Big Bold & Beautiful: Brewing a Bourbon Stout (Taking The Mashtun Capacity Challenge)

[@jimp5024]

Again. The crowd chants, "Larry, Larry, Larry." This has to be my next brew.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Ha. It is a worthy brewsky!

[@ShortCircuitedBrewers]

Can't wait to taste my can! Be on the lookout for the tasting video. This gives me a great idea for a live brew day!! Cheers Larry! 👍🍻

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Don’t hog it. You better share it will Kelly! Live brew day? Hmmm…🤔 Looking forward to that!

[@PetraKann]

Mass losses due to evaporation are close to the same, as you double the brew volume provided the surface area is the same. (i.e the diameter of the vessel is the same, which will keep the surface area where the liquid is boiling from the same). Heat losses is a different matter because the volume to surface area changes. In industry scaling up processes present a lot of challenges: sometimes scale up works for you, sometimes it works against you. An example is mixing efficiency. Vigorously shaking a test tube or bottle using one hand with your thumb over the opening cannot be replicated in a 100,000 liter vessel with respect to efficiency. This is why scale-up pilot plants are so important in process engineering: especially with chemical and biological processes that are novel and lack any large scale data. A lot of plants have been scrapped in the past because the process was scaled up from small Lab scale equipment to large industrial equipment. I recall a process, that had over 95% yield demonstrated in the lab, but this yield dropped to less than 10% when it was scaled up without using at least 1 pilot scale intermediate stage. Mass transfer/mixing efficiency couldnt be sustained in larger vessels. Cost of the mistake? $6.5 million which was a lot of money in the 1980s. Cause of the mistake? No chemical engineers employed by the company with all design work and decisions made by laboratory scientists that didnt appreciate the nuances of scale up dynamics. Keep brewing that beer Larry Cheers🍻 PK Australia

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Nothing beats cracking into a beer you've waited for for such a long time. Well done!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

The wait can be troubling.

[@EverydayBBQ]

This stuff turned out seriously delicious! Awesome job, brother!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Thank you, Mike! Glad you liked it!

[@EverydayBBQ]

@@BEERNBBQBYLARRY it was very flavorful and also effective on the nerves lol.

[@ElementaryBrewingCo]

Ah man I want that to hit me!!!! Wooooowoooo.... Looks and sounds fantastic! I've been wanting to brew something with wood in it lately and this sounds like the recipe!!! Cheers Larry!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Get on it! It’s worth it.

[@vaunthompson]

Awesome... I've been looking forward to this video to see what changes you were going to make compared to the last bourbon stout. Thanks again Larry!!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

You’re very welcome. I think I prefer this version better than the last although I don’t have a side by side for comparison.

[@edwardfaris8516]

Holy grain bill Batman..wow...impressive...thanks for sharing...👍

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

It was indeed a big bill!

[@fredp767]

Awesome job Larry

[@brewing8094]

Good video Larry, might have a go at brewing 😋. The Grainfather G40 upgrade has been the best upgrade I have done, concealed element and cut out sensor when no liquid. A larger wider grains 🌾 basket for those larger grain bills, PID controller keeps your mash at same consistent temperature 🌡️ for 60-90min, and heavy grade stainless steel, plates with nicely rolled edges, CIP , clean in place , 19.5kg/43lb empty 😲. Those 13 gallon Kegland Kegmenter are great and good price have been using one for some time. The floating dip tube assembly, placing a small stainless steel 304 weight in the filter address the foaming issues and silicone tubeing just long enough to touch the bottom and a bit, that address the end assembly sitting on the side of bottom and leaving beer behind, and keeping silicone tubeing end assembly shorter finds it's way to the center bottom of the Kegmenter 👌.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Good solution. I replaced the included floating tube with the FLOTit. It works much better than the one that came with it.

[@curtpick628]

Looks great Larry. A labor of love!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

You ain’t kidding! It’s a long wait and expensive to make. Worth it!

[@robertdewalt8711]

Thank you for sharing Larry.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

You’re welcome!

[@TheBrewQ]

I love a good bourbon stout. I’ve made a couple before. I may do a 10 gallon batch in the future as well. Stouts are my favorite type of craft beer.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Did you receive the package yet? Have you tried it?

[@TheBrewQ]

@@BEERNBBQBYLARRY nothing yet. But now I know I got some headed my way! Lol thanks!

[@erickromeroalvarez9726]

I reccomend you Lágrimas Negras by Rámuri Brewery 🤙🏼🇲🇽

[@anthonysamuel4790]

Always love you videos Larry. I did some high gravity wing over autumn but I’ve left mine for next year..

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

I don’t have that kind of patience.

[@jcinsaniac]

I brew my version of this in a 10 gallon kettle using BIAB. I split the mash into 2 brewing bags, mash one for 60 mins, extract and drain, add water (Sparging the first bag) and drop the second. After finishing the mash - I boil for 75 minutes and ended at 1.101. I use mocha oak chips in a secondary with Cocoa nibs. I use Elijah Craig Small Batch 1789 in mine. Great beer - drinking mine now...Prost!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

That’s an interesting approach. Mocha oak chips? I’ve not heard of that before.

[@jcinsaniac]

@@BEERNBBQBYLARRY LD Carlson product - Mocha Oak Chips - Medium Toast - I couldn't make a 5 gallon batch of this beer without a trick to get 24 lbs of grain and 8 gallons of water in a 10 gallon kettle.

[@3rwparks3]

Great video! The whiskey wood chip combo sounds like it could be used in other styles as well. I am also a seasonal brewer, and I brew several Browns this time of the year. My next brew day ( Jan 3rd ) I plan to use this addition. CHEERS!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Very good. I also consider brown ales in the Fall/Winter line up; just not this year since I had kegerator problems and a couple other beers ( Festbier and Märzen on tap for an Oktoberfest I threw) in the way.

