American Stout – All Grain

This one is somewhat planned, somewhat on the fly.  It was originally planned as an American stout, and will still be exactly that.  However, I have a little bit of leftover wheat that I want to get rid of, so I just decided to toss it in this one for the hell of it.  So in that respect, it’s a bit on the kitchen sink side…
Batch size is 3.5 gallons

  • 6 lbs maris otter
  • 10 oz crystal malt 120L
  • 10 oz chocolate malt 350L
  • 10 oz roasted barley 300L
  • 10 oz flaked oats
  • 7 oz pale wheat malt
  • 7 oz flaked wheat
  • 0.75 oz Columbus (1 hour)
  • 1 oz Willamette (10 minutes)
  • 1 oz Hallertau (5 minutes)
  • 1oz Hallertau and 1oz chinook dry hop
  • Us-05 yeast

Targets:

  • OG 1.067
  • FG 1.012
  • IBUs 70.5
  • ABV 6.3%
  • SRM 41

Procedure:

  1. prepare checklist
  2. lay out ingredients and equipment
  3. reconstitute dry yeast using 95F boiled spring water and allow to cool to room temperature
  4. Add grains to mash tun
  5. bring 3 gallon spring water to 169 F
  6. Add 2 3/4 gallons of 168F spring water to mash tun on top of grains, then stir well
  7. add more water to boil pot, bring to near 172F and hold for sparging
  8. measure temperature after temperature equalizes in mash.  this has been prretty spot-on the last few batches, so I don’t anticipate having to boil extra water, but I will be ready just in case
  9. adjust mash temperature using either heated mash water or cool spring water as needed to reach 152F
  10. mash for 75 minutes at 152F
  11. during mash, stir about every 15 minutes or so, checking temperature and adjusting if needed
  12. at end of mash, begin draining wort into pitcher
  13. allow first runnings to drain into a pitcher until clear
  14. pour first runnings back on top of mash
  15. drain remaining wort into boil pot until mash tun is near empty
  16. add 1.5 gallons 172F water (adjusted as needed)
  17. stir well
  18. drain first runnings of first batch sparge into pitcher until clear (or close to it)
  19. pour first runnings of first batch sparge back on top of mash
  20. drain wort into main boil pot until near empty
  21. add another 1.5 gallons 172F water to mash tun (adjusted as needed)
  22. stir well
  23. drain first runnings of second batch sparge to pitcher until clear (or close to it)
  24. add first runnings back into mash tun
  25. drain wort into main boil pot
  26. add wort chiller to boil pot, filled with hot water
  27. bring main boil pot to a boil
  28. when boil is reached, add bittering hops, 0.75 oz columbus at 60 minutes
  29. at 30 minutes, add about 1/4 tsp Wyeast nutrient blend to a small amount of spring water and dissolve
  30. add nutrient blend at 15 minute mark
  31. add 1/8 tsp Irish moss powder at 15 minute mark
  32. add 1 oz Willamette at 10 minutes
  33. add 1 oz hallertau at 5 minutes
  34. at flameout, turn on water for wort chiller
  35. begin sanitation procedures on spoon, thermometer, bucket, wine thief
  36. stir occasionally with sanitized stainless spoon during cooling
  37. ensure bucket, wine thief, thermometer, strainer, spoon are sanitized
  38. when wort gets to about 72F, add to fermentation bucket, pouring through sanitized strainer to catch any extra solids and to help aerate
  39. take OG reading with sanitized wine thief
  40. thoroughly aerate wort with sanitized stainless steel spoon again
  41. ensure wort is 72F or a little less before pitching yeast
  42. ensure yeast is a little cooler than wort before pitching
  43. pitch yeast
  44. gently stir using sanitized stainless steel spoon
  45. install sanitized bucket lid and airlock
  46. ferment in closet for 14 days at 67F ambient air temp.
  47. after 14 days, add dry hops, 1 oz hallertau and 1 oz chinook
  48. ferment a total of 21 days
  49. take FG sample and bottle
  50. use 3.5 oz corn sugar at bottling

Actual OG: 1.058

Actual FG: 1.014

Notes: Sparge was difficult.  I had to stir it around the strainer hose frequently in order to get the wort flowing, and had to keep stirring it.

Also I had just a little bit of oatmeal left at home, not enough for a bowl, so I tossed that into the mash too, perhaps 2-3oz

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Comments

  • alcaponejunior  On October 13, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    Well the sparge was a bit tough, had to keep stirring it. Not quite “stuck sparge” but it didn’t sparge as easily as either of my first two all grain batches.

    Volume was a bit more than expected so I added another 4g of northern brewer hops at 1 hour.

  • alcaponejunior  On October 31, 2012 at 9:19 am

    Dry hopped today with 1/2 oz NB, 3/4 oz willamette, 3/4 oz columbus

  • alcaponejunior  On November 4, 2012 at 6:32 am

    Bottling today with 98g corn sugar.

  • alcaponejunior  On November 4, 2012 at 4:06 pm

    Well tasting the young, uncarbonated beer, I have high hopes. It’s definitely dark and roasty, very hoppy, moderately bitter, and has a great aroma (presumably quite a bit from the dry hops!). I can’t wait for the bottles to be ready to drink!

  • alcaponejunior  On November 13, 2012 at 7:47 pm

    Just trying the first of these bottles and it’s pretty damn good! I’m happy with the amount of roasty and burnt flavors, touch of coffee, touch of chocolate, the body is pretty full, and the drinkability is pretty high. It’s a little hoppy, but balanced towards what is appropriate for a stout, and nothing along the lines of a black IPA or anything like that. I’m quite pleased thus-far, and expect that a little more time in the bottles will only improve this beer.

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