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Leprechaun Stout

Brewed: 01/09/2010   Kegged: 01/31/2010

Leprechaun StoutI knew I was going to want a special St. Patrick's Day beer.  The logical choice seemed to be to make an Irish Stout and the Mr. Beer refill: St. Patrick's Irish Stout w/Creamy Brown was as good a place to start as any.  I added some peppermint extract and some brown sugar just to spice things up a bit and see what it would be like. 

I immediately regretted the decision to add the peppermint because it smelled too strong. It faded a bit, but was still too strong for my first taste test out of the fermenter. The taste at bottling started making me think of a girl-scout thin mint ... made me think it was going to be a good dessert beer. Same with most of my QA tests. By St. Patrick's Day, the peppermint taste had faded enough that I thought it was perfectly complimenting the dark malts in the beer. Obviously an example of beer improving as it conditions.

Leprechaun Stout has the dark, robust, rich, creamy roasted and chocolate malt base of a traditional Irish Stout with enough hoppy bitterness to balance out the caramel full-bodied sweetness.  As a bonus, a touch of peppermint makes this beer a treat for all.


Leprechaun Stout --- cost 23.02

Style   American Stout   Batch Size   2.13 gal
Type   Extract   Boil Size   1.01 gal

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity   1.058 SG   Estimated FG   1.015 SG
Recipe Bitterness   40.7 IBU (Rager)   Alcohol by Volume   5.71 %
BU : GU   0.697        
Recipe Color   49.5 SRM  
Color
   
Measured OG:   1.056   Measured FG:   1.020
ADF:   64.3%   Measured ABV:   4.83%

Ingredients  

Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.0 oz Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 12.76 %
1 lbs 3.4 oz Mr. Beer Creamy Brown UME (95.0 SRM) Extract 30.87 %
1 lbs 3.4 oz Mr. Beer St. Pat Irish Stout HME (157.0 SRM) Extract 30.87 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.38 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 6.38 %
4.0 oz Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 6.38 %
0.25 oz Columbus [14.20 %] (20 min) Hops 10.5 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
4.0 oz Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 6.38 %
1 Pkgs American Ale II (Harvested from TB) (Wyeast Labs #1272) [Starter 125 ml] [Cultured] Yeast-Ale  
1/2 tbsp peppermint extract Misc  

Mash Profile
Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)

Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Recipe Notes

Make starter at least 2 days before brewing day.
Bring 1 gallon water to 155F. Add specialty grain in sack to water and steep for 45 minutes. Remove grain sack and let drain into wort. Add UME, bring wort to boil and add hops at appropriate time intervals. Boil the brown sugar and peppermint for the last 5 minutes.
Cool in ice bath to less than 80F, and then add to fermenter. Top off with water to 8.5 liters. Aerate and pitch yeast as usual.
Ferment 2-3 weeks.
Batch prime with 2.25 oz table sugar.

Date Note
01/05/2010 Tues Made starter with 1/2 cups DME and 2 cups water with the top-cropped yeast from Tweedle Beetle ale.
01/09/2010 Sat Mixed it up in Rutt.  Decided on the peppermint at the very last second.  Hope I do not end up regretting the decision.  Measured 1.056 OG.  Decided to leave out of the cooler.  Started at right on 62 F.  Will let it go wherever it wants for the temp.
01/16/2010 Sat Snuck a taste.  The peppermint is still there.  Probably too strong, but I think I like it.  We will see how it turns out.  If too much peppermint, I can always mix with my Tweedle Beetle Stout.
01/31/2010 Sun Bottled it up with 1.5 cups water and 2.25 oz sugar.  FG at 1.020 which is pretty bad attenuation.  My ABV is 4.69.  The peppermint in my sample was not nearly as strong as the last taste.  Still there, though.  It will be interesting to see how strong it is when I taste this for St. Patrick's day.   Got 3 liters and 14 12 oz bottles.  Probably could have gotten 15 with an LB, but decided to drink the whole sample.
02/13/2010 Sat All the bottles are in the conditioning cooler.  Put one in the fridge for a QA sample.
02/14/2010 Sun Tried the QA sample.  Actually quite good.  Tastes a lot like a girl scout thin mint cookie with the peppermint and the dark chocolate of the stout.  Not sure a bunch of people would like this beer, but I think I do.  It will be very interesting to see how a month of conditioning makes the beer taste.
02/24/2010 Wed Put another 6 in the beer fridge.
02/27/2010 Sat Another test.  About the same.  Certainly not an everyday beer, but pretty good seasonable.
02/28/2010 Sun The rest of these went into the beer fridge.
03/04/2010 Thur Really a nice little treat tonight.  Think I should save the rest for St. Patrick's day.

 
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