I made your American stout. I used pearl malt and I used nugget instead of magnum of course Cascade as well. I couldn't get magnum. The first thing I smell instantly is like a dark fruit red wine smell. Taste wise I get bittersweet chocolate and slightly caramel flavors with a very nice roasty punch and towards that roasty punch comes with the red wine or possibly dark fruit. At 7 percent this beer is heart warming 😂
I just bottled an American Stout this past Friday! Just waiting for it to bottle condition now. My recipe was quite different. My main roast malt was brown / coffee malt (10%), and I split the rest between Blackprinz and Midnight Wheat (1.6% each). Probably should have stuck with one or the other, but whatever, I chose Solomon's path. Rest of the mash was Maris Otter (I realize this isn't "to style," but I like it). Warrior for bittering, with Sabro and HBC 472 for flavor and aroma, for about 66 IBUs total. OG of 1.066, FG of 1.018. Sample tasted pretty good, with a nice creamy mouthfeel even before carbonation. Can't wait for it to finish up, and perhaps get a little age (filled a bomber to let age for a while).
@@TheHomebrewChallenge I don't have the room, unfortunately! Apartment life. Wife needs to finish her PhD (should be soon), then I'll start looking at more equipment once we get settled in a less temporary space. Nitro is the dream!
Loved the video. I look forward to these each week and wait with baited breath to see what extra part the video its going to contain. 10 out of 10 on this one. Keep up the good work
Boil-off rates are hard enough to manage as it is - especially when brewing outside. A low boil-off rate left my Oktoberfest tasting a tad thin this year. I adjusted with my bock brew last week and behold! Over boiled. I will be enjoying doppelbock instead this Winter.
Hahaha I feel you on the running out of descriptors! I guess some fun ones would be very specific flavors: Fig, French Roast, licorice, star anise, 85% cocoa baking chocolate and so on. Cheers!
My observations on the Spike Steam Condenser are similar, though I Have not noticed much of a difference in boiloff. The steam is gone and that's what I wanted. I was surprised at how much water it consumes; there's no chilling out during the boil.
can't wait for the imperial stout. My vote is that you go for MEGA high gravity. 1.100sg or higher, maybe hit it with a shot of O2 a day or two into fermentation?
Martin, have a look at some beer flavour wheels - I like the one by Mark Dredge for describing the qualities of a beer in terms of taste, mouthfeel and aroma when tasting. Great job on the channel, keep up the good work and Kia Ora from NZ :)
When I boil, I monitor volume and gravity by accessing the top of the kettle. Seems like I wouldn't be able to do that with this condenser, but I still like the possibility of keeping all the humidity out of my house. My venting hood over my oven is pretty worthless.
Loving the videos and the recipe inspirations. Did wonder how you'd manage to get through all that beer you're brewing, but looking in the kettle at the end, I guess you're making small batches.
Interesting video Martin, must say I have never seen or heard of an American stout but now I have! I have the same issue with the AC in my brewing lab, if I need to boil off to make SG get a lake under the AC unit. Have you ever done a coffee beer (with actual coffee not just amber malt) I work on low ABV beers so extra flavours are more important for us than most.
@@TheHomebrewChallenge Mine is chilling now, so I guess we will see how it works out, did whole beans in mash and some smashed beans at 20min boil, currently smells like Guiness after (7 days) is a dark mild recipe. See you next time for results!
Hi Martin. Am wondering what you're going to do once you've brewed X5! Is there a chance you could create a link to put your recipes straight in to Brewfather? Keep up the great productions. T.
I'm curious about this as well. It's my only concern with the steam condenser. Other than the DMS concern the steam condenser would be great over my current steam removal setup.
I’ve tried a number of things for evap control. I’ve landed quite happily on a wall mounted swing arm fan blowing across the top. I brew in a garage, on propane, so I open the door, otherwise I’d be ROASTING on brew days. Since doing the fan, I’ve never had an issue, and I even have a poster behind the kettle that never gets “wrinkled”.
@@ChuckUnderFire Yeah, I'm brewing indoors with electric. I have an old AC unit that's sucking out some of the evaporation, but I still end up with a lot of moisture in the house when I brew. I don't have any DMS issues, but I'd like to cut back on the moisture going into the house. I am near a sliding door, so I could try having a fan blow out there during the non-winter months.
