How to Brew Stout Beer
- By Steven Hooch
- Published 11/17/2011
- Food and Drink
- Unrated
Stout is a dark beer made with roasted malt or barley as well as water, yeast and hops. Within the classification of stouts, beer lovers enjoy variations including dry stout, imperial stout and Baltic porter.
Characteristics of Stout:
Before we discuss the ingredients and process necessary to brew stouts, let's discuss their characteristics. This way, a better idea of the results can be acquired and, in so doing, the ingredients and steps make perfect sense.
Stouts should have thick heads with colours ranging from tan to brown although there are almost black brews, too. The colour is usually opaque but light should still pass through the beer, if and when a light source happens to come into contact.
Stout beer has a grainy nose to it coupled with subtle hints of chocolate, coffee, licorice and molasses. There should be little to no aroma of hops to it. The flavours of a stout should also be similar to its nose - rich, full and creamy. The mouth-feel is, thus, one of the richest among beers - not watery, at all.
The complex play of flavour, texture and aroma of stout makes the beer an excellent companion to chocolate, oysters and meat dishes. Most beer lovers even swear by the deliciousness of a scoop of chocolate ice cream into a perfect pint of stout! To say that stouts are sexy is an understatement, indeed.
Essential Ingredients:
The ingredients for a basic brew of stout beer are as follows:
2 cans of a stout kit
3 pounds of extra dark dry malt extract
2 cups of chocolate malt
Ale yeast
2 cups of malt
2.5 cups of roasted barley
3 ounces of boiling hops
1 oz. of finishing hops
Moss (1/4 teaspoon, optional)
Corn sugar (3/4 cup, optional)
Basic Steps:
The basic steps in making stout beer are relatively simple to follow. Of course, you must all have the necessary brewing tools and equipment on hand aside from the above mentioned ingredients.
First, soak the barley in 6 cups of tap water for 10 minutes. Boil the water with the barley still inside the pot. When the water starts to boil, remove the grains from the pot and place the grains in a separate bowl for cooling purposes. (Yes, place the grains in a muslin bag first so that taking them out is easy, fast and convenient).
Add the boiling hops and the extract into the boiling water. Let it boil for the next 60 minutes. When the 45-minute mark is achieved, add the moss for more flavours in the stout beer.
Add the hops after the 60-minute boiling period is done. Let the hops soak for 15 minutes. Cool this mixture. Drain the excess yeast and other ingredients, which means that the remaining liquid is the stout beer.
As you gain more experience in brewing stouts, you can make perfect beer right in your own home. You can experiment, too. For example, adding crystals like dextrim malts add more fullness to the stout while pale malt also adds gravity to the brew. Or you can add sweet flavours by adding more
crystals at higher temperatures.
Stout beer is one of the beer styles that encourage love for the brew. You will become a stout advocate for stout!
Characteristics of Stout:
Before we discuss the ingredients and process necessary to brew stouts, let's discuss their characteristics. This way, a better idea of the results can be acquired and, in so doing, the ingredients and steps make perfect sense.
Stouts should have thick heads with colours ranging from tan to brown although there are almost black brews, too. The colour is usually opaque but light should still pass through the beer, if and when a light source happens to come into contact.
Stout beer has a grainy nose to it coupled with subtle hints of chocolate, coffee, licorice and molasses. There should be little to no aroma of hops to it. The flavours of a stout should also be similar to its nose - rich, full and creamy. The mouth-feel is, thus, one of the richest among beers - not watery, at all.
The complex play of flavour, texture and aroma of stout makes the beer an excellent companion to chocolate, oysters and meat dishes. Most beer lovers even swear by the deliciousness of a scoop of chocolate ice cream into a perfect pint of stout! To say that stouts are sexy is an understatement, indeed.
Essential Ingredients:
The ingredients for a basic brew of stout beer are as follows:
2 cans of a stout kit
3 pounds of extra dark dry malt extract
Ale yeast
2 cups of malt
2.5 cups of roasted barley
3 ounces of boiling hops
1 oz. of finishing hops
Moss (1/4 teaspoon, optional)
Corn sugar (3/4 cup, optional)
Basic Steps:
The basic steps in making stout beer are relatively simple to follow. Of course, you must all have the necessary brewing tools and equipment on hand aside from the above mentioned ingredients.
First, soak the barley in 6 cups of tap water for 10 minutes. Boil the water with the barley still inside the pot. When the water starts to boil, remove the grains from the pot and place the grains in a separate bowl for cooling purposes. (Yes, place the grains in a muslin bag first so that taking them out is easy, fast and convenient).
Add the boiling hops and the extract into the boiling water. Let it boil for the next 60 minutes. When the 45-minute mark is achieved, add the moss for more flavours in the stout beer.
Add the hops after the 60-minute boiling period is done. Let the hops soak for 15 minutes. Cool this mixture. Drain the excess yeast and other ingredients, which means that the remaining liquid is the stout beer.
As you gain more experience in brewing stouts, you can make perfect beer right in your own home. You can experiment, too. For example, adding crystals like dextrim malts add more fullness to the stout while pale malt also adds gravity to the brew. Or you can add sweet flavours by adding more
crystals at higher temperatures.
Stout beer is one of the beer styles that encourage love for the brew. You will become a stout advocate for stout!
Steven Hooch
Steven Hooch is a leading connoisseur for a variety of fine wines and ales. He has been sharing his insights and reviews for over 11 years striving to provide expert advice and information on a wide range of alcoholic beverages including stout beer.
View all articles by Steven Hooch