The recipe here is just an example of one of our base stouts that we use exclusively for aging in barrels. That recipe changes because we like to tinker with the ingredients.
For a recipe like this, we typically use bourbon or rye whiskey barrels. Because we don’t get to brew these all the time, we like to experiment with different specialty or roast malts and various grain adjuncts. For the base malt, typically, we pick a simple (or less expensive) base malt such as your usual two-row—but then we have a little more fun filling out the rest of the grain bill.
As with the mash tuns at many smaller breweries, there’s only so much we can cram in there. That reality affects other decisions, such as the use of sugars and how much dark malt we can include. So, we experiment where we can.
Adjuncts
Typically, we use oat malt because of its ability to help the lauter, thanks to its great husk addition to the grist. Simpsons Golden Naked Oats or flaked oats also add great mouthfeel to the beer.
In addition to the oats, we sometimes mix and match by using rye and/or wheat. When we’ve used those in the past, we’ve also typically chosen specialty malts made from those grains, too—for example, going all-in on a rye stout by including flaked rye, rye malt, chocolate rye… You get the idea.
Specialty and Roast Malts
For our specialty malts, there are a few that we always seem to use—pale chocolate, Simpsons DRC (Double Roasted Crystal), and medium crystal malt almost always find their way into the mash.
This is really where you can push the direction of the beer’s flavor—use some Special B or certain darker crystal malts, for example, to get a fruitier or more raisin-like character. Or you can go lighter and simpler, using a basic blend of crystal 60, 80, and 120 to get more of a classic malty profile.
The roast malts also give you some freedom to experiment and really dial in the result you want. Black patent, Carafa, and classic roast barley are all reliable sources for adjusting the color and flavor.
Water
Depending on your water source, consider adding calcium carbonate to help adjust the pH because of the use of the dark malts, which increase the acidity. The calcium carbonate also contributes to the flavor, helping balance and cushion any acrid or sour flavors from those same malts.
Sugar
We typically boost our gravity with sugar to avoid having to boil for extreme periods of time. Our brewhouse isn’t very efficient, and we’re extremely limited in how far we can push the sheer quantity of grist and, therefore, the percentage of less-fermentable darker malts—we are trying to cram in all the fermentables we can.
Brewer’s crystals (a mixture of glucose and corn-syrup solids), maltodextrin, cane sugar, and malt extract are all common additions for these big stouts. Lately, we’ve been adding liquid malt extract to the boil with good results. Each of these sugars will ferment slightly differently, so make sure you choose what’s right for your project.