ADVERTISEMENT

Video Tip: Selecting Roasted Grains to Balance Big Imperial Stouts

In this clip from their video course, Maplewood founder Adam Cieslak and head brewer Roger Cuzelis explain how they go about balancing the residual sugars in their higher-gravity stouts by adjusting their roasted grains.

Adam Cieslak , Roger Cuzelis Mar 1, 2023 - 2 min read

Sign up for a free account to skip pre-roll ads.

Chicago’s Maplewood Brewery & Distillery has earned a strong reputation among its peers for all its beers, including IPAs and lagers, but perhaps especially for its award-winning stout program. Whether it’s the mid-strength core beer Fat Pug, a milk stout of 5.9 percent ABV, or a higher-gravity entry in the Cuppa series—adjuncted and/or barrel-aged—Maplewood has a knack for building in loads of flavor without losing balance.

In the 98-minute video course, Maplewood’s founding brewer and CEO Adam Cieslak joins head brewer Roger Cuzelis and special projects lead Adam Smith to detail their approach to building these stouts, including:

  • desiging grists for stouts of varying strengths
  • different base malts for smaller or barrel-aged stouts
  • dialing in water and mash pH to buffer the acidity of dark malts
  • mash temperatures that balance big body with fermentability
  • long boils for stouts small and large
  • layering flavors into smaller stouts
  • balancing higher-gravity and barrel-aged stouts
  • adjusting base stout recipes to balance flavor adjuncts
  • aiming for very high starting gravities and getting more from a massive mash
  • adding malt extracts and sugars for even more gravity
  • managing fermentation to ensure adequate attenuation in big stouts
  • barrel-aging, from sourcing barrels to adjusting recipes to aging and blending
  • considerations for coffee, vanilla, and various other flavor adjuncts
  • ensuring flavor extraction from adjuncts

And more.

Want access to more video courses like this one? All of our subscriptions come with a 100-percent money-back guarantee. Get your All Access Subscription to tap into a library of more than 80 full courses on a diverse range of brewing topics. If you don’t love it, we’re happy to refund you.

ARTICLES FOR YOU