[AmandaK]

Very interesting. Thank you for updating this, I've been following it for a bit and may try something of the sort in the near future.

Thanks!

[nateo]

Checked the gravity today. It was 1.008! That puts the ABV at ~13.9%. The kraesen had dropped, so I think it's done. There's still some aging I want to do with it, but I think I succeeded in making it pretty balanced and drinkable. Alcohol isn't crazy. Very warm, but smooth. Nice rummy character. Not quite as dark as I wanted it to be, and not as "stout-like" as I remember Avery's being. It's roasty, and it's black in the glass, but it's red-to-amber around the edges. The roasty gives way to the rummy really quickly. Next time I'll up the black/roasted barley, and not use the carafa. I think the carafa was too subtle.

I'll be adding American oak to both, and coffee beans (grounds?) to one. Any recommendations for how much coffee to add?

FWIW Avery changed the stats for Meph on their website again, so I'm not really sure what recipe they're using these days. The last one I had was about 15% ABV, IIRC, so mine is a bit lighter alcohol than I was shooting for.

[Joe Sr.]

The last one I had was about 15% ABV, IIRC, so mine is a bit lighter alcohol than I was shooting for.

My BDS came in around 12%, and that was scary strong, at least for me.  Served it for my 40th birthday party and people loved it, but I kept warning them about the power.  I should have heeded my own advice.

As for adding coffee, the last time I did it I simply brewed espresso and added it to taste.  Lots of different approaches, though, such as cold brewed, dry beaning, etc.

[nateo]

My liver is probably happy I didn't hit my target. Meph is an over-the-top, thick, huge stout. What I made is more to my taste, and much more "drinkable" but not really a good clone of the commercial version. I probably used too much simple sugar. Next time, maybe closer to 10% of the grist, and turbinado only. Hopefully the oaking and coffee will add some texture/structure to complement the flavors.

It's hard to tell for sure before it's carbonated, but the flavors are solid. I think the hop bitterness is appropriate. I was looking for aggressive roasty stout and rummy flavors. I think it's more balanced toward rummy than roasty. I wanted a thicker mouthfeel, but the oak may help that.

Overall, it was a very clean ferment with no excessive fusels. The hydro sample was deceptively smooth, and it's only a month old. I'd say that the way I did the incremental feedings, with low ferm temps, can be used to keep stress on yeast low, minimize off-flavors, and induce high attenuation in a stressful environment. From 1.112 to 1.008 is nearly 93% apparent attenuation, which was beyond what I was expecting.