Brew day is coming soon!!!
I always look for inspiration when I go to brew my next beer. I really love walking outside and seeing what’s out there that can give me new brewing ideas. I really love photography, or maybe I will be out on a hike, or just in the supermarket.
It’s weird seeing something like a cloudy pink sky or monkey on roller skates, and thinking how that can convert into a beer recipe. But it’s not possible to make a beer that tastes like how a sky looks, but I can make the beer cloudy and see how I can maybe get that same color of pink with fruit. Or for a money on roller skates, maybe a banana stout and make the yeast choice funny. It’s not that I need to actually create what the image shows, it just needs to get me in a direction and have the imagination fire up. I never really considered myself creative in that I really stink at painting, sculpting, drawing, etc. But I feel like with brewing, I have been given the gift of being able to be creative still. I can see things out in the world and try to express them using the ingredients.
Planning another brew day. I found this while walking in the store when I was about to pay for my groceries. I love this candy bar. Well, loved it when I was a kid. Don't really eat much chocolate anymore. But it doesn't matter. This gave me an idea for an amazing stout recipe. It’s a white chocolate bar with pieces of cookie and vanilla. It tastes sort of Oreos in a way, but better.
Here’s a general picture of what I am putting together:
Imperial Cookies and Cream Stout
Grain - Marris Otter, Chocolate Malt, Roasted Malt
8 oz Lactose - Gives it a milky taste and texture
Pure Vanilla Bean - Add some cookie taste
1 bar of White Chocolate or white chocolate nibs
Yeast - Irish Ale 1084
2 oz Fuggle Hops
I would love to add some coffee, but not sure it will fit in if I want to get the Milk and Cookies taste. It’s going to be made around 10% ABV as I want a nice rich and strong stout base. While I want the Cookies and Cream present, I want to stay away from having a sweet stout or pure pastry stout. I will have 5 gallons of this and if it tastes like pure sugar, I’ll probably lose half my teeth! My idea is for it to be a sturdy milk stout my grownup self likes, and then bring myself down memory lane with a taste of one of my favorite childhood treats.
Wish me luck! If you enjoyed the post, please follow and/or upvote. Stay tuned to see how it works out!
For me beer and sweets never went together lol. I used to hangout with a group of buddies who after a night of drinking and playing poker or hanging out would love to go get Oberweiss milkshakes, that's the last thing I want after a night of drinking lol.
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Yea, the way I got into stouts is actually pretty funny. I never liked stouts really, I thought they were really filling, too rich and sweet, and just liked IPAs better. Then, I cut out virtually all sugar from of my diet. After some time, I started getting huge cravings for chocolate and sweets. Not a big fan of sweets and pastries but I started trying more flavored stouts and began to just love them. Now I’m an absolute stout junkie. That sugar is sneaky....it finds a way in no matter what!
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Wow... I want some of this soooooo bad
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Looks like it should turn out tasty! If you want to get real adventurous, you could throw cookies in the mash. I know it's not quite the same, but my friend Geoff at Middleton Brewing does a Cookie Crisp Stout as his flagship, and the Cookie Crisp flavor comes through really well.
Have you had good luck with 1084? It usually ferments fine, but with all the beers we've used it on at the brewery, it tends to produce a subtle yeast tanginess that's slightly off-putting. I suppose that tanginess might not show up with everything else going on in your beer! I was thinking 1056 or even 1728 would work, as it tends to ferment clean and flocculate out well.
In any event, I wish you a successful brew day and I hope the beer hits all the notes your taste buds desire!
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Jason, thanks for reaching out. I love to connect with brewers. I really aspire to work at a brewery at some point, not even necessarily as brewer but just be able to be part of a great project.
I want to toss in some actual cookies but have some qualms. Store brand cookies like Chips Ahoy have a lot of extra artificial additives and was hesitant about adding it and have it create off-tastes or mess with the beer. I was considering baking some cookies from scratch, but even then the butter may not translate well in the brewing process. Is there a way to get some cookie taste from them but filter out butter and additives? I figured that with vanilla, lactose, chocolate, I can piece together some "cookieness" but I will consider adding actual cookie if it can help.
Some great yeast recos....I mean 1084 seems like the "go-to" but I am intrigued about trying 1728. You got the wheels turning! I am still a week out and may make some revisions!
I got a chance to check out Outlander online....I would really love to stop when I around there! Beer brewed with Horny Goat Weed and the Peanut Butter Stout would be something I would immediately gravitate towards.
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Of course! I enjoy talking beer with everyone that has a passion for it. I'm sure you'll be able to make your aspiration happen if you keep working at it - most of the brewers I know started as homebrewers too (myself included).
I haven't used cookies in beer before, but I have used cake (with no frosting) and I didn't have any issues with it. I think you can skip actual cookies, but a little biscuit malt might add a little more cookie flavor.
Yeah, one of the local brewers uses 1728 on a lot of his beers and he gets great clarity. He also has a really tasty coffee porter that I'm pretty sure he uses 1728 on as well.
Definitely stop by whenever you make it to Seattle - I'd be happy to give you a tour of the brewery! It's been a long while since I've used horny goat weed in a beer, but Peanut Butter Stout gets made pretty regularly - people ask about it a lot when it's not on tap.
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Do you offer international shipping, I'd like to preorder some... :P
Sounds like an awesome idea, fingers crossed that it turns out awesome aswell!
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I’ll gladly send one off if it turns out good! Im worried they have Reinheitsgebot police at customs though that will take it away, lol!
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the Reinheitsgebot-Police can get some Cockford Ollies and gtfo. no need for them anymore.
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Haha!
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Sounds good to me! Let us know how it turns out!
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