Craft Range Irish Stout

CianSmyth

Received a Craft Range Irish Stout kit off my brother for Christmas and am planning on starting it tomorrow. Any opinions or tips before I start? Its my second brew, I have never brewed a stout before.

BeerNut

It's exactly the same process. In homebrew terms, stout is just a dark ale.

CianSmyth

Thanks, good to know!

thelaoislad

I was thinking of having a go at a stout kit for my next brew ..
I know I wont get the James's gate kinda stuff , but can anyone recommend a good one to try ?
I read that the Coopers Irish Stout is a safe bet ..
also heard of one called Irish Velvet ??
Anyone got any advice on kits they have tried ??

I ve tried some of the so called Irish craft beer porters, from some of the new small brewing companies , and they were terrible , would the results from a kit be anyway better ?

BeerNut

thelaoislad wrote: »

I know I wont get the James's gate kinda stuff

Yep, yours will actually taste of something. If nitrokeg Guinness is your ideal stout then the bad news is that you don't really like the taste of stout.

I've always got good results with the Coopers white label stout. I'd avoid the black label one as it's always finished at about 1.020 any time I've done it.

n97 mini

BeerNut wrote: »

If nitrokeg Guinness is your ideal stout then the bad news is that you don't really like the taste of stout.

That's a kind of an arrogant statement and one that would put people off. Nitro Guinness mightn't be the be all and end all of stouts, but it is a stout.

thelaoislad

I Know where I can get that Coopers White label stout , and my local store has Milestone Black Pearl .. any opinion's on that one ?

Is stout brewed the same as any other kit , just leave it to age a few more weeks than normal at a lower temp ??
Am right to be thinking of 1 Kg spraymalt at the start , or is that a bit much ..

Tks

mayto

You can get the Coopers stout off thehomebrewcompany https://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/coopers-stout-17-kg-p-18.html. Ye add 1kg of spraymalt, would prob try it with dark spraymalt myself.

BeerNut

thelaoislad wrote: »

my local store has Milestone Black Pearl .. any opinion's on that one ?

I've tasted a few examples of it and it's always been very good.

thelaoislad wrote: »

Is stout brewed the same as any other kit , just leave it to age a few more weeks than normal at a lower temp ??

Do it exactly the same way, no need to change fermentation times or temperatures.

thelaoislad

Alright so , Ill pick one up and give it a try .
Tks guys.

One last thing, saw on U tube some stout brewing with the addition of between 200-400 gr treacle ..
with the spraymalt
is that a crazy thing to try ?

BeerNut

Nope. Treacle is really just sugar.

n97 mini

Dark treacle which we get here, has quite a strong flavour, of treacle! It's the same almost as molasses.

Golden syrup comes in a similar tin, is light in colour and is essentially liquid sugar. i.e. no flavour other than sweet.

CianSmyth

Okay so I'm on day 7 of brewing and according to the instruction I should add in the hops tomorrow and let them sit in the muslin bag. However I'm not planning on bottling after 10 days as the instructions suggest and will probably leave it for 21 days in total. Will I need add the hops at a later stage or just continue on and add them tomorrow?

Also my "Stout" is looking a lighter brown than I imagined, is this okay?

BeerNut

CianSmyth wrote: »

Also my "Stout" is looking a lighter brown than I imagined, is this okay?

Yes, probably. Just don't serve it to anyone who judges a beer on the colour

If you're dry hopping, dry hop it a week or so before you plan to bottle.

CianSmyth

In that case I'll just leave it for another 2 weeks! Thanks

flimflamflo

I brewed this in November and have been bottle conditioning it since. I've sampled it on and off since and am still waiting for it to deliver on a decent flavour. So far, it's disappointingly bland. Nice head, it's cleared and settled well, it's just not great on the taste front - not unpalatable or anything, just bland.

Hope yours turns out better :-)

bigjohnnykeats

Hey Cian I'm just after trying to brew the same stout there but I was totally confused by the instructions! Did you add 450g of sugar to wort as the instructions cryptically suggested? I'm a total newbie and guessed i shouldn't as there was none in the box. Did i do right or should i lash some in right now in a sweaty panic?