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12 votes

Any suggestions for getting a thick (almost chewy) body and mouthfeel when brewing a Milk Stout?

Some things I can think of to increase body: Milk stouts use lactose, or milk sugar, to increase perceived body and sweetness. Lactose is unfermentable by yeast and so passes to the finished beer. ...
Franklin P Combs's user avatar
8 votes

Having doubts about my first stout

At what temperature did you eventually mashed? Not sure how it works out with BIAB, but adding grains to a regular mash (even less volume compared to BIAB), the temperature only drops a few °C's. My ...
JesseB1234's user avatar
5 votes

Forgot My Fermenting Brew for a Month!

An extra month of aging isn't a problem for a beer with healthy yeast stored at an appropriate temperature. It might have been better if it was already bottled, but your yeast have had extra time to ...
Pepi's user avatar
  • 3,020
5 votes

Should I worry about this smell?

At the 1 week stage: do not worry. If it's still there in a few weeks, sure, worry then. All sorts of weird flavours come off yeast when it's actively fermenting. For example lager yeasts can just ...
Kingsley's user avatar
  • 2,060
5 votes

How to make a great stout?

You can't make something taste better if you do not know what it tastes like. Brew the beer as you have it. Taste it, determine what it needs, then re-brew the beer with new changes.
Atron Seige's user avatar
  • 2,466
5 votes
Accepted

Kegging an 11% stout

Kegged beer should last almost as long as bottled beer if sanitation and gas pressures are properly maintained. I don't think you need to do anything different because you are kegging it. The high ABV ...
farmersteve's user avatar
  • 3,012
4 votes
Accepted

Is my batch contaminated("infected")?

Looks like flocculant yeast, if you look close it should be the same color as the trub on the bottom if it is. May see them pulling off and coming to the top, but it's hard to see in a dark beer. ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
4 votes
Accepted

My beer is at the fermenting stage but it is not vigorously bubbling

Gratz on your 1st brew! Everything sounds normal. You won't see fizzy beer or champaign bubble trails. Slow bubbles and churning "chunks" is normal. The airlock can be quite active then eventually ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
4 votes

specific gravity too high to bottle?

If you've done all that, I don't think you need to worry about bottle bombs. Lacto and malto are non-fermentable, long sugars which give this beer its body. And that is what is expected in this beer ...
uSlackr's user avatar
  • 982
4 votes
Accepted

Wyeast yeast replacements: US-05?

Well, kind of....WY1056, WLP001 and US-05 all had the same original source, but through time and the process of drying 05, they've diverged a bit. 1056 and 001 are very clean, with the main ...
Denny Conn's user avatar
  • 33.4k
4 votes
Accepted

Can you add additions to the primary?

If you don't have a secondary then, feel free to add them to your primary. You don't really have to worry much about making additions in your primary, I have done it many times in the past when I ...
Mr_road's user avatar
  • 6,993
4 votes
Accepted

Low FG due to cacao nibs?

No. I'm not aware of cacao nibs having any enzyme inhibiting abilities. Either something else caused a less fermentable wort. Ie higher temp or low beta-amylase in malt. Or, something caused yeast ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
3 votes

Is this final gravity too high?

Really can't say how the lactos is effecting the gravity with out the whole recipe. It's very likely it can finish out the remaining points with some time and warmth. Bring it up to 70°F and give it ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
3 votes

How to make a great stout?

Stouts from a kit are usually better than other styles of beer since the kit cannot contain any hop aroma, or flavor, and a Stout is fine without either of these. First, to get the best out of any ...
mdma's user avatar
  • 27k
3 votes
Accepted

Would boiled vinegar contain any acetobacter?

