" Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

[WalesAles]

Ha! Marty,
Nice to see you on this lovely, old, fantastic, very informative, funny thread
Good luck with your beer!

WA

[Andyhop]

Well my first brew is already going down fast and need to get another on the go. For my second brew I'm going to give Ditch's famous Stout a try. I do love a nice stout/porter. I have brought myself a fishtank heater so can now ferment at the desired temp as the airing cupboard for my first brew was a little too warm. ( and I dont think the other half will be too please with the airing cupboard filling up with erupting coopers stout )
Wish me luck. If all goes well I'm already itching to try all grain

[WalesAles]

Andy,
Glad to see you doing a `Ditch`s Stout`, never fails, even you can do it! (no offence)
Brew it to 20lts.
Make sure you catch the eruption, builder`s trug, black bags, towels, etc,.......
I`ve made these with and without fishtank heaters and they turn out the same. BLM!
Use the fishtank heater because it is a `new bit of kit`, set the dial to 26deg to give you 20 - 22deg in the trug.
Are you using a trug? If you are, heat the trug water to 26deg (boiled water and cold water), when you put the
FV in the trug the temp should drop to 20-22deg. Only need about 4 - 6 inches of water when the FV is in the trug.
Make sure the heater is completely submersed, it doesn`t have to be standing up straight, laying down is ok.
Good Luck with the Brew!
I`ve got make one of these now, it`s been ages since my last one.

WA

[Meatymc]

Bloody hell Andy........ and you as well WA.............

I`ve got make one of these now, it`s been ages since my last one.
WA

.....you've got me adding it to my to do again list now as well and it's long enough all ready!!

[Andyhop]

WA
I was going to use the heater directly in the fv. Am I better making myself a trug?

Andyhop

[WalesAles]

WA
I was going to use the heater directly in the fv. Am I better making myself a trug?

Andyhop

Andy,
Put the heater in the FV, keep an eye on the temp, you might have to set the heater higher
to maintain 20deg. Have you got a thermometer to check the temp?
Prepare the floor in case the brew erupts.

WA

[Andyhop]

WA
Yes got a couple of thermometers and the FV will be in the outside cupboard so can erupt all it wants
Think I might have to get another FV so I can have 2 on the go

Andyhop

[orlando]

WA
I was going to use the heater directly in the fv. Am I better making myself a trug?

Andyhop

You have to consider sanitation. Lot of nooks and crannies on these fish tank heaters so advisable to go the trug route to avoid the possibility of infection.

[Andyhop]

You have to consider sanitation. Lot of nooks and crannies on these fish tank heaters so advisable to go the trug route to avoid the possibility of infection.

Thanks for the advice. The heater is from a homebrew shop does that make a difference?

Andyhop

[orlando]

You have to consider sanitation. Lot of nooks and crannies on these fish tank heaters so advisable to go the trug route to avoid the possibility of infection.

Thanks for the advice. The heater is from a homebrew shop does that make a difference?

Andyhop

Bugs won't care where it came from. It may be that it is easier to sanitise but why take the risk? Trugs are cheaper than a lost brew.

[Andyhop]

Thanks for the advice Orlando and WA. Brew is sitting in a trug.
Unfortunately it might not taste like Ditch's famous Stout as I made a little mistake.
For some reason I only brought 1 bag of spray malt (500g) I blame it on my age
But on the positive side I will know what it tastes like with less sprey malt and see what the difference is when I do my second Ditch's famous Stout.
Well that's my theory and I'm sticking to it

[Jstinchy]

Brewed a Ditch's Stout. Got about 19L of it.
Going to batch prime for the first time before bottling.
Any recommendations? Don't want a flat stout!

[WalesAles]

Brewed a Ditch's Stout. Got about 19L of it.
Going to batch prime for the first time before bottling.
Any recommendations? Don't want a flat stout!

50gr batch prime.

WA

[Lawlor82]

What’s the story everyone I have made this stout exzacly the way ditche says on page one , made it on the 10th after 6 days it was Finnish fermentation kegged it on 16th pressurized it with 70/30 gad mix as I do with all my stouts pulled a pint this weekend and unfortunately it’s terrible the is a strange after taste makes me smack my lips in a bad way , any advice would be great does it just need more time I usually leave my stout for a month but tryed this for the fast turn around and the fact it sounds so good

[syelliott1975]

Just had to post here, found this thread as a recommendation from FB group Home Brew.

I have just brewed kegged and poured my first 'Ditch's stout' I'm blown away. I have brewed many stout looking for a suitable ale to use in my home bar, I can safely say the search is over, this ones a keeper !!!

Thanks all for a great read going back over this thread, i brewed this as per Ditch's instruction and wow what a pint, many more to sink over the coming months !!! and as i write this it is not exactly stout weather, but for me any weather is stout weather