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Root Beer Stout |
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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Posted: 28 February 2017 at 10:33 |
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Root Beer Stout
On 15 February 2015, I brewed a 1-gallon batch of Root Beer Stout, using a pre-packaged mix from Hop Hero. I will say this right up front: I have never used a mix from Hop Hero before, and my wife had accidentally thrown away the instructions, so I went ahead with the brew using the method that I always use for brewing. By the time I was into the mash, I was concerned that I might have inadvertently screwed a couple of things up; however, I am confident that - in the end - I will have very decent, very drinkable beer. Any faults with this brew will be mine alone, and not the fault of Hop Hero’s product or instructions. Or, everything could be just fine in the end, with no measurable differences. More on this later. Here is Hop Hero’s website: http://hophero.com/ Here is the link to the Root Beer Stout: http://hophero.com/recipe-kits/all-grain/hop-hero-recipes/1-gallon-recipe/root-beer-stout.html Here is the description of Root Beer Stout, from Hop Hero:
The instructions included several useful stats, but as I said they were accidentally thrown away; however, the website provides these stats: •ABV - 6% •IBUs - 20 The contents of the pre-packaged mix include: •A bag of milled pre-mixed grains for the stout; about 3.4 pounds •0.23 oz of Magnum hops (12.5 AA), to be added at 60 minutes •0.25 oz of Willamette hops (5 AA) to be added at 5 minutes •A sealed packet of Safale 04 yeast •A sealed packet of Root Beer extract, to be added 7 days into fermentation First impressions: I really like this guy’s enthusiasm, his creativity with the various recipes and the helpful tone of the website. There is definitely something for everyone there, including some grains and equipment, as well as his own all-grain starter kits for various-sized batches of beer. Along with the Root Beer Stout, I purchased an American Cream Ale for my dad, and the Irish Stout for my son. I’m looking forward to seeing how all three turn out. As far as the brew itself, I believe it went fairly well, all things considered. Lacking the instructions, I went with what I was familiar with and followed the procedure shown in this video from Brooklyn Brew Shop: https://vimeo.com/11354805 The only real issue that I encountered was during the sparge; because of the amount of gains (about 3.4 pounds), I had some trouble recirculating the runnings through the strainer; however, I didn’t spill any, and although the going was slow, we got there. The rest of the brew was without incident, and I ended up with just a little over a gallon of wort. I pitched the S04 as usual, and noticed this morning that fermentation is indeed beginning. Success! (I hope….) Per my usual procedure, I’ll remove the blowoff tube at BrewDay+3, and replace it with an airlock. On BrewDay+7, I will add the Root Beer Extract. As always, comments, feedback, suggestions etc. are always appreciated. More as it happens, etc. &c…. Ron |
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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TasunkaWitko
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Here is the label that I put together for this beer -
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TasunkaWitko
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Here are some additional stats, provided by Hop Hero, who was kind enough to send the instructions that I had lost:
OG - 1061 FG - 1.015 ABV - 6% IBUs - 38 (this is in conflict with the amount shown on the website - might be the SRM?) Mash Efficiency (using method outlined in instructions) - 68% I'd like to have this stout ready in time for sampling on Saint Patrick's Day, so I will try to bottle it this weekend. I may or may not achieve this goal...we'll see. |
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TasunkaWitko
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TasunkaWitko
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I sampled this finished beer for the first time this past Saturday, 1 April 2017, and it was very good!
I made the mistake of serving it fairly cold, so it took a little time for the flavours to make themselves known to me. At first, all I tasted was a good, roasty stout, with some chocolaty notes; however, as the beer warmed up a bit, the root beer and vanilla flavours really started to become apparent, blending in with the sharper tones to smooth everything out and provide a nice, balanced, very root-beer-like experience. The appearance was beautiful - very dark, like a nice coffee, with no muddiness at all. Thee could have been a little more head to it, but that could very well develop over time, and the very cold temperature that I served it at might have something to do with it, as well. In all, I am impressed with this, and thoroughly enjoyed it. For those of you who are thinking about trying it, you will probably not be disappointed. |
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TasunkaWitko
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Here's a photo, from 1 April 2017:
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TasunkaWitko
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I tried another one of these over the weekend; this time, I let the beer sit out and "warm up" (bad choice of words) to about 50 degrees or so before serving. I think it was a good choice and the beer seemed a little more like it should be because of it.
There's a definite chocolate and vanilla aspect to this beer, along with a roastiness works very well. These elements provide a solid base for the small addition of the root beer extract during the fermentation... put it all together, and you do indeed get a very definite root beer quality that seems to develop even more a you drink the beer. Good stuff - highly recommended! |
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