The Homebrew Challenge, I would think that it wouldn’t be coming from Spike if it contributed heavily to any DMS. It’s nice, because by the time it shows up in your brewery I start paying real attention to it. Keep telling it like it is. PS: Your pH Meter overview is the best covered on TH-cam. Very well done.
How did you mount your hop spider with the lid? Trying to get an idea from the video but I couldn't see it. Were you able to hang it on the side like normal or does the lid interfere?
Great video, as usual! Question on the flameout addition, wouldn't this add a few extra IBU's based on how long it takes for chilling to get it below 70 degree celsius?
Could you use one bucket? Put the pump in the collection bucket? Seems to me the two bucket method will eventually drain the supply bucket, requiring a refill and fill the collection bucket, requiring an empty fiasco. Just a thought...
You could use an old coil immersion chiller to cool the water in the bucket. You’d have a closed-loop system that would not require monitoring. Might work...
Did you end up calculating what your actual boil-off rate was, given the expected OG at your previous rate? I brew in the kitchen and I'm quite interested in this product to keep from steaming up the house. Nice that it also requires less heating for the boil to begin with.
I'm looking at the 15 gallon condenser for my Brewzilla 65L, but the lid is 15.7"-16.5" However my Brewzilla is 15.5" ID, How far off was you're ID(Internal Diameter vs lid nominal?
Interesting gimmick. When you say 6 percent less boil off, is it 6 percent of whatever you had before or is it subtracted from the original boil off rate?
I watched your pressure fermentation videos. Any reason why you haven't pursued that method? Any plans to do further pressure fermentation experiments?
I do all my boiling outdoors now, when I used to boil indoors I would end up creating my own weather inside the kitchen, the condensation would be so bad on the ceiling it would rain, one of my favorite malts with stout is black malt, just wondering do you have problems with astringency with dark malts? I hear that you should keep the PH of the mash as high as possible like 5.4
I made this about 4 months ago, and really enjoyed it younger, but it seems to be getting harsher. Can anyone suggest why this might be? I fermented with kveik, but otherwise followed Martin's recipe. The malt and chocolate notes that I loved seem to be getting overshadowed by acrid bitterness.
You always make a beer that I want to brew 👍 Regarding to the lid I heard it was important that the exit tube wasn't covered with water to make it work correct and it should use quite a bit of water, according to Brian at Short Circuited Brewers. So I was interested in how much water you used under your brewing ? Thanks for your time and efforts 👍
@@eightlittlebits and flow of air will create a venturi effect, that also creates suction, thats how some spray paint guns work, or sand blasters. Cold smoke generatora use same idea. I'll have to test this theory
I made your American stout. I used pearl malt and I used nugget instead of magnum of course Cascade as well. I couldn't get magnum. The first thing I smell instantly is like a dark fruit red wine smell. Taste wise I get bittersweet chocolate and slightly caramel flavors with a very nice roasty punch and towards that roasty punch comes with the red wine or possibly dark fruit. At 7 percent this beer is heart warming 😂
Sounds like a winner!
I just bottled an American Stout this past Friday! Just waiting for it to bottle condition now.
My recipe was quite different. My main roast malt was brown / coffee malt (10%), and I split the rest between Blackprinz and Midnight Wheat (1.6% each). Probably should have stuck with one or the other, but whatever, I chose Solomon's path. Rest of the mash was Maris Otter (I realize this isn't "to style," but I like it). Warrior for bittering, with Sabro and HBC 472 for flavor and aroma, for about 66 IBUs total. OG of 1.066, FG of 1.018.
Sample tasted pretty good, with a nice creamy mouthfeel even before carbonation. Can't wait for it to finish up, and perhaps get a little age (filled a bomber to let age for a while).
Sounds good! Might even be a good candidate for a nitro pour if you have the setup.
@@TheHomebrewChallenge I don't have the room, unfortunately! Apartment life. Wife needs to finish her PhD (should be soon), then I'll start looking at more equipment once we get settled in a less temporary space. Nitro is the dream!
I have just finished an American Stout, it is lovely, I used a fair amount of wheat malt in it. It turned out amazingly.
Good call!