[@happycampster1]

Excellent video, as always! I’m about to brew a similar stout recipe and it’s great to see your experiences and advice. I love this time of year and the winter beer styles. Keep up the good work!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Thank you, and good luck on your brew!

[@jaskats1]

Excellent, informative, and fun. Even my wife watched this entire video with me, and that is saying a lot (huge complement)! Thank you and brewing soon! Cheers!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Good for her. I can’t get my wife to watch them.

[@dt2243]

Another great video and service to the homebrew community

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Thank you!

[@roderickroderick7216]

Larry, great brew.. I"m wondering how you are able to calculate your actual SRM and IBU? I can see how the spreadsheet can get you a predicted value, but how to you measure the actual? Even after brewing for a few years now, there is still so much black magic I don't understand. 🤔

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

It’s calculated based off the actual amount of grain, hops, and water used vs the as-designed amounts. Same formulas; just different inputs. No one actually measures the real SRM or real IBU directly.

[@jackolson984]

What’s Brewing Supply represent! Hell yeah Larry, I-L-L!!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

I-N-I !! What’s Brewing Supply is awesome.

[@KitLake]

Great video and awesome sounding beer. Sorry if I'm missing it as I'm unfamiliar with your spreadsheet...but what temp did you ferment at? I see 75F into the fermenter and 63F FG sample. But I wasn't clear at what temp you pitched and what temp you fermented at. Thanks!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Pitch? Probably around 75. My basement is usually in mid 60’s. Looks like 63 more accurately is the final temperature.

[@antoniomartinez493]

Interested to hear if you prefer your new recipe to Dragons' Milk. I recently moved an it's about 18 degrees out right now so a stout sounds great.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Great beer for crappy weather.

[@bcparfitt]

I'm curious about your mash water volume calculation.. It looks to be a 45 lb grain bill but mash was only 38 qts of water. That would make the water to grist ratio something like .84.. i.e. a very thick mash. Was that your intention? Hoping to brew this up tomorrow! Great work on the vids Larry. Love watching your stuff!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

It was super thick indeed. Was out of necessity as my mashtun could not hold any more volume. Is why I let it mash longer too; to ensure conversion in such a thick mash.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Was actually .85 according to the brew house setup tab in the spreadsheet. lol

[@beeroquoisnation]

I have the same issue with the even larger Brew Easy 20 gallon. There is no point to the autosparge on the 20 gallon, as the grain bed is so low unless I would be brewing a high gravity large grain bill beer. I do my best to keep the coil covered and just keep the grain covered. The 20g Brew Easy is only useful for large batches with big grain bills, because the pots are actually 30 gallon. I revert to my smaller system for anything less than 15 gallons even though Blichmann says 7 gallon is the smallest batch. To be honest, I find myself using my modified Flex+'s for anything 5 gallons and smaller.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Good to hear I wasn’t the only one. lol If only I had a 20 gal BrewEasy, I color make even more of this beer. Even lay in a supply to hold onto for next year.

[@beeroquoisnation]

@@BEERNBBQBYLARRY I use this thing more for things that aren't beer. In March I will brew big batch of lawn mower beer and fill a few kegs as summer gets busy and brewing doesn't happen much. I was using my old 15 gallon pot burner system for water bath canning, blanching sweet corn and produce for freezing, boiling potatoes, anything to minimize kitchen mess. It does a lot of things better than it makes beer, but it makes beer. It's overall useful. This thing is so big I could do laundry in it, just add an agitator.

[@chrisblake6]

I've been waiting to make this beer for 6 months- finally made it last weekend. I missed my gravity (expected) and came in at 1.080 - pitched a very large slurry of wyeast 1084- second use. I kept the temp low at 62 and it took off like crazy-I'm on day at 8 and it looks to be stopping at 1.032 - I was hoping for 1.020-1.024 as a minimum. Any thoughts or suggestions- I really dont want it to be syrupy sweet but not sure what else to do. I dont mind leaving it for the full 14 days but it doesnt seem like its going to get there. Any pearls of wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks- love the channel

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Old trick would be to “rouse the yeast” to stir the settled yeast back into solution hoping it’ll kick out a few more gravity points. Or add more active yeast. Or raise temperature. In future, ensure wort is well oxygenated prior to pitching a large yeast starter.

[@chrisblake6]

@BEERNBBQBYLARRY Thanks I have 'bubbled it' once with co2 but can do again I have raised the temp over the last couple of days I gave the wort 2 mins of oxygen before pitching It would seem risky to add more yeast. I see you used us-05 - I think adding a pack now would be risky this late into fermentation? Have you done it before or zhouldmi just go with the 'rousing' angle

[@mattroorda2871]

Hi Larry, what are you using to measure SRM and IBUs?

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Good question. Nothing. I don’t know of any home brewer with the laboratory equipment and skills required to measure such things. But, I do use equations with actual measured inputs to them to calculate estimated values which I include in my free to download brewing spreadsheet.

[@NWsmallbatchBrewing]

Jealous. I love a good Bourbon stout - throw in some charred wood ....what time should I be over? lol Cheers.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

I don’t think this is going to last much longer at the current rate of consumption.

[@hmmy92]

perfect, a small correction, the pdf link in not really a pdf

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Thanks. Fixed!!

[@erickromeroalvarez9726]

Do you send to CDMX, México?

[@T3hderk87]

Well, getting vanillin from wood chips seems a lot easier than getting it from a beaver....

[@nrhurley117]

Every time I have one of these beers there’s always, always too much bourbon.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

If you make it yourself, you can only add the amount you like.