Dry Stout Brew Session

Last night was a brew night. A good night to brew so Dry Stout - was a dark and chilly night, indeed. I always enjoy a stout, as long as the weather is cold. But brewing a full 19 L (5 gal) batch is a bit overkill for me, so I oped for a smaller 13 L (3.4 gal) batch. The brew went well except the boil wasn't as vigorous as I would have liked (hard to see in the dark) and my OG was a bit low, but the up side is the volume was a bit high too, so I'll have a bit more. As long as it tastes good. Time will tell. My OG was 1.039 and the volume was about 15 L (4 gal).

I brewed the basic dry stout recipe - 70% Marris Otter, 20% Flaked Barley, and 10% Roasted Barley. I added a touch of Black Malt to make it extra dark. I have brewed stouts and porters before, but this was my first dry stout. I mashed low and long and hopefully this will make it nice and dry and let the roast stand out.

Grain bill

Dry Stout

Style: Dry Stout
Type: All Grain
Est. OG: 1.042
Est. ABV: 4.19 %
IBU's: 37.80
Efficiency: 65 %
Color: 33.0 SRM
Boil Size: 19.94 L (5.3 gal)
Batch Size: 13.00 L (3.4 gal)
Boil Time: 65 minutes

2.35 kg (5.2 lbs) 69.02 % Pale Malt, Maris Otter
655.00 g (1.4 lbs) 19.24 % Barley, Flaked

The mash

330.00 g (12 oz) 9.69 % Roasted Barley
70.00 g (2.5 oz) 2.06 % Black (Patent) Malt

32.00 g (1.1 oz) East Kent Goldings (5%AA) for 60 mins (37.8 IBU)

Wyeast Labs 1084 - Irish Ale

Mash In: 75 min @ 66.5°C (152°F) - Infusion of 9.68 L (2.6 gal) water @ 76.2°C (169°F)
Mash Out : 10 min @ 75.6°C (168°F) - Infusion of 4.73 L (1.25 gal) water @ 96.0°C (205°F)
Sparge: 10.87 L (2.9 gal) of 76.7°C (168°F) water (batch)

Stout in the carboy

Brewing at night

In The Beginning...

... God created barley, hops and yeast, and it was good.

Seriously, I'm just a humble home brewer. Home brewing takes up most of my free time after work and family. I've been home brewing since August 2011 and in that time have gone from extract brewing to all-grain. My first brew was a red ale from a kit, it turned out fine, but I knew I wanted to be more involved, so my second batch was a recipe I made myself. It was okay, I thought it was great at the time, but I had a long way to go.

With that second batch I started making 5-6L batches (~1.5 gal.). This size meant I could brew way more often and keep the equipment and cost down. Over that first winter I brewed 20+ batches, sometimes three in a weekend. I started to get more speciality grains, got my own mill, and found some really good resource online. I got better and by Spring I moved to all-grain and larger batch sizes, I got a turkey fryer setup and used some picnic coolers I had already. This is where I'm at today.

In this space i will share my home brew log - my recipes, influences, my experiments, my successes and failures. I am not a writer, so don't expect great works of literature. I don't know that I will be presenting anything revolutionary or anything that can't be found elsewhere on the Internet, but I know that other people's blogs really helped me with my brewing and I felt that I would give back and if it helps someone great. And if no one reads this, great, no one to criticize.

I look forward to sharing my home brewed adventures.