All-grain · 20 L (5.3 gal)
Irish Stout Recipe
BJCP 15B · Irish Stout
Black, dry and light, with the bitter coffee of roasted barley and a creamy head. Less alcohol than it looks.
Irish Stout recipe by the numbers
- Batch size
- 20 L (5.3 gal)
- Original gravity
- 1.042
- Final gravity
- 1.010
- ABV
- 4.2%
- Bitterness
- 33 IBU
- Color
- 30 SRM (60 EBC)
- Mash
- 65 °C (149 °F) for 60 minutes
- Boil
- 60 minutes
- Fermentation
- 18 °C (64 °F) for 10–14 days
- Bottling
- 4 g of sugar per liter (0.5 oz/gal)
About 130 kcal per 330 ml (11 oz) bottle, worked out from its original and final gravity.
Irish Stout recipe: ingredients and steps
Batch size
Recipe for 20 liters (5.3 US gallons) into the fermenter.
Malts
| Malt | Amount | % |
|---|---|---|
| Pale ale malt6 EBC (3 °L) | 2.80 kg (6.17 lb) | 69.1% |
| Flaked barley3 EBC (2 °L) | 0.80 kg (1.76 lb) | 19.8% |
| Roasted barley1100 EBC (413 °L) | 0.45 kg (0.99 lb) | 11.1% |
Hops
| Hop | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| East Kent Goldings5.5% alpha acids | 50 g (1.76 oz) | 60 minBittering |
You will also need
Yeast: Dry English ale yeast, such as S-04: one 11.5 g (0.4 oz) packet.
Water: About 28 L (7.4 gal): 12 L (3.2 gal) for the mash and 16 L (4.2 gal) for the sparge.
Priming sugar: 4 g of table sugar per liter of beer bottled (0.5 oz/gal), about 80 g (2.8 oz) for 19 L (5.0 gal): a dry stout takes little carbonation.
Hops: pellets, kept in the freezer until brew day.
Step by step
- Heat 12 L (3.2 gal) of water to 71 °C (160 °F), add the crushed malt and roasted barley plus the flaked barley, and stir well. Hold about 65 °C (149 °F) for 60 minutes, covered.
- Lift out the grain and sparge it with 16 L (4.2 gal) of water at 76 °C (169 °F). You should collect about 24 L (6.3 gal) of wort at 1.036–1.037.
- Boil for 60 minutes, uncovered, with the 50 g (1.8 oz) of East Kent Goldings in from the start.
- Chill to 18 °C (64 °F), transfer about 20 L (5.3 gal) to the sanitized fermenter and take a gravity reading: it should be around 1.042.
- Pitch the yeast and ferment at 18 °C (64 °F). It's usually done in a little over a week.
- Once the gravity holds at 1.010 for three days in a row, bottle with the sugar and let it carbonate for two weeks at room temperature.
Roasted barley is what gives the black color and the dry coffee note. If you swap it for chocolate malt, the beer comes out sweeter and closer to a porter.
Flaked barley adds body and a creamy head, and it doesn't need milling. If your Goldings isn't 5.5% alpha, use 50 × 5.5 ÷ your percentage to get the grams.
The style: Irish Stout (BJCP 15B), with its history, its numbers and other ways to brew it.
Different setup? Recalculate with the water calculator, the IBU calculator and the priming sugar calculator.
Rating recipes and keeping a brew log need an account, which is only available in Spanish for now. English accounts are coming soon.
Frequently asked questions
How strong will this Irish Stout be?
About 4.2% ABV: it starts at 1.042 and finishes at 1.010, and (OG − FG) × 131.25 gives that percentage.
How long until it is ready?
One brew day, fermentation at 18 °C (64 °F) for 10–14 days and about two weeks in the bottle: give it a little over a month.
Can I use a different bittering hop?
Yes. What matters is keeping the bitterness: if you use another hop instead of East Kent Goldings at 5.5% alpha acids, work out the grams from its alpha acids (or with the IBU calculator) to stay at about 33 IBUs.
What if my system does not get 72% efficiency?
Your gravity will come out different. Scale the base malt up or down (or add a little dry malt extract to the boil if you fall short) and recalculate the water with the calculator.
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Reference style: Irish Stout in the BJCP guidelines, 2021 edition. Original recipe by Hacer Cerveza Casera, designed for a homebrew setup.