andrew ager, dot com

If I want any claim at all to the tag of “beer blogger,” I’d best be participating in what’s now known as “The Session.” So, here we go.

The theme being “Not Your Father’s Stout,” I figure I’ll chat a bit about my own stout, currently tapped up in my basement. I’m not sure that my dad’s all that into stouts — I know he’s had them, but cannot for the life of me recall if they’re beers he actively likes. At any rate, the stout in my basement was intended to be a foreign stout, based on my friend Dave’s recipe. I tweaked it around a bit to account for my system and efficiency,  but had changed the settings on the grain mill, so was rather shocked at a 10% increase in extraction … leading to a beer starting at 1.084 rather than 1.064. Oooooooops. Also mashed it overnight, at 156-ish. Which turned out to be 159-ish, after a new thermometer came into the scene a brew or two later and I realized the one I was using was miscalibrated.

However, the alcohol levels turned out perfectly, as the beer stopped fermenting at 1.038! Making for one SWEET foreign roasty stout.

Despite the wacky brewing experiments and poor readings, this beer is actually quite delicious. All that roast just about compensates for the worty sweetness (along with a stiff dose of hops). I had intended it to be a strongish summer stout, although the sweetness factor made it more appealing in the fall and winter. The three pounds of roast barley give it an amazing depth of flavor, which the sweetness only adds to. True, it’s not what I intended, but the end result is a fine drink. Of course, I will be brewing this again in varying strengths, since the base recipe is so tasty.

Years ago, a version of this stout garnered my highest-ever score in a homebrew competition — 45/50 — from a tough judge.  The current edition just barely missed out on third place for stouts in a recent competition, so obviously it has good things going for it.

So here’s to Stout!  Cheers!