Sally MacLennane Stout

Classification: stout, dry stout, Irish stout, extract

Source: Mark Ragnar Hoenig (hoenig@unixg.ubc.ca), r.c.b., 4/25/95

Help! I'm having some trouble with my Sally MacLennane stout. Tasting the blowoff from my primary convinved me that this would be perhaps my best dark yet, but a sample taken while racking revealed an overly powerful fruity/ /acidic/sour/red wine taste, most likely from the roasted barley, which I haven't much experience with yet. I had thought of adding a hop tea when the malt nose seemed strong, but I'm not sure it would help this factor. Probably I am worrying too much before the beer is even ready to be bottled, but I'd like to correct for this factor if I can. For my palate, the sourness is a bit much; I can't abide Rodenbach beer. Here's the recipe

I had originally intended to hop with 60 g Northern Brewer (boiling), 45 g Goldings, leaf (flavour), 15 g Goldings, leaf (aroma), but since the kit was hopped, I decided to cut back and use some Cascade I had in the freezer (It tasted okay). Perhaps I should have cut down on the grains as well - the sparge water was still coming out black when my carboy was full. Incidentally, I think this shows you can get any sour tang for your Guinness just from your grains, if indeed the roast barley is culprit. Will this taste subside? I really hope to learn to love the virtues of sweet Sally MacLennane.

Ingredients:

1.8 kg Best Cellar Stout Kit (made in Ireland, I used the kit hoping to get Irish malts)
0.5 kg dark DME
500 g flaked barley
500 g roasted barley
250 g crystal
about 10 g Cascade (boiling)
40 g Goldings (boiling)
20 g Goldings (finish)
Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale