I’m thinking of brewing a stout that would be spiced somewhat like Cigar City’s Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout (cocoa, cinnamon, ancho chiles), but would be sessionable strength (5%-5.5%). Hunahpu’s Light, if you will.
I want to use some piloncillo in the boil and have a relatively sweet final product to balance out with the chile. But I’m worried my recipe might come out too sweet. Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.
MASH
6 1/2 lb two-row
1 lb Crystal 60L
12 oz chocolate malt
8 oz roasted barley
8 oz flaked corn
BOIL
1 lb piloncillo
Never brewed with piloncillo before and just wanted to see what everyone thought. Thanks!
I don’t think that recipe will finish overly sweet. It is a bit high percentage of crystal compared to the base malt but not over the top. The piloncillo won’t add any sweetness to the final beer, it will pretty much ferment out completely, in fact it will result in a bit less body than if you used base malt only (to the same OG). I like piloncillo, I use it in some belgians that I want to finish dry and it does seem to add a bit of flavor that more refined sugars do not.
The roasted barley will give the impression of dryness, the corn and sugar will also dry it out. The crystal will increase the sweetness perception.
You want it to finish sweeter, but you don’t mention your mash temp. I would try ~156F and see how it comes out. Or try eliminating some of the things that will make it drier.
Thanks for your help, everybody. I was planning to mash at 156, but I didn’t realize that piloncillo would ferment out that much, so that is very helpful. I’ll tweak the recipe a bit and should be good to go. Thanks again!
Related question: does piloncillo add much in the way of flavor if used as the priming sugar?