HOW TO BREW:
With our next Brew Academy in just over a week, we thought we’d share some wisdom with you, and reveal the secrets to brewing the ultimate stout.
Named Beast Mode, we fully expect anyone who consumes this sugar and caffeine rich stout of decadence to tear of their shirt, scream out “BEAST MODE” and run off into the sunset.
THE MASH
To kick things off you’ll need some grains. We went for:
7.5kg Maris Otter Ale malt
1.2kg Chocolate
550g Crystal 120l
plus 1.5kg Dry Malt Extract to bump up the gravity.
Once you’ve got your grains together get mashed in with a target temperature of 68–69c and leave it to do it’s things for 60 minutes. The slightly higher mash temperature will give the final beer a slightly richer mouthfeel and a bit more residual sugar for that extra decadent finish.
Once the mash is finished vorlauf (recirculate the wort until it’s good and clear with no bits of grain floating around) and sparge as usual and transfer to the boil kettle.
THE BOIL
Bring the wort to the boil adding 1.5kg Malt Extract before it hits boiling.
We chose to go fairly minimal for the hop schedule so the rich malt and coffee flavours can dominate and shine.
35g Fuggles at 60 minutes
35g ADHA-529 at 10 minutes
ADHA-529 is an experimental hop (hence the somewhat dystopian name) which will impart aromas of coconut, lemon and maybe a little mint. If you can’t find any, use whatever you think will compliment the other flavours in the brew.
During the last 10 minutes of the boil add 1.0kg Lactose. This will give the beer a nice rich and smooth finish… think delicious creamy latte.
Finally, steep 50g Ground Coffee in a muslin hop bag for the last minute of the boil, and then remove (you want to avoid extracting too much tannin bitterness at this stage). Turn off the elements at the end of the 60 minutes.
PITCH THE YEAST AND FERMENT
After the boil is complete, it’s time to cool down the wort to around 18–21c. The lower the better as this will put less strain on the yeast.
Next up you’ll need to aerate the wort, this usually involves a very vigorous stir using a big spoon (careful not to spill too much precious nectar in the process!)
Finally, pitch the yeast. For our 35 litre batch we’ve gone with two packets of Safale S-04 English ale yeast. If you have time, rehydrating the yeast is advisable for a good healthy fermentation.
Once your brew is complete, store your fermenter somewhere safe with a good consistent temperature (ideally around 18–19c). Leave it to ferment for around 10–14 days and check the gravity reading to get an idea of when the fermentation is complete. There’ll be loads of unfermentable sugars in there from the lactose, so don’t be surprised if the final gravity is quite high.
Once fermentation is complete bottle the beer and give it 10 days to condition. Et Voilà, one batch of delicious Chocolate Coffee Milk Stout!
Learn to brew more exciting recipes at our Brew Academy, which focuses on more challenging recipes and brewing techniques. Find out more about our upcoming Brew Academy’s here.
And, just for you lucky readers, we’re offering 30% off our Beast Mode Brew Academy on 28th May with discount code BREWTHEBEAST. Hurry there’s only a few tickets left!
