The Beer Junkies There aren’t many styles that are more polarizing than stouts. We always get customers who come in and claim they don’t like anything dark. While some genuinely do not have tastebuds that are agreeable with the flavors present in stouts, we can usually change most customers’ minds. You’ll find that many who have this belief were either swindled by a poorly made stout or tried a style that doesn’t align with their preferences. Today, we are going to give you our best tips to design and brew a stout that everyone will love.
Adjust Your Water Profile
The first, and in my opinion most effective, tip is to use a water profile calculator to ensure the mash pH stays in an acceptable range. I use Bru’n Water, but BeerSmith and Brewer’s Friend also have calculators. Dark malts tend to be more acidic, which can lead to a significant reduction in mash pH. This becomes a problem for a couple of reasons. First, the two mashing enzymes we are most concerned with, alpha- and beta-amylase, are optimal within the ranges of 5.3 – 5.8 and 5.4 – 5.6 respectively. Large percentages of dark malts can drop the pH into the 4’s, which has the potential to significantly reduce extract efficiency. This low mash pH can also add harsh, acrid flavors to the beer.
Residual Alkalinity
As mentioned above, I recommend using a water profile calculator to determine how much bicarbonate you need. These programs will do all the calculations for you, but I have included a small part of what goes on behind the scenes below. Please note that what we discuss below is just a part of mash pH estimation and should not be the sole method used to determine salt additions. It will simply give you an idea of your starting point.
These programs will calculate the residual alkalinity (RA) of your water and will use that to estimate pH changes. You will need an analysis of your brewing water to use these calculators. We used Ward Laboratories, but you can use any testing service. For RA, you need to know alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium contents. Alkalinity will be reported as calcium carbonate or bicarbonate, both calculations are included below.
If alkalinity is reported as calcium carbonate, mg/L of CaCO3 : RA = Alkalinity (mg/L CaCO3) – [(Ca ppm / 1.4) + (Mg ppm / 1.7)]
If alkalinity is reported as bicarbonate, mg/L of HCO3 1- : RA = Alkalinity (0.83 x HCO3 1- mg/L) – [(Ca ppm / 1.4) + (Mg ppm / 1.7)]
Residual Alkalinity Example
For example, with a water profile of:
- Calcium: 50 ppm
- Sodium: 5 ppm
- Magnesium: 5 ppm
- Sulfate: 65 ppm
- Chloride: 75 ppm
- Bicarbonate: 15 ppm
The RA is: (0.83 x 15 ppm HCO3 1-) – [(50 ppm Ca / 1.4) + (5 ppm Mg / 1.7)], or -25.75 ppm
If we replace the bicarbonate value with 75 ppm of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) the equation changes to: RA = 75 ppm CaCO3 – [(50 ppm Ca / 1.4) + (5 ppm Mg / 1.7)], or 36.35 ppm
A positive RA increases mash pH, while a negative RA reduces mash pH. Again, I would not recommend solely using the RA value to determine your water profile. It can, however, give you a starting point to build upon. The water profile calculators will use RA in combination with many other factors to estimate pH.
Don’t Go Overboard On Specialty Additions
With all of the roasted malts available, it can be very easy to get overexcited and add too many. Roasted malts are very intense in color and flavor, so we must be cautious of how much we add. If too much of your grain bill is roasted malts, the flavors can be intense, harsh, and bitter. If you use too many different specialty malts, the flavors can become muddled together. I typically only add 3 roasted malts in my stouts with a maximum of 5 and stay under 15% of the total grain bill. I highly recommend starting in this range, particularly if you are just starting to brew stouts, to get an idea of what characteristics these malts can add.
Adjust Bittering Rates
One aspect that is often overlooked is that these roasted malts add bitterness to the wort in the same way roasted coffee beans add bitterness to coffee. While you should add sufficient bitterness, I would caution against going above the upper limits of the style guidelines. I typically start in the middle of the guidelines for my first batch and make adjustments from there. You don’t want to overpower the wonderful malt flavors with a harsh bitterness.
Choose The Right Style
When thinking of the “stout” style, many go straight to the polarizing Irish Stout thanks to Guinness. While Guinness is an excellent representation of its style, the dry, roasty flavors are not everyone’s favorite. Thankfully, there are many different types of stouts, covering a wide range of flavors. Some of my favorite variations are below.
- Sweet Stout
- The sweet stout is a very dark, sweet, full-bodied stout. It has a cream-like sweetness and is loaded with chocolate, roasty, and coffee flavors. The key to this style is finding the right level of bitterness to pair with the sweetness. We have the recipe for our award-winning sweet stout here.
- Tropical Stout
- The tropical stout is similar to a sweet stout but has fruity, tropical flavors. You can achieve this with late additions of hops such as Citra, Galaxy, and Amarillo. These fruity hop flavors are accompanied by sweet, smooth roasty flavors but no harshness.
- Oatmeal Stout
- The oatmeal stout is a dark, roasty, full-bodied stout. It is filled with roasty, coffee, and chocolate flavors. The oats add a smooth, milky mouthfeel, which is paired with a moderate bitterness. These tend to be a cross between sweet stouts and Irish extra stouts.
If none of these sound quite like your style, I highly recommend looking more into brown British beers such as the dark mild, British brown ale, and English porter. These have similar flavors to the stouts mentioned above, but they are lighter in color and intensity and tend to be more drinkable.
Final Thoughts
Every brewer should have at least one good stout in their repertoire. I included three of our favorite variations, but I highly recommend checking out the BJCP Guidelines to see if any others fit your preferences. Using these tips above, you can develop a world-class stout that everyone will love. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us via contact form or email at brady@thebeerjunkies.com. Cheers!
