Toucan - dark ale + stout

[Morrie]

The same thing happens with liquid yeast when it is allowed to warm up and sit at room temp for hours before pitching it. This is why I now only take the yeast out of the fridge when it's pitching time and pitch it cold straight into the wort. I began getting much shorter lag times when I started doing this' date=' about half what they were when the yeast were allowed to warm up for ages. In yeast starters they get going in a matter of a couple of hours. [/quote']

 

I'm doing the same now with my harvested liquid yeasts (pitching cold) and also find the lag times are shorter. I have read somewhere that pitching cold can attribute to mutations, so in a brew where I intend to harvest from and create another generation set, I now intend to equalize the temperature just for that particular pitch.

[Redsproket]

I am planning on doing the Toucan Stout. Had some advice to have only 500g of dextrose.

 

what do you think 1kg or 500g?

 

1 Can of Cooper's dark ale

1 can of Cooper's stout

1 kg of dextrose

 

See Below

 

Also

 

Also' date=' a tip with simple sugar is to add it after the yeast have consumed the malt sugars so it doesn't chew up the easy stuff first and give up on the harder sugars leaving a high FG. (I dissolve it in boiling water and cool it before adding)

 

Makes sense but I have newbie doubts.

 

All advice appreciated

 

RS

 

 

 

See Below.

 

If it were me making the recipe I would use the can of Stout and Dark but halve the dextrose to 500g. Simple sugars are okay in beer recipes but it’s usually best to keep them at 20% or less of the total recipe.

 

 

[/quote']

 

The fermentation period of my toucan start is almost complete. It is looking really interesting already.

 

I am getting toward the point where I can be bottling my toucan stout soon. I am thinking of doing a bulk priming for this but have never done this before. Do I need a secondary vessel for this process or can add dextrose? to the main fermenting vessel? If so do I simply dissolve it in boiled water and let it get to fermentation temperature and what is the best way to ensure it mixes through the wort? What concentration of dextrose for this type stout be suggested.

 

I have brewed with a 1 litre less of water to allow for the bulk priming again not sure if this is a valid technique.

 

It may be that I cannot bottle for 4 days . If my fermentation is ready could I just leave it at fermentation temperature in a brew fridge or would it be an alternative to crash chill at 4° for a few days?

 

Thanks to ChristinaS1 and Graculus for the advice. I toned down the dextrose to 500 g as per your suggestions.

 

Thank you in advance so much for your help. I have found people wonderfully helpful on this forum.

RS

[King Ruddager]

You do need a second vessel. Here's a video I made -

[Lobster]

Hi guys,

 

Absolutely love this recipe! I've done 3 batches thus far and currently the forth is happily bubbling away.

 

Quick question, the foaming for each subsequent batch has gotten progressively worst. This current batch has the foam coming out of the air lock!

 

I was wondering if there's anything I'm doing wrong.

 

1st batch, dark ale + stout + 1kg dried light malt

2nd batch, dark ale + stout + 500g dried light malt + 500g dried light malt

3rd batch, dark ale + stout + 1kg dried dark malt

4th and current batch, dark ale + stout + 1.25kg liquid dark malt

 

On all my batches, I pitch @ 20c both packets, during active fermentation it would rise to 26c then drop back down to 20c as fermentation winds down.

 

The only thing different from this current batch is that instead of using a silicon spoon to stir the wort to dissolve the malt extract, I used a whisk and that generated quite a bit of froth which I skimmed off.

 

This current batch, I've only filled it to 18L in anticipation of the the foaming but it was the worst I've experience thus far. Would you guys be so kind as to tell me what I'm doing wrong.

[ChristinaS1]

I find that the stout kits do produce a lot of krausen, plus you have a lot of malt in there. Try not to allow the temp to rise to 26C during active fermentation by putting the fermenter in a tub of water and adding ice to the bath as necessary, to keep the brew at 20C.

 

The only other thing I can think of is holding off on adding your extra LME until day three or four. If you are using a can of LME you can just pour it right in (after warming up the can in hot water, to soften it) as it is already sanitized, but DME should be boiled in water for a short time to sanitize it. No need to stir after you add it; the yeast will find it regardless. You don't want to be stirring in oxygen at this point.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[ChristinaS1]

Double post deleted.

[Otto Von Blotto]

You're not doing anything wrong (other than the temp getting too high), it's just the way those types of beers ferment. I'm guessing it's something to do with the dark malts in them but they pretty well always foam up heaps.

[Lobster]

I know I shouldn't let the temperature get that high but it is near impossible to get it any lower right now. I never brew in summer and winter is when I do all my brewing, I'm turning over a batch every 7 days.

 

I've got a dedicated beer room about 3m2 that's sort of in the middle of the house. Ambient temperature in there is usually 20.

 

I recently bought a upright freezer and I have a temperature controller laying about somewhere. I might give that a go and see if I can keep the temperature down.

 

I was wondering, since ambient is 20 and active fermentation brings it up to 26, would regulating ambient to 14 keep the fermentation temperature at 20?

[Otto Von Blotto]

When using a temp controller and fridge/freezer set up, you're better off taping the temp probe to the side of the fermenter underneath some packing foam or similar stuff. This way it measures the temp of the brew rather than the ambient, so you simply set the controller to your preferred ferment temp, set the differential* to 0.3C-0.5C if it will go that low, and then let it do its thing. Trying to guess where to have the ambient is a bit of a PITA because it will change depending on what stage the fermentation is at.

