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Producing a stout from 100% dark malts recommended?

iamjoeyjo

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Most of the recipes I have seen are a mix of pale malt and some darker malts but what if I brewed from all dark malts?  What would the finished product be like?
 
Are you all grain brewing or extract brewing?  Steeping grains?  Partial mash?

A little more information would help quite a bit.

However, if you all grain brewing, most of the darker grains won't give you the sugars you need.  They add a lot of flavor and color.  In addition, to get grains that dark, the roasting temperatures are high enough to deactivete the enzymes.

If using mostly extracts, I'm not a fan of using dark extracts, because you have no idea what grains the manufacturer used to make those dark extracts.  When I was extract brewing I used light extracts and steeped grains for flavor and color.  All dark extract will give you a dark beer, but you can't guarantee that you'll have a stout.
 
Can you tell me what the difference between steeping and mashing is?  I am not clear on that. 
 
A great place to start to learn about the differences is to take a look at John Palmer's web site http://howtobrew.com  The site has an early version of his book online, free to read.  I would suggest buying a copy of his latest edition, as it will be a great resource for many brew sessions to come!

 
Most of the recipes I have seen are a mix of pale malt and some darker malts but what if I brewed from all dark malts?

You use the pale malt to make the base beer, and the dark malts to add color and flavor. They don't contribute much if at all to the alcohol content because the dark roasting process cooks the starches to the point where they won't make any sugar for the yeast to turn into alcohol.

What would the finished product be like?

I'm thinking it would be nasty. Bitter, acidic, and very little if any alcohol.

Can you tell me what the difference between steeping and mashing is?  I am not clear on that. 

Steeping is when you brew with extract. You bag the dark grains and steep them in the diluted extract like you were making tea.
Mashing is when you use all grain and no extract. You mix grain with hot water, and enzymes convert the starch into sugar for the yeast to eat.  Then you wash the sugars off of the grain. What you end up with is a sweet liquid that you then boil with your hops. Extract makers do the mashing for you, then concentrate it into a syrup or powder for you to dilute with water.


Here's a good read on stouts.

http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/1477-the-dark-secrets-of-stout

 
Along with the problems mentioned above, your Ph would be fritzenhosened.
I'm guessing somewhere around 3.
 
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