BeerBorg

Won't be brewing this until 11/23 and then I'll brew another beer the day after Thanksgiving.....gotta get rid of some beer and need the keg space. But, I want to let this stout sit in the keg for a few extra weeks before going in the kegerator.
I may tweak this more but I've spent 2 weeks on and off looking at this recipe and figure if I posted it, I'd stop tweaking it. It's a bit bigger than I wanted but that's an American Stout for ya.That's what I've been playing with. I don't have those hops in my arsenal and would rather use some of that up but I think there are just some hops that make a stout and EKG is one of them. I still have concerns but I'm working with my OCD team to calme me down.
A small change I may make is to mash at 155 instead of 156 but that's just too OCD even for me to discuss.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Stout-nilla
Brewer: Paul
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.65 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.45 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 6.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.066 SG
Estimated Color: 43.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 74.4 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 63.3 %
3 lbs 7.3 oz Barley, Flaked (Briess) (1.7 SRM) Grain 2 21.9 %
1 lbs 1.7 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.0 %
11.7 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.6 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.2 %
0.62 oz Cluster [7.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 12.9 IBUs
0.84 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 20.0 Hop 7 7.5 IBUs
1.2 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 8 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 12.7 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 35.22 qt of water at 165.8 F 156.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min


Used 2.5 whole (sliced open) vanilla beans soaked in JD for a 5-7 days.

Looks good to me. I'm just jumping into this style myself, so I really can't make any other commets.

You mentioned in your other thread that it was thick. I would agree that the flaked barley is pretty heavy. 21% of the grain bill seems like alot to me. And the little amount of roasted barley is most likely to let the vanilla come through....I think your on the right track in your thinking there. What did you end up with for your mash temp? I would think the higher temps would thicken it up too.

I mashed at 156 when I really thought 154 was better but I was trying to follow the HBT thread where 155-156 was suggested.
Some actually thought it was too roasty! No way. No roastiness at all as far as I can tell. Almost kind of slimy due to the massive amount of flaked barley. It should be called Oatmeal Vanilla Stout I guess. Only time will tell.

Smells like oatmeal today. I am already missing the smell of hops in this beer but can now somewhat see what the vanilla will bring to this beer. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.

Wow, active fermentation finished in less than 2 days! I did have a nice size starter and it did start in about 5 hours though it was not as crazy as I would have thought. I'm going to wait a bit until I check the gravity as I don't want to taste it because I think I won't like it. I'm likely just to impatient but I have to hope this is better as it grows older and the vanilla saves the day. I sure think it needs a bit more hops but I'm going to stick to the recipe that others raved about and can tweak it if and when I brew this again.
I do like the WLP004 though.......it's a machine!

16 days later I've added the vanilla beans in a little bit of bourbon. We're still sitting way too high at 1.030 and the recipe says 1.021 so I"m not sure what to do at this point. I'm also not happy with the flavor as I still think this isn't very roasty stout like. It's more like a weak porter at this point but I guess that is why the vanilla should be pronounced.
If it's not down anymore then all I can do is keg it and let it sit a month as planned. Never using 004 and mashing at 156 did have me concerned as well as all the flaked barley but I'm going to see this one thru anyway. If there's any good of this at least I'll have a session stout.

Did you put any lactose in it? If you did, that will most likely affect your FG. It did in my chocolate stout. Mine is a session stout too, I think it finished at 4.6%...nothing wrong with that at all.

Edit...never mind on my lactose question....I guess I should just look at the recipe for my ownself!!!!

Nope, nothing special is in there but I don't want to add any more yeast so I am hoping adding the vanilla with some cheap bourbon might make a slight difference.

Kegged this mofo this afternoon.....still at 1.030. It is what is is.
I bought 2 more vanilla beans to hang in a bag for a few weeks in the keg. It tastes ok but more like a porter. I'm knew by looking at this recipe it wasn't my kind of stout. It'll be ok and I'll drink it but I like the roasty stuff and this one is smooth but weak tasting. The good news is that its under 5%.
I naturally carbed it so it'll sit in the keg for a month before I drag it to the kegerator for chilling.

So, now I have to make something roasty to get my taste buds going. Guess the black IPA is back on the table.

7 days later as it sits at room temp with 2 more beans hanging in the keg, I gave it a try. A bit better but it's really weak tasting.
How can such a popular recipe be so, just ok? I long for a real, roasty stout.

Another taste today while its still sitting at room temp.....I'm disappointed. Still not very stout like and more like a weak porter. Very mild vanilla. I think I'll put even more vanilla in it and maybe keg it in a week or so.
This is not bad as in something is wrong but is nothing at all like a stout IMO. It tastes watered down and there's really nothing I can do to change it now.

I wonder how I can get some roastiness in there to give it something to flavor it. I guess for now, I'll just stick with more vanilla and keg it and move on. Hopefully, the carbing will bring out the vanilla.

OK, to say something positive.....its a bit creamy.

I'm not sure how you could fix the lack of roastiness now either. Maybe Ron would drink it since it's not roasty ....nah, probably not.

Not roasty? I'm in!

I had this problem with a milk stout last winter. I tried 2 weeks after kegging it. I was really disappointed and almost dumped it. It sat in the back of my kegerator for about 10 weeks before I tried it again. I'd actually forgotten about it. Holy crap! It wasn't even the same beer! I served it at a brew club meeting and had rave reviews. Some people went as far as saying it was the best stout they had ever tasted. Point being, don't give up on any beer. Some brews just require a little extra conditioning. It just might end up surprising you.