perfidy

My wife and I have a tradition called "assing around," which is an activity most people call "doin' nothin'." Our life has been very hectic of late thanks to Mrs. Johno's new job and the numerous social obligations that go along with it, and we haven't had very many days to just ass around in several months.

Since today was a free day, we determined to spend it just assing around. And I am. Having cooked up a batch of waffles for brunch, made up our lunches for the upcoming work week, and brewed a quick five gallons of stout, I can proudly say that today, compared to my typical weekend day obligations, I have indeed done comparatively nothing. Having finished all that in enough time to catch the thrilling second half of the Patriots-Dolphins game, I am now ready to settle in for a long evening of malt beverages, unhealthy snacks, and copious pigskin spectation culminating in the Browns-Steelers showdown later this evening. Go Browns, and take the Cavaliers with you!

Anyway. To business. (To business!... what... that isn't a toast?)

Brew #5
Naumkeag Dry Stout

2 cans (6.6 lbs) John Bull liquid light malt extract
1 lb. flaked barley
3/4 lb. roasted unmalted barley
1/4 lb. chocolate malt
2.25 oz. Northern Brewer hop pellets (7.5% AAU) (bittering)
1 package Safale S-33 yeast

Steeped grains in muslin bag in 1 gal filtered water at 165 degrees +/- 5 degrees for 1 hour. Brought 2 gal filtered water to boil, added steeping liquid and malt extract, and returned to boil. Added all the hops and started the boil clock. 60 minutes later removed brewpot to bathtub with 25 lbs ice in water. Added a sanitized 2-liter bottle of frozen water to brewpot itself. Got wort down to 95 degrees in 20 minutes flat. Poured wort through mesh strainer into fermenter bucket and added 2 gal refrigerated distilled water and a little under 1 gallon room temperature distilled water to make a tad over 5 gallons of wort at a perfect 70 degrees. Poured back and forth between pot and bucket to aerate. Reconstituted yeast in 85 degree water and let stand 20 minutes. Pitched yeast at 80 degrees.

This is going to be a very dry, heavy bodied stout. That much I know. Flaked barley adds mostly starch and protein to the mix for a heavy mouthfeel, and 3/4 lbs roasted barley is definitely going to bring an up-front burnt/roasty flavor. The 1/4 lb of chocolate malt isn't enough to bring much sweetness, but I expect it to lighten the overwhelming darkness and add depth and complexity to the mix. I love Northern Brewer hops, and I expect I'll need fully as many as I used to balance out the size of the malt profile. I also love S-33 yeast, which I am now told is the Whitbread strain. Whitbread ales are some of my favorites from when I was in England, and so it's no surprise I dig the yeast. It results in a fairly dry ale with mild but noticeable characteristic ale flavors. In my porter, the S-33 resulted in a beer that tastes more like a Schwarzbeir (black lager) than an ale, and I expect a similar result in the stout, just writ much larger. Oooh... I can't wait!! I'm hopping up and down like a little girl.

Yesterday I bottled my Very Special Bitter, which is gonna be great, and next week I expect to make another porter with a similar grainbill but different hops and yeast. It's funny... when you have five gallons of beer ready to drink, you think "jesus... I need to make more." When you have ten gallons of beer ready to drink, you think "jesus, this is gonna go fast... I need to make more." When you have fifteen gallons of beer... you get the picture. The best part is giving it away. Anybody want a beer?

[wik] What the hell happened?? I have a good beer herer, but it sure ain't a stout! Much more light-bodied and bitter than I expected. Not that that's a bad thing, mind, but I was after Stout. Changes for next time: use two mesh bags and a very large pot for steeping, to give the barley room to get around and extract all them starches! Use fewer bittering hops! Use American or Irish ale yeast... the Safale 33 is good, but has too much character. So a failure, but an eminently drinkable failure.

[alsø wik] What the hell happened, part deux?? After five months in the bottle, now that I have all of three bottles left, suddenly I have a thick, rich, roasty stout on my hands. I still didn't manage to hit my mark, but this recipe has potential. I NOW think that 1/2 lb chocolate malt, 1/4 lb crystal 120 or so, 1/2 lb roasted unmalted barley, and that full pound of flaked barley would be a good grainbill. Oh, and I should add a pound or so of dry malt extract as well, to add some alcohol to balance out the flavors. If I do this, the 33 is still a good yeast to go with, or alternately, say, Edme or London Ale yeast. Something with a little mineral character, crispness, and some nice soft generic esters. Mmmmmm...