I like stout. Sometimes I do silly things. So I made this.
Monster Stout
2 Coopers Stout Kits
1 kg of DDME
200g Lactose
200g Black Patent Malt, steeped
3 sachets of kit yeasts.
Brewing Notes: Pretty straightforward to brew. I boiled the Malt and Lactose, and steeped the Patent Malt in heated water for about 15 mins before straining it and adding the liquid to the boil. I then poured it into the fermenter, heated some more water, mixed in the kits, poured this in, topped to 23L, and pitched the yeast about an hour later. Fermentation started well, with a healthy amount of krausen. I suspect I shall buy a better yeast and add it later, if the kit yeasts have trouble.
Bottled: 2/07/08
I never put a better yeast in it, guess we'll trust Coopers. I believe it fermented out completely, so I primed with a full scoop into longnecks (750ml bottles), but just in case i left three unprimed; if it turns out fine then I'll leave them in the cupboard for a few years, if not then at least I'll have some record of the brew if the primed ones start exploding.
This will be recreated very soon, due to the recent acquisition of two Coopers Stout Kits at $8 a piece. Mavellous. One can never have too much Stout.
Tasting Notes:
18/07/08 Bloody good. Sweet burntness, just how I wanted it. Very little hop flavour or aroma, which will be the next addition; I think a small addition of Fuggles wouldn't go astray. My god it's alcoholic though. Half a longneck down and I'm feeling it. Its only lightly carbonated, I hope I didn't grab one of the unprimed ones.
22/06/09 Still bloody good, roastyness is still very much prominent, blending with the warmth of the alcohol very nicely to create a flavour somewhat reminiscent of a Cooper's Best Extra Stout. As before, hop flavour and aroma non-existent, and very little in the way of lasting bitterness, which was dissapointing. It was this lack of bitterness that lead me to adding the early-boil hop additions to the recent Kitchen Sink Stout, hopefully it works out.
