At the end of 2018, Mike took inventory of his odds and ends grain collection that he had and decided to make an Imperial stout. All of the ingredients, including the different base malts, were left over from other brews. A “Kitchen Sink” beer for sure, this stout has everything. Check out the recipe below and the video of our tasting of this Watch Out Stout!

Watch Out Stout Recipe

OK, let’s try to wrap our heads around this one.

Specifications

Boil Size: 8.00 gallons
Post Boil Volume: 6.5 gallons
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.5 gallons
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients

Grains (and honey):

5 lbs 14.0 oz of US 2 Row Pale Malt (2.0 SRM) – 18.0% of grain bill
4 lbs 11.0 oz of Rahr White Wheat Malt (3.2 SRM) – 14.4% of grain bill
3 lbs 10.0 oz of Unknown Pale Malt (~2.0 SRM) – 11.1 % of grain bill
3 lbs 2.0 oz of Briess Brewers Malt (1.8 SRM)- 9.6% of grain bill
2 lbs 9.6 oz of Rahr Pale Ale Malt (3.5 SRM) – 8.0% of grain bill
2 lbs 1.2 oz of Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) – 6.4% of grain bill
1 lbs 9.0 oz of 80°L Crystal Malt (80.0 SRM) – 4.8% of grain bill
1 lbs of Flaked Barley (1.7 SRM) – 3.1% of grain bill
1 lbs of 60°L Crystal Malt (600 SRM) – 3.1 % of grain bill
1 lbs of Briess Yellow Flaked Maize (1.3 SRM)- 3.1% of grain bill
13.0 oz of Roasted Barley (300 SRM) – 2.5% of grain bill
10.2 oz of Blackprinz Malt (500 SRM) – 2.0% of grain bill
6.4 oz of Crisp Brown Malt (65 SRM) – 1.2 % of grain bill
6.2 oz of Briess Chocolate (350 SRM) – 1.2 % of grain bill
5.0 oz of Melanoiden Malt (20 SRM) – 1.0% of grain bill
4.3 oz of Black Patent Malt (500 SRM) – 0.8 % of grain bill
4.3 oz of Crisp Pale Chocolate (220 SRM) – 0.8% of grain bill
3 lbs of Honey (1.0 SRM) – 9.2% of grain bill

Hops (and Chocolate):

3 oz (85.05 g) of Warrior hops (15.00 AA%) – Boiled for 60 mins. 90.8 IBUs
2 oz (56.70 g) of Willamette hops (5.50 AA%) – Boiled for 20 mins. – 13.4 IBUs
6.00 oz of Chocolate (Boiled for 5 mins.)

Yeast

1 packet of SafAle English Ale dry yeast (DCL/Fermentis #S-04)
1 packet of Safale American Ale dry yeast (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)

Predictions

Bottling Volume: 6.5 gallons
Estimated OG: 1.128 SG
Estimated Color: 52.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 104.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.00 %
Estimated Mash Efficiency: 68.0 %

Watch Out Stout Tasting Notes

Here’s what we thought of the stout, even though it should get even better over the next few years.

Appearance: Black, opaque body with a tan head.

Aroma: Big roasty note on the nose.

Flavor: It was pretty reminiscent of Old Rasputin. The beer had a big dark malt note. The flavor wasn’t too overly complex, which was a good thing. Sometimes these types of beers can get really “muddy” where there is too much going on to pick out specific flavors. Mike found it to have some earthy hop notes and in the aftertaste, there was a small sherry note which may become more pronounced as the beer ages.

Mouthfeel: This beer wasn’t too full but it wasn’t thin either. It definitely had a medium body.

Overall Impression: A tasty beer with a sneaky high ABV. There wasn’t any sweetness that other beers that have over 1.100 starting gravity have. This beer was very drinkable and it will be fun to try over the years as it ages.

BREW ON!