Maine Black Barn No. 49

Black Barn Program No. 49, my “Belgian Inspired Stout.” What’s with the inspired, you ask? Depending on who you talk to, a Belgian stout is or is not an actual beer style. My inspiration for this recipe started when I noticed Wyeast Laboratories carried a yeast strain called “Belgian Stout.” Confused yet? It’s ok, we’ll get through this one way or another. I was intrigued by this yeast, which touted low phenolic and spicy characteristics such as clove, which is common in many Belgian-style beers. I started working on a recipe featuring mostly European malt and Belgian dark candi sugar, with Czech Saaz as the sole hop variety. I wanted a high ABV stout with lots of body, but much less coffee / roasty notes than a typical American imperial stout. To do this, I had to convince myself that it was not sacrilege to omit roasted barley from the malt bill of a stout. By doing so, more notes of chocolate, cherry, and wood were able to shine through.