Recipe Advice Thread

[denimglen]

Thought it might be handy to have a thread for some of the more advanced brewers to give some advice on recipes.

Let's see how it goes eh...

[Stu McKinlay]

agree with Jo on the whole but reckon you should late hop
use an american yeast if you want to late hop - the darkness, hops and esters would be a bit much. keep it simple. looking good!

[Reviled]

Cheers for the info guys :o)

Shit 9% roast barleys a bit out there for me I reckon, I might cut it back to say 5% and throw in a touch of CaraAmber and a touch of black for some toasty notes??

What about this then? Still too complicated??

25% kolsch
20% Vienna
20% Munich
20% Oats
6% Cara Dark
5% Roast Barley
3% Cara Amber
1% Black Patent

Stu, i was thinking a single bittering addition was all i should use to let the malt and oat aroma shine, I did an American Stout recently and didnt really like it too much, i felt like the hop and roast were battling it out till the end... PKB on the other hand was completely different, like they are coming together in absolute harmony :o)

[Stu McKinlay]

keep the malt simple - let your base malt and the roast barley shine
PKB (remixed) is Maris, Cara35 and Roast Barley. Go 9%, just ensure you use a soft forgiving yeast. It'll give you a good indication of roast barley... and every brewer should know a bit about roast barley, it's a great ingredient.

Less is more.

your call in the end.

[Reviled]

So what would a soft forgiving yeast be? 1469??

[Matthew]

and every brewer should know a bit about roast barley

Interesting comment. I had no idea so I've done a touch of googling...

1. I had no idea roasted barley wasn't malted. Who knew...
2. It can be intensely bitter (maybe more so with the black barley) How does the bitterness of the barley affect the way you hop the beer? Obviously you have a bittering addition but should you take into account what you will get from the barley as well?
3. Is chocolate malt lightly roasted barley? I'm guessing a light roast gives you the chocolate while a more full roast gives you the coffee?

[JoKing]

It's what makes a stout a stout. Butyou can still pick up the base flavours behind it... without the base - the roast is dry and thin... even acrid and astringent... depending on how much you use.

[Matthew]

I need to explore darker beers more. I don't know if it's due to poor experiences in the past but I never look to porters or stouts. PKB was the first dark I had tried in a long time and that was a bit of an eye opener. It may have something to do with the fact a lot of them are served at room temp and are not very carbonated. Something I'm still acquiring a taste too.

[Reviled]

Matthew id suggest trying an American Brown, or a really nice Smoked Porter, or if you want to try some great commercial darks, my faves every time would have to be Renaissance StoneCutter and Elemental, Emersons Porter, and Hallertau Deception, yum!!

And theres nothing wrong with warm flat beer either ;o) once you get used to it, its hard to drink fizzy beer I reckon, you get really bloated and feel sick alot quicker, in fact for me I find even with most commercial craft beers theyre fizzier than what I drink at home... With low co2 volumes not only can you taste more, but you can drink more ;o)

[Stu McKinlay]

US05, WLP001, Wyeast 1056
Possibly one of the other American yeasts but those three above are a good start.
or Euro Ale.
Anything that isn't too estery. Go there later, if you must.

[Reviled]

Allrighty, how about this then, after taking all your guys thoughts into consideration, however I just cant bring myself to put 9% roast into a beer just yet, my beers dont seem to get enough conditioning time for it, plus I like the toasty notes I get from caraamber, however im keeping it subtle...

25% Kolsch
20% Vienna
20% Munich
20% Oats
7% Roast barley
6% Cara Dark
2% Cara Amber

And last question - would Sauvin show up very much if i used it as a bittering addition??

cheers

[MrC]

Don't forget the cranberries ;-) Mmmm cranberry stout...

[Reviled]

lol, im actually making my cranberry cream recipe atm as well mr cherry, allthough I dont know about cranberrys in a stout?!?! Could be interesting tho...