The Cure from Cork (3-Gallon/11-L All-Grain Dry Stout Recipe)

Mmmm . . . dry stout.

Here is an all-grain recipe for a dry stout that can be brewed on a simple 3-gallon (11-L) all-grain brewery. It is the same as the 5-gallon (19-L) all-grain recipe, just scaled to 3 gallons (11 L). (There is also a 5-gallon (19-L) partial mash version.) This same brewery setup can be used for countertop partial mashes.

This recipe is not meant to be a clone of Murphy’s Pub Draught, but it is very similar. At a low ABV (4.1%), it makes a great session beer. In addition, if you’re trying to shed a few pounds, the Calorie count for 12 oz. (355 mL) of dry stout is around 125.

For 3.0 gallons (11 L) of beer at this original gravity (9.5 °Plato, OG 1.038) , you do not need to make a yeast starter when using a tube or XL smack pack of liquid yeast. In fact, you’ll be overpitching slightly (although not to a degree that will negatively affect your beer). One key to brewing this beer well is not to oversparge. Follow the volume of wort to collect given in the recipe rather than sparging until you have your full pre-boil volume.

The Cure from Cork 

(Murphy’s-like Dry Stout)

by Chris Colby

All-grain; English units

DESCRIPTION

This is a dry stout reminiscent of Murphy’s Pub Draught, now sold in widget cans. Murphy’s stout is slightly mellower — a little less bitter with a hint of chocolate and caramel in the malt — than Guinness, and (in my opinion) also tastes better when carbonated with CO₂, as opposed to pushed with beer gas. If you like session ales — and are disappointed you can’t find Murphy’s except in widget cans — this is a great recipe to try.

INGREDIENTS (for 3 gallons)

Water 

80 ppm calcium (Ca⁺²)

20 ppm magnesium (Mg⁺²)

240 ppm carbonate (HCO₃ ^–)

Malts and Other Fermentables (for an OG of 1.038 at 65% efficiency and an SRM of 41)

3 lb. 6.0 oz. English pale ale malt

7.5 oz. cane sugar

1.2 oz. dark crystal malt (90 °L)

1.8 oz. chocolate malt

6.0 oz. roasted barley (500 °L)

Hops (for 34 IBU total)

Target hops (34 IBUs)

0.54 oz. (at 10% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes

Yeast (to attenuate to FG 1.007, for an ABV of 4.1%)

White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale) yeast

Other 

0.125 tsp. yeast nutrients

2.5 oz. corn sugar (to prime bottles for 2.0 volumes of CO₂)

PROCEDURE

Crush dark grains separately from pale malt. (You will likely need to tighten the mill gap a bit for the smaller dark grains.) In your brewpot, mash grains at 150 °F in 5.5 quarts of brewing liquor for 45 minutes. Heat mash, stirring while you do, to 168 °F. Scoop mash over to a 3-gallon beverage cooler, lined with a steeping bag. Recirculate wort, then begin running off. Sparge with about 6 qts. of water at 170 °F until you yield 2.5 gallons in your brewpot. Add water to make pre-boil volume of 3.5 gallons. Boil wort hard for 90 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Your post boil volume should be slightly over 3 gallons. Keep a separate pot of water boiling in case you need to top the wort up during the boil. Stir in sugar and yeast nutrients for final 15 minutes of the boil. Cool wort and rack to fermenter. Aerate well, pitch yeast and ferment at 70 °F. Keg or bottle condition. (You can keg this and push with nitrogen if you like, but I think it tastes better with “normal” (CO₂) bubbles.

The Cure from Cork 

(Murphy’s-like Dry Stout)

by Chris Colby

All-grain, metric units

INGREDIENTS (for 11 L)

Water 

80 ppm calcium (Ca⁺²)

20 ppm magnesium (Mg⁺²)

240 ppm carbonate (HCO₃ ^–)

Malts and Other Fermentables (for an OG of 1.038 at 65% efficiency and an SRM of 41)

1.5 kg English pale ale malt

200 g cane sugar

34 g dark crystal malt (90 °L)

51 g chocolate malt

170 g roasted barley (500 °L)

Hops (for 34 IBU total)

Target hops (34 IBUs)

15 g (at 10% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes

Yeast (to attenuate to FG 1.007, for an ABV of 4.1%)

White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale) yeast

Other 

0.125 tsp. yeast nutrients

71 g corn sugar (to prime bottles for 2.0 volumes of CO₂)

PROCEDURE

Crush dark grains separately from pale malt. (You will likely need to tighten the mill gap a bit for the smaller dark grains.) In your brewpot, mash grains at 66 °C in 5 L of brewing liquor for 45 minutes. Heat mash, stirring while you do, to 76 °C. Scoop mash over to a 3-gallon (11-L) beverage cooler, lined with a steeping bag. Recirculate wort, then begin running off. Sparge with about 6 L of water at 77 °C until you yield 9.5 L in your brewpot. Add water to make pre-boil volume of 13 L. Boil wort hard for 90 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Your post boil volume should be slightly over 11 L. Keep a separate pot of water boiling in case you need to top the wort up during the boil. Stir in sugar and yeast nutrients for final 15 minutes of the boil. Cool wort and rack to fermenter. Aerate well, pitch yeast and ferment at 21 °C. Keg or bottle condition. (You can keg this and push with nitrogen if you like, but I think it tastes better with “normal” (CO₂) bubbles.

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