Back to Garage Brewing - a Winter Solstice Cream Stout
by Jim Vondracek on 01/01/12
With winter upon us, it is back to "Garage Brewing". Brewing can be broken into three parts: 1) brew day (mashing and boiling), 2) fermentation, and 3) packaging (bottling or kegging). Numbers 2 and 3 are done in our basement brewery, but the brew day is another matter. In nice weather, it can be very pleasant to brew outdoors, but at this time of year we need some protection from the elements so it's back to the garage we go. You can see from the picture below that we leave the garage door open, as we are using a propane stove and don't want to die.
On Saturday, we brewed up a batch of Sweet or Cream Stout. Hugh was home on winter break from the university, so he helped. Here he is, sitting by the mash tun, enjoying a cup of Italian roast coffee. And yes, that bicycle in the background is pink. I got it for my wife, but she doesn't want it anymore, so next spring, our friend Celeste will be tooling around Oak Lawn on it. Keep an eye out for her.
I love cream stouts. I like them to be balanced - roastiness offset by sweetness, bitterness offset by maltiness. Our 5.5 gallon batch included 8 lbs of pale malt, 1 lb of wheat malt, 1 lb of caramel malt (60 L), 0.75 lbs of chocolate malt, and 0.5 lbs of roasted barley. Mashed at 158 F, batch sparged, boiled with 0.75 ounces of Bravo leaf hops and 0.5 lbs each of lactose sugars and maltodextrine for 60 minutes. Chilled and added Windsor yeast, which will accentuate the maltiness and sweetness of this stout. Here's a photo of it fermenting away at 60 degrees F in its carboy 24 hours later.
For many, stout is associated with Guinness. But, there is a whole world of stouts out there beyond Guinness, a mass-produced, light bodied black ale that has become synonymous with Irish beer. Here's a brief introduction to stout styles http://beer.about.com/od/sto2/p/LaymansStout.htm
And here's a link to the BJCP style guidelines for Cream Stout http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style13.php#1b In the deepest dark days of winter, come on over and share a pint with us!
