting through my brewing supplies (getting ready to brew) before I saw this thread. Anyone wondering why table sugar should be avoided has to do with the taste of the finished beer. Sugar and corn syrup are fermentable but give a "cheap beer" taste. Here's something else to think about. Yeast ferments quickly up to a point. Then it works slower and slower as the alcohol level goes up. There are strains of yeast that are more tolerant and ferment out to higher percentages. I like to use a glass carboy for fermenting. When I'm sure it's done, I siphon it into my big brew pot, add some dried light malt that I have desolved in water before, and bottle. If you do make a strong high gravity beer it may take a few months of aging before it is carbonated. A regular strenght homebrew can be bottle conditioned in a month or less. I have a friend that can't wait and charges his homebrew with a CO2 tank. In my opinion this never tastes as good as a good bottle conditioned (naturally carbonate) homebrew. I make sure the beer is finished fermenting in the carboy, and add a measured amount of priming sugar (light malt) before bottling. I have never had a bottle explode.