Dublin Fog
I don't normally brew stouts. It's not that I don't like them, because I do. It's that historically I'm just not very good at brewing them. They've always come out more roasty and perhaps lacking the thick mouthfeel that I think they should have. Nevertheless, it's time to try again with a recipe that follows the 70:20:10 ratio of pale malt:flaked barley:roast barley that you often see quoted on the internet when people talk about cloning that famous black beer from Ireland.
Yeast starter
Due to other commitments I got this starter on the go on the Wednesday night before the Sunday brew day. I wasn't concerned at all with the delay because this WLP002 yeast ferments extremely fast and flocculates hard so it'll certainly finish and settle in time.
As usual I'm making a 1.5 litre starter that will be separated into 500ml for the next time and 1 litre for this beer.
This yeast never fails to deliver and just a day and a half later it was completely and obviously done. I separated off the 500ml I'll need for next time and left a litre in the big beaker in the fridge to settle until Sunday.
Brew day
Here's the recipe I'll be following today. I recall that the last time I tried a stout I took a hit in the mash efficiency due to all the roast grains so I designed in a higher OG than I would normally go for, expecting to miss it by quite a few points. The hops are Target for bittering and that's it, no flavour hops at the end.
I've gone for a Chloride-heavy water profile in this one to try get a smooth mouthfeel as I think that sulphate tends to accentuate the roastiness and hop bitterness that I'd like to keep under control here.
Recipe Specifications
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Date: 21st September 2025
Batch Size (fermenter): 24.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.049 SG
Estimated Color: 91.1 EBC
Estimated IBU: 47.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Water profile: Ca:53 Mg:7 Na:9 SO4:29 Cl:89
Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type %/IBU
29.94 L Tesco Ashbeck Water -
3.00 g Calcium Chloride (Mash) Water Agent -
1.20 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash) Water Agent -
3.300 kg Weyermann Pale Malt (6.0 EBC) Grain 64.7 %
1.000 kg Barley, Flaked (3.0 EBC) Grain 19.6 %
0.500 kg Roasted Barley (Simpsons) (1600.0 EBC) Grain 9.8 %
0.300 kg Light Crystal (Crystal 150) (Crisp) (100.0 EBC) Grain 5.9 %
0.60 g Calcium Chloride (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.30 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Sparge) Water Agent -
38.00 g Target [11.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 47.1 IBUs
1.04 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 7.0 mins) Fining -
1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) Yeast -
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 5.100 kg
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Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 24.91 L of water at 71.3 C 67.0 C 60 min
Sparge: Dunk sparge with 5.00 L water at 75.6 C
Brew day went fine, in fact it was a little calmer than usual due to the very simple hop schedule. I managed to collect the usual amount of inky, dark wort and the OG was 1.045, 4 points below the estimate of 1.049. As I mentioned before this was totally expected and an OG of 1.045 is likely to result in a brew of about 5.0% if the yeast performs as it usually does.
I got the wort down to 22C with my immersion chiller so the yeast was pitched immediately after transferring to the fermenter and is now in the brew fridge set to 20C for the next few weeks.
Kegging day
I kegged this after about two weeks. I was able to get a full corny and 5 bottles from the fermenter. The final gravity was 1.010 which will give an ABV of 4.6%, slightly more than Guinness is these days but about right for the sort of beer that I want to drink.
The sample jar looked suitably dark and I'm fully expecting the final beer to be quite opaque. The empty fermenter smelled absolutely gorgeous so I'm really looking forward to tasting this. Hopefully I'll have made my first decent stout!
Tasting notes
It's great! I was nervous about this one, having not brewed a stout I could be proud of before. But it seems that following the tried and trusted internet Guinness recipe has paid off because this is just right.
The first few pints from the keg tasted very similar to stouts that you might try from the keg at a beer festival: roasty with a hint of bitterness in the background. Now I've had a few more the roasty flavour is still prominent but it's backed by a rich, smooth body that I really like.
Is it Guinness? It's been so long since I've tasted the real thing that I can't remember. I'll have to go and get myself a few bottles and report back.
This one will be brewed again, but probably not too frequently. There's only so much stout that I can take in one go!