Once again, I'm repeating a previous brew. This time it's the Phat Stout from last year. I really enjoyed last years batch, so it makes sense to do it again. I kept a few bottles from the first batch, so I can compare both this years and last. But that's not why I kept them, I wanted to see how they age. If I remember correctly, the last few bottles that I drank were much better than the first, and I figured that after a year in the basement, they'll be even better. This year's brew will have to wait for a few months before being tapped, most likely late January or early February, and that should give it the time it needs to age properly. But then again, I'll have to wait and see.

So, here's what I used this year:

1/4 lb.	Black Patent Malt
1/4 lb.	Chocolate Malt
1 1/2 lbs.	Roasted Barley
7 1/2 lbs.	Dark LME
1 cup	Brown Sugar
2 oz.	Millennium Hops
1 oz.	Cascade Hops
1/2 tsp.	Irish Moss
1 packet	Safale S-04 Yeast

The only changes are the Millennium hops, which were substituted for Chinook hops; the addition of brown sugar to try to increase the SG; and the yeast. Apparently, Chinook hops are hard to find. And I added the brown sugar because I'm using liquid malt extract instead of the dry malt extract, so I'll loose a little of the fermentable sugar. The yeast is different this year because the brew shop where I bought the ingredients doesn't carry the Muntons dry brewers yeast. That may not make any difference with this batch, or at least I hope it doesn't.

The procedure is basically the same as I usually do: I put the Black Patent Malt, Chocolate Malt, and Roasted Barley in a couple of grain bags, put them in the brew pot with 2.5 gallons of water, and heated it up to about 156ºF, then let it steep for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, I removed the bags and added the LME and brown sugar, and brought to a boil. Once boiling was achieved, I added one ounce of Millennium hops, and set the timer for 45 minutes. At the 45 minute mark, I added the Cascade hops and reset the timer for 10 minutes. I then added the remaining Millennium hops and boiled for another five minutes.

I cooled the wort as usual, using bagged ice from the grocery store. Once the temperature was down to around 70ºF, I poured into the carboy using a straining funnel, topped it off to five gallons, pitched the yeast, and put it in the basement to ferment.

The SG came in at 1.062, which is lower than last years batch. Next time I make this, I'll use more LME, or maybe go back to the DME. I'll see how it turns out with the brown sugar, I may use it in the next batch as well.

In the meantime, happy brewing.

Update - 11.3.08: I racked to the secondary, the gravity reading was 1.020. I'll update again when I keg.

Update - 11.18.08: Before kegging this batch, the FG was 1.018 for an ABV of 5.78%. Much lower than I hoped. I'll make sure I use the brown sugar next time.