A Recipe for
Special Occasions

Stouts are hearty beers strongly associated with the British Isles. They're known for their opaque-black appearance and roasty flavors. This recipe makes a Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout (the lightest and driest of Stout styles) and closely resembles a Guinness Stout in flavor and body.

Brewing Directions

1. Before beginning, sterilize your fermenter with either a 10% bleach solution or a good squirt of iodine per 5 gallons and rinse it well (no one likes bleach flavored beer)
2. Crack the specialty grains (Crystal Malt and Roasted Barley) and dump into grain bag (most suppliers crack the specialty grains for you when you purchase the ingredients)
3. Place grain bag in a small pot with 2 quarts of 150° water and hold this temperature for about 30 minutes
4. While the grains are steeping, place the can of liquid malt extract in a saucepan full of water and turn the head to medium (this helps soften the extract so it pours out of the can)
5. Remove the grains from the pot and rinse the grain bag with another quart of 150° water
6. Add this wort (pronounced "wert") to your brewpot and add enough water to bring the level up to 6 or 8 inches from the top (you will need this space to help avoid boilovers)
7. Remove brewpot from heat (to avoid scorching the malt on the bottom) and stir in the dry and liquid malt extract (you will need to coax out as much as you can with a rubber spatula)
8. When extracts are completely dissolved, turn the heat to medium-high
9. Stir in the Northern Brewer hops and gypsum and boil for 60 minutes (Don't take your eyes off the brewpot for the first 10-15 minutes. When the foam races to the top of the pot, just lift it off the burner until it settles down)
10. Stir in the Fuggles hops during the final 5 minutes of the boil
11. Fill your sink with cold water (and ice cubes if you have them) and place your brewpot in it to cool the wort
12. Drain and refill the sink with cold water until the outside of the brewpot is not uncomfortable to touch
13. Fill your fermenter halfway with water
14. Dump in your wort and top off the fermenter to the 5 gallon mark, aerating the wort to provide the oxygen necessary for a good healthy start in the fermentation stage)
15. Pitch (dump in) the yeast
16. Put your fermenter in a dark place with a constant temperature of 68-72° (not your garage, buddy)
17. Assemble and install your airlock and wait 7-10 days (fermentation usually starts within 24 hours)

Bottling Directions

1. Fill your bottling bucket and a large cooler or utility tub (not your bathtub) with cool water and add your sanitizing agent of choice (I use a few good squirts of iodine because it rinses easily and doesn't leave a lingering taste)
2. Submerge your bottles in the containers and let everything soak for at least 30 minutes
3. Rinse each bottle out well, then rinse your bottling bucket (let some of the water run out through the spigot to be sure and sterilize it)
4. Put the 3/4 cup of dextrose in a small saucepan, dissolve it in a pint or so of water and bring it to a boil
5. Put enough bottle caps in another small saucepan and bring it to a boil
6. Remove both pans as soon as they come to a boil and allow them to cool
7. Fetch your fermenter, put it on a kitchen counter or sturdy table, and attach the clear tubing to the spigot
8. Place your bottling bucket on the floor beneath the fermenter and let the tubing hang down to the bottom of the bucket
9. Dump the dextrose and water mixture into the bottling bucket first, then open the spigot and allow the beer to drain in
10. Place the bottling bucket on the counter and gather your bottles underneath it on the floor
11. Rinse the tubing and attach one end to the spigot on the bottling bucket, and the other to your bottling tube
12. Fill each bottle up to an inch or so from the top
13. Carefully cap each bottle, taking care not to knock any over
14. Put your beer in the same dark place you kept your fermenter (also keep it 68-72°) for a minimum of two weeks until it carbonates
15. Clean all your equipment