O'Scharffen Berger Irish Stout

For that unofficial Irish holiday in March (dubbed "Amateur Night" by Duke for all the youngin's who think they can drink properly), I decided to fire up the kettle and brew up an Irish Stout. But not any ol' Irish Stout. No, no. I have to tweak the recipe. A 6 oz bag of Scharffen Berger cacao nibs will go into the secondary fermenter to make it a "chocolate Irish Stout". There are plenty of chocolate stouts out there, but none I believe that use a dry Irish stout as the base. So why the hell not?

The recipe:

6 oz crushed Crystal malt
4 oz crushed Roasted Barley

3.3 lb. Hopped Dark Liquid Malt Extract (LME)
2 lb. Dark Dried Malt Extract (DME)

1 oz UK First Gold hops, 7% alpha acid, at 60 minutes
1 oz UK First Gold hops, 7% AA, at 15 minutes

1 Whirlfloc tablet at 15 minutes (to clarify)

8 oz Maltodextrin (to add body)

WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast

Now, my stouts in the past have been tasty, but lack that thick creamy oomph. The addition of maltodextrin will aid the body and give it a fuller feel. It came in a pre-measured 8 oz bag, so I dumped it in at the beginning of the boil. It was only after I gathered up the discarded packaging for the trash that I noticed in small print on the label: "use 4 oz per 5 gal batch". Hmmm, double the appropriate amount. We'll see if you have to eat this beer with a spoon once it's ready.

Anyway, as mentioned before, cacao nibs will be added to the secondary fermenter. I've used cocoa powder before in stouts, but the nibs were truly the goal. Couldn't find them anywhere around here. The grocery store Earthfare that carries a lot of finer foods and uncommon items had a shelf tag for them, but never had them in stock. Argh. So a random stop at Williams-Sonoma to get a replacement coffeemaker occurred. Like a shining beacon of light, the package of Scharffen Berger cacao nibs summoned me over for purchase. Sweet.

And of course, for proper audio musing, Irish tunes on the iPod. Whether it be the modern Flogging Molly or old school The Dubliners, enough wavelength of proper music permeated the boil and can only add to the quality of the brew. Just a little unreasonable superstition when I'm working over a boiling kettle.

In fact, a proper song dedicated to the stout:

At the pub on the crossroads there's whiskey and beer
There's brandy from cognac that's fragrant but dear
But for killing the thirst and for raising the gout
There's nothing at all beats a pint of good stout
Drink it up men, it's long after ten

At the pub on the crossroads I first went astray
There I drank enough drink for to fill Galway Bay
Going up to the mourning I wore out me shoes
Going up to the cross for the best of good booze
Drink it up men, it's long after ten

Some folk o'er the water think bitter is fine
And others they swear by the juice of the vine
But there's nothing that's squeezed from the grape or the hop
Like the black liquidation with the froth on the top
Drink it up men, it's long after ten

I've travelled in England, I've travelled in France
At the sound of good music I'll sing or I'll dance
So hear me then mister and pour me one more
If I cannot drink it up then throw me out the door
Drink it up men, it's long after ten

It's Guinness's porter that has me this way
For it's sweeter than buttermilk and stronger than tea
But when in the morning I feel kind of rough
Me cursin' Lord Iveagh who brews the damned stuff
Drink it up men, it's long after ten
Drink it up men, it's long after ten

I had stepped up the yeast starter 4 times to get a really good population of hungry yeast cells. Once the wort cooled and I pitched, it was only a matter of time. After a mere 3 hours, a healthy head of froth appeared. And after just 6 hours the krausen had threatened to clog the airlock and cause another explosion. So I removed the airlock and let the vigorous frothing and constant CO2 emission protect the beer from microbes naturally, then awoke to find this in the kitchen:

Cleaned it up and put the airlock back on and it's happily snapping away with CO2. Cool.