Stoutmaker.beer

Been in somewhat of a rough rut with Stouts lately. The last couple I’ve reviewed have mostly missed the mark.

So to get back on track let’s go pull one off my own taps.

What we have today is a Foreign Extra Stout. 7% abv, 65,IBU.

A casacading pour leaves a fairly dense tan head that really hangs around.

Coffee and other burnt roast with a low earthy hop hit right away, but stop short of harsh. Further back in there is a grainy thing and a bit of darker chocolate. But the roast barley and Black Patent is the main thing here.

From as black as this looks in the glass it does not come across as acrid or rough. The agressive roast and hop bittering are not overboard, but very much in balance with the back ground sweetness.

Maybe a bit over carbonated. But that is keeping the lighter body feel much fuller that it probably is. The amount of roast in here let’s the beer finish with a dry feel which is really welcome after the last few over sweet heavy stouts I’ve had the past few days.

While not a big beer and the alcohol is not predominant, you do notice it while looking at the lacing of that tan head work it way down the glass.

Its good to get back to a stout that’s actually stouty. Very solid beer here. 4/5

Last year I brewed up an Imperial Stout for a homebrew contest that I knew was coming up.

The thing with Imperial Stouts is that although they are complex tasting and smelling,, A stupid simple recipe is really all it needs.

3 gallon Imperial Stout
10 lbs pale malt
12oz Roast barley
8oz Choc Malt
4oz 80L
1.5oz centennial @60
.5oz centennial @15
1oz centennial @0
Mashed at 152
pitched onto a Windsor yeast cake

Did have a few mishaps with beersmith and ended up a little lower on OG than I wanted, but It came out quite well. Infact, it did take first place.

But,, there are a few things I will change next time.

• Body- I’m not sure if it was the problem I had with the sparge volume, but body just wasn’t there.. it wasn’t terrible, but not what I personally expected.
• late hops- This beer sits a year. The hops drop out. I know this. But they were still far below what I wanted. Possibly because I never made this as a 3 gallon before and didn’t account for the less utilization. but again,, not that far off.
• Maybe up that crystal 80. I felt that little bit did not contribute.

Nice lingering head (this pic is before it was full carbed) Not so much grainy aroma, nor big in your face roast, but it surely is there. The whiff of citrusy hops, is also a bit low but prominent.

The bittering was firm and noticeable, but not biting. The roasty goodness is smooth, not harsh. But as this particular batch did not sit its usual time, it did have some boozy burn to it yet. I would expect a hop presence in this style,, but there wasn’t really any at all. But,, because everything about this version was edging twards the low end,, everything did play together well.

If I was scoring this as a beer that I bought and did not know anything of the inside details, and scored only on what I had in the glass,, I’d go 4. Its very good. But once you label it as an Imperial, it would need to be far more to go higher.

But, if I rate it as what I had intended or expected it to be, I’d go 3. Yea its good, but missed on a few things. Not by much, but clear misses. But,, these are all correctable misses..

  
Only a few pulls left of this springs Dry Stout. I really like it. Making more soon. But damn BJCP now calls it Irish Stout. 

Screw them. I’ll still call it dry stout.