After a hiatus, I’d decided my next project should be a stout…

…And, obviously, brew with Kveik again. (I still have two jars of harvested yeast in my fridge. It’s magical.)

Tl;DR

Once October rolled around, my kitchen wasn’t quite as hot as it previously was. It was around 78 to 80 F.

So, to make sure Kveik stayed nice and warm and cozy, I put that sweater on it.

Brewday was Thurs Oct 14.

• 

• 

Overcrowding: Not just a people problem

So, in retrospect (of course), I believe I’ve been overcrowding my grains in the pots each time I do all-grain, including for this stout.

Now that I’ve done this a few times, and hopefully have the basics down, I’ll be turning my attention to proper grain-to-water ratio… rather than just cramming as much as I can in there.

Anyway, back to the stout…. In true “Ya Basic” Katie fashion, I just picked a recipe posted on r/Homebrewing.

This was probably the most amount of grain (biggest grain bill) I’ve ever used for a batch. About 12 pounds of grain, not even including the flaked oats. And, full disclosure, I could not cram all the oats in there… I probably used just half.

• 

• 

• 

It shouldn’t be surprising, because this is a stout, afterall. I knew there was a lot, but I think I failed to plan properly and got a bit overwhelmed.

I really should’ve had more “grain bags”. I ended up cutting up old stockings again for additional, make-shift grain bags. Yep.

The crowding was a real issue, believe me.

• 

• 

Hop Pellets in the “Garnish Present”

I don’t know why I never did this before, but I’m glad I finally figured it out.

I have this thingy from Pampered Chef: a silicone “stock sachet”… also known by the proper culinary term that J always uses, “bouquet garni”.

(I was writing notes late at night, while I was tired, and asked J what “that thing” was. He answered “bouquet garni”, and I asked what the English form was. Neither of us could think of it, but he said, “it literally means “garnish present”.)

No more (overabundance of) gross sludge when trying to strain.

• 

• 

• 

Let’s make the rest of this post heavy on the pictures and light on text, like a photo essay (because I’m getting tired of writing about it, lol)… 🙂

The steady, soothing sound of fermentation

Typical of Kveik, bubbling activity began just a few hours after pitching the yeast.

The next day (Oct 15), Mr. Winnsome happened to be visiting, and I proudly showed off the fermentor in a sweater. Thankfully, the steady bloop, bloop, bloop wasn’t annoying to anyone, and was generally received as comical.

Personally, I find the sound very calming and reassuring.

Enjoy the soothing sounds in this video:
(Sorry the embedded “video” is so large… I’ll be creating a YouTube version shortly.)

Here’s a video of a more vigorous fermentation phase:

My Fastest Fermentation Finish

Saturday Oct 16 at 11am (36 hours after pitch), the Gravity was 1.016. The aroma was still very alcoholic.

Sun Oct 17, Gravity was 1.013.

I don’t recall (and didn’t record) the day I bottled, but I was drinking it by Thurs Oct 21, which was only a week after brewday.

• 

• 

The name: Waiting-is-the-hardest-part Kveik Stout

Also mentioned in my Untappd entry, I had a bunch of runner-up names:

• “Can’t-Hardly-Wait Stout”
• “Hurry-Up, Hurry-Up-Shrimp-Stout” (I’m a Family Guy fan)
• “See you next Thursday!”
• “Too Fast, too Furious”
• “The Weekest Damn Stout You’ve Ever Had”
• “I Know What You Did Last Week”
• “Time is running stout”

I got a lot of great name suggestions from friends (yes, I tried to crowd-source the naming again), but, alas, it can only have one name.