Low IBU alternatives?

[Wolf]

I've played around with a couple of batches now and while the brewprint system is great for moderately hopped beers a lot of the styles I want to make typically have low IBU (<20). I can see how this can work for lighter beers but for darker ones this could be a problem as a single pack of the E3 and E4 goes most of the way to this IBU on its own.

Is there any way around this? I could substitute enhancer packs for elements but it seems that some of the malts characteristics (like sweet biscuity or sweet roasted flavours) are only available in the element packs.

@BrewArt Team are there any plans to make less bitter dark elements in future?

[BrewArt Team]

G 'Day @Wolf,

That's great to hear you're playing around with some ingredients. Personally I prefer my Stouts to have a bit more bitterness to balance the sweetness from the malt, but that's the beauty of brewing your own beer, you can make what you enjoy   

You can get all of the same sweet biscuit, and roasted flavours by using the Enhancers, and you can reduce bitterness by using less Elements. 
The X3 adds sweetness and has toffee & coffee like flavours, the X4 has the roasty flavours like coffee and chocolate. 

If you want more sweetness use the a couple of E2's for your bitterness, and make the rest of your flavour profile up with the Enhancers. 
Remember that you'll get approx 1%ABV per Element/Enhancer.

I you want even more sweetness, use a low attenuating Yeast like Y2. 

And if you want even more sweetness you can look into adding Lactose.

I hope this helps you on your quest for a sweet stout

Happy Brewing! 

 

[AZ Stout]

Hey @Wolf,

I am looking for a stout with less bitterness also.

When I do all grain brewing, I leave out the roasted barley and black patent grains.  This leaves less bitterness for me.

Have you found a recipe you like yet?  Please let me know as I just recently received my Droid and I have not brewed enough prints to make a new recipe myself.

I really like a chocolate milk stout.  I will have to experiment in the future!

 

[AZ Stout]

@BrewArt Team,

if using lactose, would the lactose just be put in the droid with the other elements/enhancers at the same time?

For all grain brewing, I would put in when the wort was warm before chilling.

 

[BrewArt Team]

G 'Day AZ Stout, 

You can heat some water on the stove and add the Lactose to the water just to ensure it's properly dissolved.
Please don't add hot liquid to the BeerDroid though. If you use 2L of water to dissolve the Lactose, add 8 liters of water to the BeerDroid, then add the dissolved lactose liquid second, then start the brewing program to bring the temperature down to 22°C before adding your other ingredients. 

I hope this makes sense. 

Cheers 

[AZ Stout]

Yes and thank you for the reply!