I have never done that, but I base my answer on information about acetobacter on Wikipedia. The growth of Acetobacter in wine can be suppressed through effective sanitation, by complete exclusion ...
Philippe's user avatar
  • 4,806
3 votes

American Stout addition Suggestions

Basically, you don't need to worry about it. I add coffee beans without any sanitation at all. I've even added unsanitized mushrooms right out of the woods without problem. By the time you add that ...
Denny Conn's user avatar
  • 33.4k
3 votes
Accepted

Just brewed a "White Stout" - Looking for feedback on additives

This peaked my interest awhile back, there are a lot of articles of big breweries doing this Unicorn of brewing. From what I've found it's really expensive to do right (without chemical color ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
3 votes

Viscosity of a Russian Imperial Stout

Oats, long boil, higher mash temp, Cara malts, protein rest, and unconverted starches when applied properly will aid to give that thick body and viscous mouth feel. The mouthfeel comes from medium-...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
2 votes

Should I worry about this smell?

I would worry about that smell. Several of my local home brewers have made plastic flavored beer, it doesn't go away, just gets stronger. When it happened to me, the beer went away, and the fermenter ...
Pepi's user avatar
  • 3,020
2 votes

Should I worry about this smell?

What kind of water do you brew with? Chlorinated tap water can cause a rubber-like (Chlorophenol) taste or smell. If you pass tap water through a chlorine-removing filter, it might be time for a ...
CodingWithSpike's user avatar
2 votes

Forgot My Fermenting Brew for a Month!

I have left beer in primary for over a month due to travel, etc. to no ill effects (assuming proper sanitation - problems will be more apparent given more time to infect). The only issue you may have ...
Josh Golbert's user avatar
2 votes

How to make a great stout?

Well it sounds like you are brewing a Stout from a kit ('out the box Stout'). You can certainly sub certain ingredients per se depending on the kit. I'd say the key is to pay attention to ...
brewchez's user avatar
  • 36.2k
2 votes

Imperial Stout with not enough yeast

Although I trust BeerSmith, I also recommend running your calculations through Mr Malty. Personally, I would not be too worried. You have a healthy starter and a good number of yeast. I brewed a RIS ...
Atron Seige's user avatar
  • 2,466
2 votes

Any suggestions for getting a thick (almost chewy) body and mouthfeel when brewing a Milk Stout?

Franklin P Combs and Atron Seige are completely correct with their suggestions. Google Brewers Best Milk Stout recipe. It's my favorite extract recipe and is nice and thick. It also uses lactose and ...
David Rodgers's user avatar
2 votes

Is my batch contaminated("infected")?

Looks like the yeast is still eating all that goodness as long as it smells okay don't worry wait a few days remove the air lock smell it then take a reading..
user13334's user avatar
2 votes
Accepted

Substituting Dark LME with Amber LME in a Stout

You can kick up a fuss you'd be justified as it is not what you ordered. But, I'd just throw in some extra Dark Patent Malt and Roasted Barley, may be an extra .5lb of each to try and pull back the ...
Mr_road's user avatar
  • 6,993
2 votes

My beer is at the fermenting stage but it is not vigorously bubbling

If I remeber correctly you have the 1 gal. glass carboy and ran a tube from the lid into a pot of sanitized solution. After the bubbling slowed the airlock was supposed to go on. What youre seeing ...
citra_amarillo's user avatar
2 votes

Is my batch contaminated("infected")?

I had white spots om my dark stout beer, as I am new to brewing I looked up on a lot of forums, it's just yeast spots not contamination. I sterilised a tea strainer and tried to catch the spots but ...
Budge Brew's user avatar
2 votes

Viscosity of a Russian Imperial Stout

A higher mash temperature would always be my first port of call, push it up to 69-71 C. After that yes oats can help, but you have to be wary of stuck mashes. Longer boils will thicken the final ...
Mr_road's user avatar
  • 6,993
2 votes

Can you add additions to the primary?

I agree with previous answers: if you have no secondary, there's nothing wrong with chucking whatever you want to add into the primary. However, if your additions are highly aromatic, you may want to ...
Frank van Wensveen's user avatar

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