Milk Stout Homebrew Recipe

A while back I found beer recipes for partial-grain Saison and Milk Stout on Homebrew.com*.  I brewed both of the recipes and was very happy with the results.

I took notes along the way on each of the brewing sessions.  I wisely posted my Saison recipe notes but never got down to doing the same with the Milk Stout recipe.  As this was a few years ago, both beers are long gone now and I can no longer find the Milk Stout notes.

I am going to try making the Milk Stout again and this time I am choosing to start out with this post and I will come back to edit whatever I change along the way.  This is the Milk Stout ingredient list that I will be using this time:

Milk Stout Ingredients

I am buying these items from NorthernBrewer.com and have included links to each item.

• 1 pound Briess Caramel 120L malt
• 12 ounces Briess Organic Roasted Barley malt
• 8 ounces Briess Organic Chocolate malt
• 1 pound Flaked Oats
• 5 pounds Northern Brewer Dark Malt Syrup
• 1.25 ounces UK Kent Goldings Hop Pellets
• 1 pound Lactose
• 1 teaspoon Irish Moss
• Wyeast 1318 London Ale III yeast

Milk Stout Directions

1. Mill the malted barley (I am buying it milled.)
2. Add the flaked oats to the malted barley and place the mixture into grain bag.
3. Steep the filled grain bag in 2 gallons of  150° F hot water for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the filled grain bag from the water
5. Add the Dark Malt Syrup
6. Bring to a boil
7. Add the Kent Goldings hops.  Return to boil.  Mixture will foam up.  Add and remove from heating until mixture stops foaming over.
8. After foaming stops, boil for 35 minutes
9. Add the lactose and Irish Moss.
10. Boil for 15 minutes
11. Remove from heat and place in an ice bath to cool. 
12. Decant into fermenter.
13. Cool to below 85° F. (A wort chiller is helpful here.)
14. Move the unfermented beer (wort) into your bew bucket and add 3+ gallons of cold water until the mixture of wort and water equals 5 gallons total.
15. Add yeast.
16. Wait 10 minutes and then give the top of the mixture a quick stir.
17. Seal brew bucket, add airlock and leave in 75 ° F area.
18. Wait three weeks and then move to second fermentation in different brew bucket.
19. Seal brew bucket and add airlock and leave in 75 ° F area.
20. Wait two weeks and then move to bottling bucket.
21. Add priming sugar and bottle.
22. Wait at least 3 weeks before drinking

Approximate alcohol content: 4.5 percent.

*The article on Homebrew.com indicates that this recipe was originally found at HomebrewAdventures and includes a dead link to HomebrewAdverntures.  On further examination, I found that HomebrewAdventures.com appears to be gone so I cannot link back to that post.

Saison Homebrew Recipe

A few months ago I found a couple of good looking beer recipes at HomeBrew.com. The first one I chose to try was a Milk Stout recipe. When brewing it, I had an issue with the White Labs yeast that I had used. It basically failed to activate. I had to make an emergency substitution with a couple of packets of Safbrew S33. This was the only other yeast that I had in my house at the time. The Safbrew S33 did the job and the Milk Stout turnecd out pretty good.

Today I am trying out a Homebrew.com Saison Recipe. The recipe is called "Bridget’s Love Potion Saison" and here is my attempt at it:

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Belgian Caravienne malted barley
• 4 ounces Belgian Aromatic malted barley
• 6 pounds powdered light malt extract
• 1.5 ounces Styrian Golding - bittering hops
• 1 teaspoon Irish Moss
• 1 pound Candi Sugar (smells like it would be great for making cookies)
• 1 ounce Saaz - flavoring hops
• 1 ounce Saaz - aroma/finishing hops
• 0.5 ounce Dried Sweet Orange Peel
• 1 ounce Coriander Seeds - crack just before use
• Saison yeast -- Qty 2 of Wyeast #3711 Fr. Sasion yeast 4.25 oz

Directions

1. Follow directions to activate the yeast if need be
2. Take Malted Barley (milled at store) and place in a grain bag.
3. Steep in about 2 gallons of hot water (155° F) for about 30 minutes.
4. Remove the grain and slowly dissolve the powdered malt extract.
5. Bring to a boil
6. Add the 1.5 oz Styrian Golding Hops
7. Wait 35 minutes
8. Add the Irish Moss and Candi Sugar.
9. Wait 15 minutes
10. Add 1 oz Saaz hops (flavoring).
11. Wait 10 minutes
12. Add 1 oz Saaz hops (finishing), the cracked coriander seeds and orange peels.
13. Wait 2 minutes
14. Remove the wort from heat and cool to 70-80° F so as not to kill the yeast (use wort chiller or ice bath to cool the wort)
15. Add the cooled wort wort into fermenter and top up to 5 gallons with water.
16. Stir wort to add oxygen (for yeast growth).
17. Pitch yeast.
18. Cover fermenter and add pressure release valve
19. Store in a cool, dark place (65-70° F).
20. Wait at least 2 weeks
21. Siphon beer off of the yeast sediment and into clean bucket (this is the for 2nd fermentation)
22. Wait 2 weeks
23. Siphon beer to bottling bucket, dissolve 3/4 cup of corn sugar, rack into bottles and cap.
24. Wait for 3-4 weeks for carbonation.

OG: 1.063 (Estimated) -- 1.062 (Actual on 7/25/2010)
2nd Ferm: 1.002 (Actual on 8/17/2010)
FG: 1.014 (Estimated)
Alcohol: 6.4% (Estimated)  -- (Likely 7.9% as of 8/17/2010)

Yield: about 2 cases of beer (50 12-ounce bottles).