AG #4 - Session Stout, first impressions

This recipe was based on my Standard Stout, however even though I was very happy with that beer (very happy!), I decided to tweak the recipe a bit. This tweaking involved upping the roasted flavour, along with the bitterness, while also changing the yeast.

One problem that I encountered during the brew day was that I missed my volume by quite a bit, this had the result of giving me a beer that was concentrated into 21 litres, but the ingredients were formulated based on a volume of 26 litres. The result of this was to make my "tweaks", major changes! This is apparent in the final brew.

The beer pours a lovely jet black with a thick creamy tan head. The first thing that hits you from the aroma of this beer is the roasted barley, this dominates the smell. This is a full bodied beer with a low level of carbonation, the mouthfeel is very nice with a big deep level of bitterness at the end. I think the yeast certinaly makes a difference in this beer, the Irish Ale II yeast that I used in the original recipe gives a lot smoother taste and also gives a hint of sweetness, whereas I find the Danstar Nottingham yeast used in this version to be quite harsh.

Overall this is a very nice beer, however it just was not what I was looking for from this brew. The roasted taste and bitterness are too strong, also at 5% ABV it is a whole 1% above what I was aiming for. I am hoping that these flavours will mellow and balance over time, in the meantime it is still a beer that I will enjoy. However when brewing my next stout I will revert to the original recipe.

AG #4 - Session Stout

Following on from the success of my ISO Standard Stout when I got the opportunity for a brew last weekend I decided to try another stout. This recipe is based primarily on the ISO Standard Stout, however I made a few tweaks*.


Session Stout

Size: 21.12 L
Efficiency: 70.56%
Attenuation: 72.1%
Calories: 166.96 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.050 (1.044 - 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.014 (1.012 - 1.024)
Color: 69.08 (59.1 - 78.8)

Alcohol: 4.72% (4.0% - 6.0%)

Bitterness: 26.0 (20.0 - 40.0)

Ingredients:

3500.0 g Maris Otter
485.0 g Barley Flaked
536.0 g Carapils®/Carafoam®
456.0 g Roasted Barley
293.0 g Chocolate 1060 EBC
44.0 g Goldings (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1.0 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1.0 ea Danstar 3767 Nottingham

Notes

Mash at 67c

Overall the brew day went very well. I was done and dusted in five and a half hours which I was happy with. The only brew day problem that I had was that I missed my volume calculation, this meant that my OG finished at 1050, four points above what I was aiming for. Not a huge issue, it just means that I will end up with a slightly stronger beer and unfortunately less of it. The other small issue was that my efficiency came in at just over 70%, this was dissapointing as I have hit as high as 78% with this system before. I reverted to batch sparging to try and get my efficiency back up however this did not do the trick. The possible explanation to this lower level of efficiency is that my mash tun has been losing a few degrees of heat during the 60 minute mash, I will address this with better insulation for my next brew and hopefully this will address the efficiency issue.

Looking forward to seeing how this beer turns out and comparing it to the ISO Standard Stout. This was my first time using Danstar Nottingham dry yeast and so I will be interested to see how this differs from the Irish Ale yeast that I used in my last stout.

* As highlighted by Biertourist over on IrishCraftBrewer, I had said after tasting this beer that I would not change anything, here is the quote:


"Very, very happy with this beer, certainly my best brew to date. I would not consider changing the grain bill for future versions (of which there will be many), but I would possibly up the hops slightly and maybe try brewing it with a different yeast."


However having been drinking this beer for a few weeks now I had decided that I would like a slightly more roasted flavour, and so I did what I said I wouldn't and changed the grain bill, along with the hop levels and the yeast!