Big Honkin' Stout

We took inspiration from American-style foreign stouts for this recipe, combining high bitterness and gravity and an intense roasted grain character to make a pitch-black ale that can't be ignored. Strong, dark roast coffee with a shot of hops and background notes of tar, dark fruit, and caramelized sugar in the nose, giving way to a big mouthful of malt, roast grain, and more hops with a lingering bittersweet finish.

O.G: 1.068 Ready: 2 months

1 to 2 weeks primary, 4 weeks secondary, 1 to 2 weeks bottle conditioning

Kit Inventory:

Specialty Grain

• 8 oz Black Patent
• 8 oz Roast Barley
• 4 oz Carafa III
• 4 oz Briess Caramel 120L

Fermentables

• 3.15 lbs dark malt extract syrup
• 6 lbs dark malt extract syrup (late addition – add 15 minutes before end of boil)

Boil Additions

• 1 oz. Summit (60 min)
• 0.5 oz Columbus (15 min)
• 0.5 oz Columbus (1 min)

Yeast

Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale Yeast. One of the classic ale strains from the Northwest U.S. Produces a malty and mildly fruity ale with good depth and complexity. Apparent attenuation: 67-71%. Flocculation: high. Optimum temp: 65°-75° F

Priming Sugar

• 5 oz. corn sugar

These simple instructions are basic brewing procedures for this Northern Brewer extract beer kit; please refer to your starter kit instructions for specific instructions on use of equipment and common procedures such as siphoning, sanitizing, bottling, etc.

For more detailed extract brewing instructions, please visit www.northernbrewer.com

Before you begin ...

Minimum requirements

• homebrewing starter kit for brewing 5 gallon batches
• yeast starter kit
• boiling kettle of at least 2.5 gallons capacity
• a 5 gallon glass carboy, with bung and airlock, to use as a secondary fermenter
• approximately two cases of either 12 ounce or 22 ounce pry-off style beer bottles

Unpack the kit

• refrigerate the yeast upon arrival
• locate the Kit Inventory (above) – this is the recipe for your beer, so keep it handy
• doublecheck the box contents vs. the the Kit Inventory
• contact us immediately if you have any questions or concerns!

Procedure

A few days before Brewing Day

1.Incubate yeast. Remove the yeast from the refrigerator, and “smack” as shown on the back of the yeast package. Leave it in a warm place (70-80° F) to incubate until the pack begins to inflate. Allow at least 3 hours for inflation; some packs may take up to several days to show inflation. Do not brew with inactive yeast — we can replace the yeast, but not a batch that fails to ferment properly.

2.Prepare a yeast starter. Follow the Yeast Starter Kit instructions and prepare a yeast starter. Allow the starter to incubate for at least one day before Brew Day.

On Brewing Day

3.Collect and heat 1 ½ gallons of water.

4.Crush and steep specialty grains. Pour crushed grains into supplied mesh bag and tie the open end in a knot. Steep for 20 minutes or until water reaches 170°F.

5.Bring to a boil and add 3.15 lbs Dark malt syrup. Remove the kettle from the burner and stir in 3.15 lbs of the Dark malt syrup.

6.Return wort to boil, add 1 oz Summit hops, and boil for 60 minutes. The mixture is now called “wort”, the brewer's term for unfermented beer.

7.Add 6 lbs Dark malt syrup AND 0.5 oz Columbus hops 15 minutes before the end of the boil.

8.Add 0.5 oz Columbus hops 1 minute before the end of the boil.

9.Cool the wort. When the 60-minute boil is finished, cool the wort to approximately 100° F as rapidly as possible. Use a wort chiller, or put the kettle in an ice bath in your sink.

10.Sanitize fermenting equipment. While the wort cools, sanitize the fermenting equipment – fermenter, lid or stopper, fermentation lock, funnel, etc.

11.Fill primary fermenter with 3 gallons of cold water, then pour in the cooled wort. Leave any thick sludge in the bottom of the kettle.

12.Add more cold water as needed to bring the volume to 5 gallons.

13.Aerate the wort. Seal the fermenter and rock back and forth to splash for a few minutes, or use an aeration system and diffusion stone.

14.Measure specific gravity of the wort with a hydrometer and record.

15.Add yeast once the temperature of the wort is 78°F or lower (not warm to the touch). Carefully pour the yeast starter into the primary fermenter.

16.Seal the fermenter. Add approximately 1 tablespoon of water to the sanitized fermentation lock. Insert the lock into rubber stopper or lid, and seal the fermenter.

17.Move the fermenter to a warm, dark, quiet spot until fermentation begins.

From one day until one or two weeks after Brewing Day

18.Active fermentation begins. Within approximately 48 hours of Brewing Day, active fermentation will begin – there will be a cap of foam on the surface of the beer, the specific gravity as measured with a hydrometer will drop steadily, and you may see bubbles come through the fermentation lock. The optimum fermentation temperature for this beer is 65-75° F – move the fermenter to a warmer or cooler spot as needed.

19.Active fermentation ends. Approximately one week to two weeks after brewing day, active fermentation will end. When the cap of foam falls back into the new beer, bubbling in the fermentation lock slows down or stops, and the specific gravity as measured with a hydrometer is stable, proceed to step #19.

From one or two weeks after Brewing Day until five to six weeks after Brewing Day

20.Transfer beer to secondary fermenter. Sanitize siphoning equipment and an airlock and carboy bung or stopper. Siphon the beer from the primary fermenter into the secondary.

21.Secondary fermentation. Allow the beer to condition in the secondary fermenter for 4 weeks before proceeding with step #21.

Bottling Day – five to six weeks after Brewing Day

22.Sanitize siphoning and bottling equipment.

23.Make a priming solution. Measure out 3/4 to 7/8 of a cup of priming sugar from the 5 oz. bag and dissolve in one pint of water in a small saucepan. Bring the priming solution to a boil and pour into the bottling bucket.

24.Siphon beer into bottling bucket and mix with priming solution. Stir gently to mix – don't splash

25.Fill and cap bottles.

One to two weeks after Bottling Day

26.Condition bottles at room temperature for 1 to 2 weeks. After this point, the bottles can be stored cool or cold.

27.Serving. Pour into a clean glass, being careful to leave the layer of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Cheers!