Loved the video. I look forward to these each week and wait with baited breath to see what extra part the video its going to contain. 10 out of 10 on this one. Keep up the good work
Thank you so much!
I immediately thought of the South Park wild wacky action bike when that contraption was laid out😆
Nice job, Martin!🍻
I was thinking about brewing an american Stout, I Will be using your recipe
Good luck!
Boil-off rates are hard enough to manage as it is - especially when brewing outside. A low boil-off rate left my Oktoberfest tasting a tad thin this year. I adjusted with my bock brew last week and behold! Over boiled. I will be enjoying doppelbock instead this Winter.
Hahaha I feel you on the running out of descriptors! I guess some fun ones would be very specific flavors: Fig, French Roast, licorice, star anise, 85% cocoa baking chocolate and so on. Cheers!
Oh we have to find a reason to incorporate that last one 🤣
My observations on the Spike Steam Condenser are similar, though I Have not noticed much of a difference in boiloff. The steam is gone and that's what I wanted. I was surprised at how much water it consumes; there's no chilling out during the boil.
Absolutely love the videos!
Thank you!
Looks like a nice beer regardless of the lower gravity. I like to brew mine with 7% each chocolate and UK black patent.
can't wait for the imperial stout. My vote is that you go for MEGA high gravity. 1.100sg or higher, maybe hit it with a shot of O2 a day or two into fermentation?
Haha I did not go quite that crazy. But that does sound like fun.
Martin, have a look at some beer flavour wheels - I like the one by Mark Dredge for describing the qualities of a beer in terms of taste, mouthfeel and aroma when tasting. Great job on the channel, keep up the good work and Kia Ora from NZ :)
When I boil, I monitor volume and gravity by accessing the top of the kettle. Seems like I wouldn't be able to do that with this condenser, but I still like the possibility of keeping all the humidity out of my house. My venting hood over my oven is pretty worthless.
The Spike site mentions a 6% boil-off rate, or about 50% less than normal (whatever normal might be).
Loving the videos and the recipe inspirations. Did wonder how you'd manage to get through all that beer you're brewing, but looking in the kettle at the end, I guess you're making small batches.
Thanks. Yeah usually doing 2.5 gallon batches.
Interesting video Martin, must say I have never seen or heard of an American stout but now I have! I have the same issue with the AC in my brewing lab, if I need to boil off to make SG get a lake under the AC unit. Have you ever done a coffee beer (with actual coffee not just amber malt) I work on low ABV beers so extra flavours are more important for us than most.
Ooh no I have not done a coffee beer. But I like beer and I like coffee so....
@@TheHomebrewChallenge Mine is chilling now, so I guess we will see how it works out, did whole beans in mash and some smashed beans at 20min boil, currently smells like Guiness after (7 days) is a dark mild recipe. See you next time for results!
Hi Martin. Am wondering what you're going to do once you've brewed X5! Is there a chance you could create a link to put your recipes straight in to Brewfather? Keep up the great productions. T.
You want to learn some really great descriptors for beer tasting..... listen to the beerists podcast. Also laugh and have fun!
Taste descriptors:
Caramel
Dark Toast
Bread Crust
Dark fruit
Nutty
Ash
Burnt crust
Cereal
Raisins
Fig
Apple (hopefully not green)
Biscuit
Pepper
Forest floor
Pine needles
Mango
Off flavors:
Rotten Banana (I call this BanAnus)
Butterscotch (sometimes I like this one)
Bandaid
Garbage Can
Green grass
I’m making notes 😂
I’ve wondered if you’d get a bit more DMS flavor because of the lessened evaporation.
I'm curious about this as well. It's my only concern with the steam condenser. Other than the DMS concern the steam condenser would be great over my current steam removal setup.
I’ve tried a number of things for evap control. I’ve landed quite happily on a wall mounted swing arm fan blowing across the top. I brew in a garage, on propane, so I open the door, otherwise I’d be ROASTING on brew days. Since doing the fan, I’ve never had an issue, and I even have a poster behind the kettle that never gets “wrinkled”.
@@ChuckUnderFire Yeah, I'm brewing indoors with electric. I have an old AC unit that's sucking out some of the evaporation, but I still end up with a lot of moisture in the house when I brew. I don't have any DMS issues, but I'd like to cut back on the moisture going into the house.
