So I’ve never made any stouts before and I am not a big drinker of stouts. I am one of those people that all I’ve ever had are thick stouts that I dont find very drinkable (I know thats a wrong thing to think but I havent had one that didn’t make me think that). On this forum, someone suggested a dry stout but after looking at the BJCP guidelines for an american stout, I thought I would like that more. I have friends and family that would like a stout and will be paying me back for the ingredients since they know I do not really drink them. I was thinking of an American Stout something like an American Vanilla Stout? Think that’s too much?. Any help with a recipe would be great. On another part of this forum, user Whiskers suggested something like this for a dry stout.
I think that’s a great start to a recipe – vanilla and all! I don’t have brewing software with me (at work) but off the top of my head I think those types and amounts of specialty grains seem pretty good. Assuming 5 gallon batch size, probably need around 6 pounds of extract to go with it – any type is fine but “light” would be the standard since you’re adding all your own specialty grains anyway.
Cascade and Cent are great hops as well. You might want to bitter to around 40-50 IBUs to start out. As a swag, I think you’ll need roughly 1.5 to 2 oz Cascade for bittering (boil for 45 to 60 minutes), then charge with another 1.5 to 2 oz Centennial in the last 5 minutes of the boil for flavor and aroma, something like that.
Yeast doesn’t matter a whole lot. US-05/001/1056 would be the standard, but use anything you think you might like or have on hand, it really isn’t a big player here.
Add your vanilla on bottling/kegging day. Get some good quality vanilla extract (from Mexico or Caribbean seems to be good a lot of times) or try using a couple real vanilla beans soaked in a little vodka for a few days just before bottling/kegging, then just add the flavored vodka to the finished beer. Don’t add any to the boil, it would just be a waste I think.
thanks very much for the info! I appreciate it. I dont want to use the Briess Traditional Dark Extract? So Id be good with 3.3 liquid Golden Light extract and 3 lbs of pale malt extract or stick to both being light?
Start with about 2 teaspoons, then mix and taste. If you need more, add it about one teaspoon at a time until it tastes good. Probably won’t need more than 3 or 4 teaspoons in 5 gallons but it’s totally up to your own sense of taste.
Vanilla extract often contains sugar but it should contain so little sugar for the amount you are adding that it will be an inconsequential amount of sugar.
It also should not need to be sterilized because it is usually @ 35% ABV, I would think as long as it is not super old and been open for a year it should be fine. Also, I do know that extract flavors fade pretty quickly, within a few months from what I could perceive. I have always used 2 or 3 vanilla beans soaked in enough rum, or whiskey to cover for a day or two then pitching the whole thing into a secondary. They have a name for that but I don’t recall it.
Someone help me out with conceptual theory and knowledge, but I find that stouts tend to taste pretty green for the first 2 months. I have not been a fan of the beers I tasted in the bottle less than 3 months bottle conditioned. That being said I wouldn’t recommend extracted flavors for the fact that they fade, or adding more than what you like from the beginning and waiting it out. I don’t know if many breweries use extracts.
+1 Vanilla beans !! Cut a couple open lengthwise, scrape the stuff inside into the beer and add the pods to the beer for a couple days, then pull. Tastes MUCH better.