Building Flavorful, Award-Winning Stouts with Third Eye

In this 68-minute video course packed with useful tips, Montgomery opens the books on their approach to designing and brewing these indulgent yet easily drinkable stouts. Along the way, he covers:

• planning a recipe depending on target flavors
• using the building blocks of malt to hit that target
• using flaked wheat and oats for body, mouthfeel, and head retention
• specific malt types and percentages to achieve different effects
• why chocolate rye and chocolate wheat are the secret weapons
• adjusting the malt base to account for flavor additions
• keeping lactose in balance with the rest of the beer
• adjusting roast malts as the mellow with age
• using dry malt extract to maintain body in imperial stouts
• adding maltodextrin to support a high finishing gravity
• accounting for the perceived bitterness of roast malts and cocoa nibs
• selecting spices for pumpkin stouts, chai stouts, and more
• making a spice slurry to help ensure consistent flavor
• sourcing freshly roasted cocoa nibs for chocolate stouts
• using vanilla extract to boost milk chocolate flavor
• adding fresh beans and cold-brew extract to coffee stouts
• adjusting recipe and process for different equipment
• lengthening the boil to account for additions of lactose, maltodextrin, and malt extract
• water profile, pH, and mash temps for milk and imperial stouts
• using Fermcap to manage big stout fermentations
• adding pumpkin-pie spices to both whirlpool and brite tank for deeper flavor
• pitching big yeast slurries to ferment imperial stouts
• processes for adding various flavor adjuncts on the cold side
• using the “Flavor Blaster 2000” to add extra flavor when needed
• considerations for barrel aging