Recipe

Black Pearl Oyster Stout

Black Pearl Oyster Stout

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain with bivalve mollusks)
OG = 1.052  FG = 1.013
IBU = 37  SRM = 49  ABV = 5.0%

Ingredients
9.0 lbs. (4.1 kg) 2-row pale malt
0.5 lb. (0.22 kg) flaked oats
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) roasted barley
0.5 lb. (0.22 kg) chocolate malt
0.25 lb. (0.11 kg) black patent malt
10 oz. (283 g) raw oysters and brine
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 mins)
8.6 AAU Fuggles hops (60 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g of 5.7% alpha acids)
4.3 AAU Fuggles hops (20 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g of 5.7% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale) yeast

Step by Step
Mash grains for 45 minutes at 152 °F (67 °C). Boil wort for 120 minutes. Add hops at times indicated. Add oysters and Irish moss with 15 minutes left. Cool wort. Transfer to fermenter, leaving oyster bits behind. (Don’t eat the oysters, they taste terrible.) Aerate, pitch yeast and ferment at 68 °F (20 °C).

Extract with grains option:
Replace 2-row pale malt with 14 oz. (0.40 kg) Briess Light driedmalt extract, 3 lbs. 14 oz. (1.8 kg) Muntons Light liquid malt extractand 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) 2-row pale malt. In a 3 gallon (11 L) or larger stock pot, heat 1.6 gallons (6 L) of water to 163 °F (73 °C). Place crushed grains and flaked oats in a large steeping bag and submerge bag in this hot water. Maintain temperature at 148–153 °F (64–67 °C) for 45 minutes. While grains mash, heat one gallon (3.8 L) of water to 170 °F (77 °C).

Remove grain bag from steeping pot and place in colander over stock pot. Rinse grains with 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) of water from brewpot. Combine “grain tea” and dried malt extract with remaining hot water in brewpot and heat to a boil. Boil 60 minutes, adding hops at times remaining indicated in recipe. With 15 minutes left in the boil, add liquid malt extract, oysters and Irish moss.

Stir thoroughly to dissolve extract. (Keep the clock running even though it will take a few minutes for the wort to resume boiling.) Cool wort and transfer to fermenter, leaving oyster bits behind. Add water to make 5 gallons (19 L). Aerate, pitch yeast and ferment at 68 °F (20 °C).

Issue: January-February 2004

Despite names like Fat Spider Ale, Turkey Stout and Black Kitty Brown, this was the first BYO recipe has ever featured animals as an ingredient — Black Pearl Oyster Stout. We’ve been lucky enough to taste this beer, brewed by Joe Walton and Jim Michalk, and it’s delicious. The beer has a complex dark grain character and a slightly silky mouthfeel. There’s no strong oyster flavor, but you may detect a slight salty/briney character. For best results, use hard water with a moderate to high level of carbonates.