 

*This figure is how far from the set temp the controller allows the actual temp to rise (or fall), before it kicks the fridge (or heater) back in to bring the temp back down (or up). When measuring the brew temp, the figure can be fractions of a degree because it takes a reasonable amount of time to change temp; the fridge won't be coming on and off every minute or whatever, it's more like about 4-5 times per hour.

[Graculus]

What Otto said, plus I think you need to leave it longer than 7 days.

I've had one in the FV for a little over two weeks. I'm hoping to get

it bottled tomorrow and then put another on.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Plus if you ferment in a fridge you can brew all year round, and get a couple of dark beers done in the spring/summer so they can age for the winter.

[Couttsy20]

This seems a logical place to seek some advice for what I'm about to do!

 

I've got a can of Black Rock Miners Stout, and a can of unhopped Dark Malt extract. I've also got a maybe a 1/2 kilo of Dextrose and a 1kg box of BE1. Somewhere in the cupboard, I've also got a couple of kgs of light crystal malt.

 

Got hops in the freezer, but not interested in using them.

 

SO.

 

My plan was using both cans, and whatever dex I've got, and pitching the can yeast, and a packet of Mangrove Jack's MI5 empire ale yeast.

 

Happy to take any suggestions/feedback/advice - and am planning on adopting the suggestion of brewing at 15L for the first few days, and then topping up with cool boiled water to 23L.

 

Any help would be appreciated!!

[Rowbrew]

I have recently been trying a few stouts and am quite enjoying them in these colder months. Previously Stout and Dark ales never really were my cup of tea, but for some reason i am liking them, so i thought i might do a simple toucan. Though this got me thinking about bitterness with these two kits. With my calculations it comes out at, (for 23 litres) 43.6 IBU for the dark ale, and 52.4 IBU for the stout. Now if add these together i get 96 IBU. I usually subtract 20% due to losses during fermentation, so that makes 76.8 IBU. Does that seem too high? My recipe will be

 

1 OS Stout

1 OS Dark Ale

1kg Dex

23 litres

 

Im sure i have nothing to worry about because i think about how many people have done this with great results, and no mention of it being too bitter. Just curious to see what other people make of those IBU numbers.

 

Cheers

Rowbrew

[Beerlust]

Im sure i have nothing to worry about because i think about how many people have done this with great results' date=' and no mention of it being too bitter. Just curious to see what other people make of those IBU numbers.[/quote']

In a typical light malted beer like a lager or pilsner at around 4.5 - 5.0% ABV, you'd have a serious problem with that IBU number & the overall balance of the beer. However in a very rich malted beer around 7.0%ABV (like you have here), more bitterness is required to maintain some semblance of balance with the increase in malt "heaviness" (for a better word).

 

Many have brewed this before you, & have enjoyed the end beer as a result.

 

Cheers & good luck with the brew,

 

Lusty.

[Rowbrew]

So in other words... RDWHAHB!

 

Cheers Lusty

[Graculus]

I have recently been trying a few stouts and am quite enjoying them in these colder months. Previously Stout and Dark ales never really were my cup of tea' date=' but for some reason i am liking them, so i thought i might do a simple toucan. Though this got me thinking about bitterness with these two kits. With my calculations it comes out at, (for 23 litres) 43.6 IBU for the dark ale, and 52.4 IBU for the stout. Now if add these together i get 96 IBU. I usually subtract 20% due to losses during fermentation, so that makes 76.8 IBU. Does that seem too high? My recipe will be

 

1 OS Stout

1 OS Dark Ale

1kg Dex

23 litres

 

Im sure i have nothing to worry about because i think about how many people have done this with great results, and no mention of it being too bitter. Just curious to see what other people make of those IBU numbers.

 

Cheers

Rowbrew[/quote']

 

I do the same as that but I also steep 250grams of Choc malt.

I've got a couple I'm drinking at the moment which are both nearly a year old.

The one with Choc malt is far better. My friends love this beer.

 

Still a good beer with what you're doing though if you haven't got any choc malt.

[Rowbrew]

Thanks Graculus.

I dont have any choc malt i can use nor have i ever used it, though i would say that i much prefer a roasty stout compared to a chocolate/coffee stout.

[loboz74]

Just put this brew down myself and I am loving the vigorous fermentation. It is totally nuts..

[loboz74]

I'm Currently on a run of 12 hour Night Shifts which does not leave time for much. The brew is at 14 days and reading indicate it is ready for bottling. Due to the need to sleep I wont get to it for at least another 4 days. So my question is, will this effect the finished product in anyway.

[Graculus]

I'm Currently on a run of 12 hour Night Shifts which does not leave time for much. The brew is at 14 days and reading indicate it is ready for bottling. Due to the need to sleep I wont get to it for at least another 4 days. So my question is' date=' will this effect the finished product in anyway.[/quote']

 

I've regularly left mine in the FV for three weeks. It won't be a problem at all.

[Gag Halfrunt]

This will be my next brew once my 2 FVs are freed up in a couple of days.

 

With discussion of LDME v 1k of dex going on I thought why not a kg of BE3? Best of both worlds.

 

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

[Graculus]

I've never put LDME in mine.

The amount of dextrose varies 500g - 1kg.

 

I always steep 250g of Choc Malt for 40-50 mins, then boil for 10 minutes.

 

I've wondered about putting malt in, or hops but I'm not sure I'd taste them.

I just keep going back to the same recipe time after time. My mates love this beer.

In fact I'm drinking one now!

 

I did pick up a couple of Morgans Stouts in the week for $5 each. I was thinking of making

a milk stout with one.

 

 

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Thats cool, like looking into a mirror facing a mirror.

[Gag Halfrunt]

Stout looks nice also,

[loboz74]

Just cracked my first Toucan Stout and it was outstanding even the wife loved it