California Stout
For the 2nd meeting of the Hertford Beer and Brewers group (HBAB) it was decided we should all have a go at brewing a dark beer (since it was still winter). I’d brewed a porter last year, which I’m yet to write up, that went down very well but thought i’d try a stout for the meeting.
My main experience with stout up to recently had been Guinness, which as we know isn’t the same drink it used to be. Now served extra cold to dampen any flavour it once had its a suppable but fairly unexciting taste. However I’d had a couple of more interesting stouts last year and was keen to try something a bit different so thought would give one a go using some US hops to give it a bit of zing. A bit of tinkering with a basic stout recipe, a made up hop bill and my California Stout was born.
California Stout Recipe
California Stout
Recipe Specs
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Batch Size (L): 20.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.896
Total Hops (g): 50.44
Original Gravity (OG): 1.052 (°P): 12.9
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.11 %
Colour (SRM): 43.8 (EBC): 86.3
Bitterness (IBU): 68.3 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 90Grain Bill
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3.913 kg Maris Otter Malt (79.92%)
0.391 kg Roasted Barley (7.99%)
0.296 kg Chocolate (6.05%)
0.296 kg Crystal 120 (6.05%)Hop Bill
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26.1 g Magnum leaf (17.3% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.3 g/L)
24.4 g Centennial leaf (9.7% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (1.2 g/L)Misc Bill
—————-Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with WLP001 – California Ale
The
Result
I was very pleased with this one indeed, it had a great flavour and have had some very encouraging feedback on it from friends and family. Surprisingly it is particularly nice on a hot summer day in the garden, I think the US hops help with this. The one in the picture was a touch lively on pouring but that was due to being shaken a bit on a short walk.
