Rockit Cup Dry Stout Brewday

It’s time to get my Afrikka Bambaataa “Planet Rock” on. And if that reference is lost on you, let me give you a hand: “Everybody just rock it, don’t stop it/ Gotta rock it, don’t stop.” I’d drop some “Looking for the Perfect Beat” on you, but I can see I’ve already blown your mind. That’s what that ill shit will do. And no, I will not draw you a diagram.

Yes, that is a bike seat.

For the latest installment of the Rockit Cup, we’re venturing into the land of stouts. Bring on the roasty dry goodness. And, um, other things. Word.

99. Rockit Cup Dry Stout
Mash:
7 lbs. Muntons Pale Malt (Pearl)
2 lbs. Flaked Barley
1 lb. Muntons Roasted Unmalted Black Barley

Mashed @ 150° F w/ 4 gallons of RO water for 60 minutes; collected 2 ¼ gallons @ 1.060
Batch sparged @ 170° F w/ 4 gallons RO water for 20 minutes; collected 4 ¼ gallons @ 1.026

Collected 6 ½ gallons; brought to a boil (60 minute) and added:

w/60 to go: 2 oz. Kent Golding pellet 5.8% AA

w/15 to go: 1 tsp. Irish moss

Chilled, racked to carboy, and pitched Wyeast 1028 London Ale

Brewed: 9/20/2011 @ 70° F
Secondary: I skipped this via lack of time—stupid time
Bottled: 10/8/2012 w/2 oz. table sugar; the vast majority of this went into two mini-kegs, and the rest got bottled.

OG: 1.042
FG: 1.012

Tastes good going into the bottle; here’s hoping that some carbonation happens for next Friday’s Rockit Cup throw-down.

Ah, mini-keg, I love you so...

Tasting Notes (10/14/2011): In sweet sweet Rockit Cup action, we actually got five people to brew it. Check that—we got four. Ben Cripes cheated and tried to pass off a previous beer as a Rockit Cup beer, and sadly, we let him get away with it. My ire is best explained by the fact that his beer got 1st and mine got 2nd. Go figure. You may think me petty, and sometimes I am, but he used a different yeast and brewed it six months ago. You do the math.

This man is dodgy.

All of the beers were remarkably similar—the variations were slight and nuanced, and with the roastiness of the beers, there was some palate fatigue trying to keep all the components straight and clear. Of the five, Jeffrey’s had that slight sour tang to it that you find in a good dry stout like Guiness—he added the dark grains during the sparge, ala Gordon’s advice in Brewing Better Beer; Ben’s was sweeter with a more even and mellow balance, Tim’s had a slight chocolate sweetness to it, although that chocolate was also flatter and drier (maybe describing it as cocoa would be more appropriate), Brent’s was a brighter chocolate than Tim’s, while mine had a fresh roastiness combined with a slight chalkiness. Oh, and these are my comments from when we were tasting them blind—I’ve retroactively applied names so as not to protect this motley crew. Certainly, none of them are innocent. The final rankings (we all ranked them blind 1-5, and then created cumulative scores): Ben in first, I was in second, Jeffrey third, Tim fourth, and Brent fifth. I’ll type up some more specific tasting notes shortly—I think my version could use a touch more carbonation, so I’m giving it another week or so before trying it again.