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« on: October 29, 2013, 11:11:22 AM »
After reading Gordon's book and having started Palmer's "Water" book I have a few questions on stouts and how to handle the dark grains:
1. If I chose to include the dark grains in the mash, will I be able to avoid the harshness/astringency as long as my water is alkaline enough and my mash pH is in the 5.3-5.5 range? Or will including these grains in the mash for the entire 60 minutes impart those flavors regardless?
2. If I chose to add the dark grains at vorlauf, do I need to account for them in my water to grist ratio, or am I only calculating that based on my base malts that will be mashed for the entire 60 mins?
3. If I chose to cold steep and then add the dark liquid (using 1 gallon as an example) during the last 10 minutes of the boil do I just shoot for a wort volume that will get me close to 4.5 gallons with 10 minutes remaining at which point I would add the 1 gallon of the steeping liquid? Again, I would assume my water/grist ratio would only account for the grains being mashed, and not the liquid being added later.
Thanks in advance!!