I am near a sliding door, so I could try having a fan blow out there during the non-winter months.
Spike claim in their testing that any excess DMS is not detectable. Can’t say I noticed any issues.
The Homebrew Challenge, I would think that it wouldn’t be coming from Spike if it contributed heavily to any DMS. It’s nice, because by the time it shows up in your brewery I start paying real attention to it. Keep telling it like it is.
PS: Your pH Meter overview is the best covered on TH-cam. Very well done.
I bought a steam-slayer from BrewHardware.com and I couldnt brew without it
How did you mount your hop spider with the lid? Trying to get an idea from the video but I couldn't see it. Were you able to hang it on the side like normal or does the lid interfere?
The lid did get in the way so I just propped it against the inside of the kettle.
Great video, as usual! Question on the flameout addition, wouldn't this add a few extra IBU's based on how long it takes for chilling to get it below 70 degree celsius?
You’re probably right.
Could you use one bucket? Put the pump in the collection bucket? Seems to me the two bucket method will eventually drain the supply bucket, requiring a refill and fill the collection bucket, requiring an empty fiasco. Just a thought...
The issue there is the collection bucket water is warmer than the water going in. The cooler the water the better.
You could use an old coil immersion chiller to cool the water in the bucket. You’d have a closed-loop system that would not require monitoring. Might work...
Did you end up calculating what your actual boil-off rate was, given the expected OG at your previous rate? I brew in the kitchen and I'm quite interested in this product to keep from steaming up the house. Nice that it also requires less heating for the boil to begin with.
No I wasn’t that organized. And yeah should be easier to retain a rolling boil.
I'm looking at the 15 gallon condenser for my Brewzilla 65L, but the lid is 15.7"-16.5"
However my Brewzilla is 15.5" ID,
How far off was you're ID(Internal Diameter vs lid nominal?
About the same. Frustratingly close
Which of all stout you have made you like the most, and why? Thanks
Martin, why don’t you have the pump in the same bucket as your condensation bucket? Do you need to have cold water?
Yeah needs cold water
Interesting gimmick. When you say 6 percent less boil off, is it 6 percent of whatever you had before or is it subtracted from the original boil off rate?
Presumably from the original boil off rate? IDK.. I didn’t figure this out at all :D
It looks gorgeous. How bitter was it?
Smooth and toasty, not really bitter.
I watched your pressure fermentation videos. Any reason why you haven't pursued that method? Any plans to do further pressure fermentation experiments?
Absolutely. More to come.
I do all my boiling outdoors now, when I used to boil indoors I would end up creating my own weather inside the kitchen, the condensation would be so bad on the ceiling it would rain, one of my favorite malts with stout is black malt, just wondering do you have problems with astringency with dark malts? I hear that you should keep the PH of the mash as high as possible like 5.4
I made this about 4 months ago, and really enjoyed it younger, but it seems to be getting harsher. Can anyone suggest why this might be? I fermented with kveik, but otherwise followed Martin's recipe.
The malt and chocolate notes that I loved seem to be getting overshadowed by acrid bitterness.
You always make a beer that I want to brew 👍 Regarding to the lid I heard it was important that the exit tube wasn't covered with water to make it work correct and it should use quite a bit of water, according to Brian at Short Circuited Brewers. So I was interested in how much water you used under your brewing ? Thanks for your time and efforts 👍
I wasn’t keeping track but yes I did use a fair amount of water in the process. Would have been good to collect that and reuse for cleaning.
shortcircuit did review too, made me wonder, why not use compressed air instead of water spray.
The cool water helps to condense the steam quickly helping cause a vacuum in the condenser and draw through more steam.
Well put 😀
@@eightlittlebits and flow of air will create a venturi effect, that also creates suction, thats how some spray paint guns work, or sand blasters. Cold smoke generatora use same idea.
I'll have to test this theory
@@dimash244 A water pump is much quieter than an air compressor. I know which I would prefer. ;D
As the saying goes, Water is the most wasted element in making beer.
Do you have the 10 or 20 gallon claw hammer?
so does it make better beer?
Easier to brew beer maybe.
Perfil water please
Lookup beer flavor wheel.