Alright, so I think I finalized an Irish Dry Stout recipe to try out this week - let me know if you guys would change anything:
Grain:
75% Marris Otter
15% Flaked Barley
10% Roasted Barley (I’m aiming for the high lovibond British stuff)
It sounds like theres really no need to add the roasted barley late if my pH is solid with it?
Hops:
Bittering with some hop shots I have in the fridge (I read that Guinness just uses a blend of high alpha American/Euro hops anyway). Targeting ~ 35 ibus for a 1.040 wort.
Water:
I’m going to shoot for 5.5-5.6 pH using a blend of R/O and Brita Filtered Tap Water. After a gram each of CaCL & Gypsum I should be around 50ppm Sulfate, 70 ppm Chloride
Yeast:
I’ll build a starter with Irish Ale in the morning then pitch it late that evening or early next morning.
Yea, interesting you say that. Initially I was targeting under 30, then I read that closer to a 1:1 IBUS:Gravity is normal with the style. May drop it to 30.
I hear the attenuation of the Irish Ale yeast is low for dry stouts, which would be exacerbated by the use of Maris Otter as your only base malt. I would mash at a low temp and possibly sub out some MO for 2 row.
If mash pH is OK then roasted barley can be in mash. You may want to shoot for a higher mash pH than normal, say 5.6.
I brewed a couple batches, a red and a stout, with 1084 and found it to behave much like 1056 just with a different flavor profile.
I think you’re looking just fine. You mention guinness, but it doesnt sound like you are necessarily trying to clone it, right? So go for it. I wouldn’t worry about MO not drying out. At 1.040 it starts to become less of a concern. Too dry and it will be watery.
This is actually a style that is well suited to using low alkalinity water and reserving the roast. Figure what to add to the main mash to produce a 5.3 to 5.4 mash pH and then add the roast at the end to drive the kettle wort pH lower. The style relies on the crispness of low pH to help accentuate the roast and contrast it to the raw barley flavor. Don’t target a high pH for this style.
Yea, I don’t tend to have much attenuation problems since I usually brew low gravity.
Not exactly trying to clone (since this would require some sort of partial sour mash?) but making an Irish Dry Stout in it’s style. My girlfriend loves Guinness so figured I’d try something similar.
I’ve heard the sour mash thing. I’ve also heard that they throw in some spoiled beer from a previous batch. And I’ve heard its neither. I need to find a guiness and test a sample for ph. I’ll bet its aboit 4.2 or 4.3, not any lower than a regular stout. But dont know till I try.
don’t really need to mash the RB - just let it steep. If you fly sparge, throw it in just before you begin sparging. if you batch, I might add it the last 5 min before you start to vorlauf.
alternatively, if you wanted, you could always use a muslin bag and steep.
This is key if you want to brew a good Dry Stout. I wouldn’t add the roast at the end of the mash, you will lose color and flavor. Just keep the PH low. You can even mash at 5.1 to 5.3. And target 5.2 preboil so you can end up with 5.0 or so.
Another important thing is to make a very good mash recirculation/filtering to avoid ending up with astringent particles from the roasted barley in the kettle.
im going to take another position on t his one: the suggestion for lower PH is great when roast is removed from the mash. the roast malts I would either cold steep and or mash seperately at higher PH, or save for sparge. you can even use sinmar or maltoferm A-6000 to add color.
my goal for this style is smooth, non astingent sharp roast in finished product, with dry crisp finish.