Getting through the last few months of winter, we thought the season was still appropriate for a dark stout to warm the belly. This represents our first all-grain brew and we built our own lauter mash tun from a large rectangular cooler to pull it off. Building the cooler took more than a few trips to Lowe’s but we pulled it off after a weekend of construction in the basement and neglecting our wives. This brew boasts 4 different types of malt, including roasted barley and some extra chocolate malt just for kicks. The final gravity came in a little low, leading to a disappointing 3.21% low ABV.

Irish Stout

Ingredients

  • English 2-row pale malt – 6 lbs
  • English crystal malt – 1 lb
  • Roasted barley – 3/4 lb
  • Black malt – 1/2 lb
  • Chocolate malt – 1/2 lb
  • Gypsum – 1 tsp
  • Kent Goldings Hops 1 oz
  • Willamette hops – 1/2 oz
  • Irish moss – 1/4 tsp
  • Irish ale yeast (liquid)
  • Corn sugar – 3/4 cup

Brew Stats

  • OG: 1.045
  • FG: 1.021
  • ABV: 3.12% (lower than expected – some possible reasons on low ABV)

Instructions

  • Add 1/2 tsp gypsum to 8 quarts of 145 degree F water
  • Add all the crushed malt and mix well
  • Hold the temperature at 133 degrees for around 30 minutes
  • Add 4.5 quarts boiling water to the mash and raise the temperature to around 158 degrees F for 45 minutes (it was at this point that we added our mash to the lauter-tun, though really that could have happened after the initial boil in step 1)
  • Sparge with 3.5 gallons of hot water (in which 1/2 tsp of gypsum has been added) and collect in your boiling pan.
  • On the advice of several experts, we re-circulated the first bit of drained water back into the cooler since it was speckled with grain. Apparently this only happens at the beginning and rest of the drainage was clear.
  • We still held a small strainer below the valve to catch any errant grain particles (there were few)
  • With all the mashed liquid in the boiling pot, we then took to the stove and boiled all hops for 60 minutes, adding the Irish moss during the last 10 minutes.
  • We cooled the wort quickly in the snow outside, building a small igloo around the pot, and then pitched the Irish Ale yeast.
  • The wort was put into the primary ferment and kept around 70 degrees F for 5 days.
  • We then racked into the secondary fermenter and kept at a lower temperature in the basement (50 degrees) for around 7 days until bottling.