Return to Darkness

I love lagers. Flavorful lagers, not the "Classic American Pils" crap. I mean Bock, Dopplebock, Dunkel, Oktoberfest, Vienna, Bohemian Pils...flavorful lagers. And for the last few batches, that's all I've brewed. Of course, I'm now enjoying having 3 lagers on tap.

But sometimes you just have a hankerin' for some good ol' Dry Stout.

I've tried a few stout recipes that just didn't pan out. Not what I was looking for. Since getting a hold of an iPod, brewing podcasts have been the next-best-thing to my heavy metal MP3s...better than radio most of the time, anyway. In particular is The Brewing Network. Great information, quality listening. Jamil Zainasheff (AHA Board member, 2004 Ninkasi Award winner, author and all-around nice guy) reviews beer styles and how to brew them weekly on his internet radio show. So I downloaded the Dry Stout podcast and gave it a listen. Jamil gives a basic recipe for dry stout and I tweaked it just a little:

Something Different Stout

Batch Size (Gal): 10.00 Wort Size (Gal): 10.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 15.75
Anticipated OG: 1.041 Plato: 10.26°
Anticipated SRM: 34.9
Anticipated IBU: 37.1
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes

10.50 lbs. Marris Otter
0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt
3.00 lbs. Flaked Barley
1.75 lbs. Roasted Barley

2.40 oz. East Kent Goldings (Whole, 6.90%AA) 60 min.

White Labs WLP004 Irish Stout yeast

6am comes bright and early tomorrow morning! Gonna get brewin' while the weather is still cool and the kids are still sleepin'.

Cheers!