Cooper Irish Stout kit

[Daydo]

Alrite guys,

So I am starting my new kit brew with will be again a kit hack.
Do have maybe 1 or 2 questions but other wise I have action plan set.

Stout kits has already got coffee , chocolate and liquorice flovours but I am looking to enhance certain flavours, particularly the choc but I am also adding caramel grain to add extra flavour

I am looking for a coffee,choc no caramel flavour profile stout

Ingredients bought
Cooper Irish Stout Kit
1,5 Dark LME
White labs Irish Ale Yeast
chocolate malt grain
Caramalt grain - using 500g
(I already have some Wheat Clara maltbhere at home from last brew  be using 200g to add extra caramel flavour but help with head retention also)
Lactose -500g
2x  bottles Aldi Madagascan vanilla extract-- this should help bring all the flavours together

Just to my quick questions,
Choc grain - apparently very strong in flavour but heard usage anywhere from 100 to 500g in stouts
Anybody has any advice on this ??

Lactose -- so pose to help with the Guinness style creamy head - can anybody help with this or any thoughts ?

Talk soon guys slainte

[LordEoin]

chocolate - i like around 150-200g
lactose - it'll make a creamier mouthfeel alright but if you want a creamy head like Guinness then invest in a mixed gas keg setup.

Why so much caramel?

[Daydo]

Hey Lordeoin,

Thank as always for your input.

I decided to wit lot caramel as I really want it to come through as a flavour .
So I am thinking to use the 200g Carawheat and maybe 300 g normal caramels.

In my last brew I used 300g carawheat but couldn't get the caramel profile at all.
So hopping increase in qt will increase profile.

My thought behind this brew is coffee !! I luv the stuff and even better with choc (mocha) or with dash caramel  mmmmmhhh

Ok for the head I need invest in double gas keg system ,  prob cost a petty penny... I heard it can be achieved in bottles as well with little trick once it poured into glass...

[LordEoin]

you could cheat and shoot a syringe of the stout back into the pintglass to raise a head.

[auralabuse]

you could cheat and shoot a syringe of the stout back into the pintglass to raise a head.

I used vanilla from aldi in that kit before.  To be honest it wasn't the best stout.  You lose the bitterness with that vanilla.  A few guys on here used vanilla pods with good success

[Daydo]

Hey Ladz,

Yeah Lord Eoin I heard that ttick before does it really make a Gd impact ??
Look forwrd to trying..

Aural, I recently used 2x bottles Aldi vanilla in my coopers English stout during Ferm nd worked just fine, as the sugars fermented out nx only vanilla was left ... As they say every1 is diff tho ....


So I started my latest brew last nite nd had already made small mistake but I crack on....

Usual procedure cleaned sterilised everything nd got ready for brewing...

Mistake I put all my grain in a 5 ltr pot nd underestimated how much liquid the grain absorbs nd grain swells, out of 3,5 Ltrs water added I only got 1,5ltr concentrated roughly for my brew....
Added 500g Choc malt, 500g Caramalt nd 200g Carawheat....
Either get bigger pot or brew separately next time as I am sure I didn't get the full effects nd flavour profile in my concentrate....
Brewed for the usual 30 min at roughly 70-80c
Liquid was a black as a stout but smelled like drinking choc nd tasted bitter....

So heated my irish stout + LME nd poured into my FV, added the grain concentrate nd couple kettles boiled water... Stirred to disolve nd topped up with cold filtered water...

OG is at 1054

Filled to 23 ltr nd pitched my white labs irish Ale yeast at 26c couldn't wait any longer for temp to drop it was 11pm at this stage....

Did forget to add my 2 bottles vanilla but will add the later with lactose nd priming sugar during bottling...

FV at 22c at present nd nicely bubbling away.... Let go nd make some gd stout 😄😄😄

Keep ye guyz updated - Slainte 😋

[Daydo]

Hey guys,

Need some help maybe with a decision I have and small issue....

My bee has stopped for,ending I think, no life in my bubbler last 3 hours so I opened my bucket take a sample to check progress...

FG Is at 1017 at moment after 4 days ferm from OG 1054, this Calculates my abs at 5% roughly.

Now the normal kit should be at 4.2 abv as per coppers website and instructions/ recipe.
So I have def increase the %

However as it is only in the 4 days FV should I leav it for another few days to clear up or consider to start bottling 1017 is bit high still ....

Should I ad my yeast say maybe half 7g pack ??

Also I have lots little bits floating in my Fv I think they could be from the grain as I didn't have a muslin bag, anybody any suggestions and getting them out ??

All help greatly appreciated 😄

[LordEoin]

Did you put that 500g lactose in? If so then the FG is probably about right.
Leave it for another few days to clean itself up anyway.
The floating bits will probably sink eventually, if not then they'll only make it into the last few bottles anyway.
They're in there now, so don't bother trying to scoop them out or anything. that'd only increase the chances of infection.

[Daydo]

Hey Lord Eoin ,

No I hadn't added the lactose yet , I heard good point to add it is while doing bulk priming.
I.e. boil the sugar water and lactose together and continue to bulk prime.

My intentions is to add the full 500g lactose which works out at like 12g per litre .....

I give the Fv another couple days to clear out and prob bottle next wknd ....

Thanks for your help as always Lord Eoin.....

[LordEoin]

i checked back at the notes from the last time i did a coopers stout and it finished at 1.016
that was with 1kg dme, 200g carapils, 100g chocolate, 200g dex.

[Daydo]

Cheers Lordeoin,

I am def not far from the fin so, leav it for another few dayz fin ferm and clear up .

Had sneak litlle taste today while sampling the gravity and lot bitterness with notes choc caramel ..... Can wait for this to be ready. 😄

[LordEoin]

patience daydo!
each time you open, poke or sample you increase the risk of messing the whole lot up 

[Daydo]

Hey Lordeoin,

Def agree nd my next investment be a FV with a tap for ease of sampling.

Woz afraid to open the bucket in 1st place lol

I keep every1 up to date 😄😄

[Daydo]

Alrite ladz,

So I did my bottling yesterday for my irish stout nd all went smooth for a change 😄.

Just quick note in regards to my priming , I did 1,7 Co2 = 93 grams dextrose
I also added 500g lactose nd 2 bottles Aldi Vsnilla extract
Thd vanilla is actually glucose syrup so it should help with priming nd I guess I will get priming ratio 1,8 maybe 1,9...

I forgot to take the Fg before adding my priming solution nd so not sure if abv increased beyond 5%

If anybody here is a bit genius maybe they can reverse maths on this, after adding my priming solution the Fg went up to 1027....

[LordEoin]

1.054OG to 1.017FG = 5% + aprox .5% from priming = ~5.5%