Stouts have been all the buzz recently around Hapa’s Brewing. Five of Beer Advocates top ten beers of 2010 were stouts, next week’s Tuesday Tasting is a stout, and last weekend we brewed up a batch of our own. The grain bill for this beer was a basic stout recipe; nothing fancy or uber-creative. We like to think it’s still acceptable to make a basic beer, but make it well. As such, 2-row was used as the base malt with roasted barley, Crystal 60L, and flaked barley making up the remainder of the bill.
The grain bill
The use of specialty grains is a necessity when brewing a stout. The roasted barley adds the characteristic dark color and roasted coffee flavors to the beer while the Crystal 60L adds sweet caramel notes and the flaked barley contributes the proteins necessary for head retention and a full bodied mouthfeel.
Unlike previous brew sessions, a single rest mash was used for this beer. After an hour in the mash, wort was recirculated and drained into the brew kettle.
Doughing in Wort recirculation
Galena and Chinook hops were used with a target bitterness of 45 IBUs with additions being added at beginning and midway point of the hour boil. After cooling the wort using a copper immersion chiller and taking the original gravity, an English style yeast was pitched.
Hop additions Cooling the wort
Measuring the original gravity Pitching the yeast
Primary fermentation began in earnest less than 24 hours after yeast was added and continues to be active. This weekend, after seven days, the stout will be transferred to secondary fermentation. Looking forward to checking in on this beer and giving it a taste!
