Greg Hughes Dry Stout

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Halfacrem

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I'm fitting in another brew day tomorrow :party:

Dry Stout grain bill prepped in advance and my WLP004 Irish Ale starter has kicked off nicely! Can't wait to start..



EDIT: In my excitement I got the Beer wrong! Should be dry Stout, but who cares...
 
I've made this about 4 times now. I recently made it 3 times in a row - I like stout!

Heads up: For the first 3-4 weeks of conditioning it's VERY roasty. Then the flavours start to mellow out and belnd together. This is an awesome stout imo

(will change the thread tite to Stout ;))
 
Nice. I've got the grains in ready for this one. I may mash it it this week. I'll be using US-05 for this one as it worked well with my last stout.
 
I've made this about 4 times now. I recently made it 3 times in a row - I like stout!

Heads up: For the first 3-4 weeks of conditioning it's VERY roasty. Then the flavours start to mellow out and belnd together. This is an awesome stout imo

(will change the thread tite to Stout ;))

Excellent! I've got three brews conditioning at the moment, so I can afford to give this some time to condition properly, perhaps just about in time for Christmas!

Stout is something I'm getting into. I screwed up my first AG Stout completely and it's still come out nicely, so I'm hoping with a bit more experience and attention, this one will be a beauty!
 
Just boiling up this black beauty. I hit my strike and mash temperatures, however when I opened up the ball valve, nothing came out. I was just typing in google how to deal with a stuck mash, when the runnings came through!

Google, in it's wisdom tried to deal with my query 'How to deal with a stuck', by suggesting something completely different. If anyone would like to know how to deal with a 'stuck up girl', I can give you some tips...
 
Well, I'm not sure what I did to this, but the figures aren't very good for this brew. I achieved a pre boil gravity of 1.038 and a final gravity of just 1.040, maybe 1.041 if I squint my eyes and tilt my head!! Estimate was 1.048, so it seems my mash was rubbish!

Oh well, it's around (EDIT: or should be when it's finished) 4%, so maybe I'll go with session Stout!
 
Couldn't resist a sneak peak this morning. Krausen has clearly come and gone. Just a little scum around the edge as evidence of any activity. Back under it's cover for another 10 days...
 
I was hoping to bottle this today, after 15 days in the fv. Disappointingly, it's sitting at 1.016, so I gave it a gentle swirl and put it back in the brewing cupboard (and put all the bottling equipment I'd just got ready back in the garage :-( )
 
I haven't got the book (that will be remedied in a few weeks!), what's the recipe?

As Leon says, I'm not sure it would be appropriate to post the recipe as it's unfair to the Author. It's a really good book. You'll enjoy it when you get it :thumb:
 
I'm beginning to think that me and O4 Yeast don't get on very well. I took another sample this morning and the hydrometer is still sitting at 1.016, which gives me a rather un-stoutish 3.3% I think my first Stout with dried 04 stopped at a pathetic 1.020, or so.

Temperature of wort was 18.7, so in the sweat spot for fermentation, but I'm not sure it's going to go down any further. I gave it another gentle swirl and I'll bottle on Tuesday. At least the sample tasted good.
 
I'm beginning to think that me and O4 Yeast don't get on very well. I took another sample this morning and the hydrometer is still sitting at 1.016, which gives me a rather un-stoutish 3.3% I think my first Stout with dried 04 stopped at a pathetic 1.020, or so.

Temperature of wort was 18.7, so in the sweat spot for fermentation, but I'm not sure it's going to go down any further. I gave it another gentle swirl and I'll bottle on Tuesday. At least the sample tasted good.

I use US05 in stouts. So does Greg Hughes, I think? It's closer to Irish ale yeast than S04. Clean, and attenuates well.
 
I use US05 in stouts. So does Greg Hughes, I think? It's closer to Irish ale yeast than S04. Clean, and attenuates well.

This was White Labs liquid WLP004, which I'm assuming is a similar strain to Safale 04? That was the equivalent to the Wyeast 1084 recommended in the book.

I think in essence the culprit was probably my mash, which was quite a way down on the expected OG, so perhaps more my issue than the Yeasts. A bit annoying, but another notch on the experience post!
 
Ah. WLP004 is Irish Ale yeast, which is ideal. And different from S04. S04 is the dried version of WLP007!


So it's not the yeast that's the problem. Mash temperature, aeration, fermentation temperature?
 
Ah. WLP004 is Irish Ale yeast, which is ideal. And different from S04. S04 is the dried version of WLP007!


So it's not the yeast that's the problem. Mash temperature, aeration, fermentation temperature?
Mash temp was good. Started at 68 and fell to 66.5 over the hour. However conversion was not brilliant (1.038 instead of expected 1.042) I put this down to using dark grains in the Mash?

Aeration was good. Fermentation temp not controlled, but warmest cupboard in House, but wouldn't have got overly hot or cold. 18.7C this morning after cold snap, so certainly would have been nearer 20 during the first week.
 
Hmm. Difficult to work these things out. Maybe the vial of yeast was a bit out of condition. Did you make a yeast starter?
 
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