The step ladder stout terminated with a final gravity of 1.014 which is a little higher than expected–I had trouble with the mash temperature control and ended up mashing at a low temp.  I took a little taste and the roasted barely comes through in a huge way, maybe too huge.  The color is lovely ink.

I am going to carbonate this one just using CO2 because I don’t have the nitrogen kegging equipment. Based on my past results, this one will be carbonated nicely in about a week or so ( sitting at 12-15 Psi and 45 degrees ).

OG 1.050
IBU 50
Bu/Gu: 1.0

Grain Bill
.75 lbs Roasted Barely 300 L
.75 lbs Roasted Barley 650 L
1 lbs Chocolate Malt
7.6 lbs Pale 2-row
1 lbs Wheat Malt
.50 lbs Dextrine Malt
.75 lbs Crystal 6L

Mash
Single Infusion mash @ 152 with a R = 1.2. I had a hard time holding on the to temperature this time around. My mash actually dipped to 149F before the end of the mash. I had too little remaining capactiy in the tun to adjust. This will lead to a very fermentable, albeit lighter beer–I normally perfer my stouts pretty thick. I batch sparged and got about a 70% efficiency.
Hop Schedule ( 90 minute boil )
2.38 oz Amarillo @ 60 minutes.

I had a boilover at around T-50 minutes. This will likely affect the overall bitterness of this brew. I couldn’t guess how much hop matter was ejected during the boilover so I didn’t attempt to correct for it.

Yeast
1 pk Danstar Windsor English Ale yeast ( properly rehydrated )

Notes:

I had about 5-6 gal of wort after the boil @ 1.050 OG. This was the first brew that I have brewed that required a blowoff hose. I just used my syphon hose which is a little on the long side; it generates too much resistence when it gets gunked up with krausen. When the hose if full, the fermenter pressure really builds up; I can hear the fermenter whistling. I am going to have to keep a close eye on this one.

draught = draft
Dry Stout

Description of the style:

4% alcohol

Coffee-like from roasted barley, not roasted malt. Not fruity or hoppy. It could also taste like chocolate, bittersweet chocolate. Color should be jet black with thick creamy head.

mouthfeel: Not a lot of hop flavor but with a lot of hop bitterness ( 20 – 45 IBUs ) ~ 37 IBUs.  Darker and bigger beers can handle a lot more IBUs without having a bite.  Thirty-seven IBUs would almost make a ligher beer undrinkable.

Carbonating dry stouts
Dry stouts should be carbonated with beer gas that is composed of 70% nitrogen and 30 carbondioxide. The niitrogen gives draft is creamy head. If only Co2 is used, it could contribute a harsh flavor; it will add a lot of bitternes to the roasty flavor. Note:  To use nitrogen in your kegging system, you will need a high pressure regulator designed for use with nitrogen.  For homebrewers that bottle condition, Use less sugar to prime the beer; Use about half of normal of the normal, 3/4 cup corn sugar will do.

Mash temp = 152F for a more dexrionous beer.

For a low gravity beer, you have to up the mash temp to ensure that you have some mouthfeel. Otherwise, it will completely dry out and leave you with high alcohol but low mouthfeel beer.

grain bill

pale mal 70%
roasted barley 20%
flaked barley 10%

yeast

Use one of these yeast: Irish Ale, English Ale, California Ale Yeast

English Ale yeast should be the number one choice. This will produce a clean stout.

Calif Ale Yeast is going to produce some esters that will just sudtley mingle with the coffee flavors.