Sweet Stout I, All-Grain

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.064 FG = 1.014
IBU = 25 SRM = 28 ABV = 6.8%

Ingredients

10 lbs. (4.5 kg) 2-row pale malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) caramel malt (80 °L)
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Crisp chocolate malt
4 oz. (113 g) Briess Blackprinz® malt
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) lactose sugar
6.75 AAU East Kent Goldings hop pellets (90 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP013 (London Ale) or Wyeast 1028 (London Ale) yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step

Mash grains at 152–154 °F (67–68 °C) with 14 qts. (13 L) water and let rest 1 hour. Run off and sparge with hot water at 160–170 °F (71–77 °C) to collect around 6 gallons (23 L) of wort.

Once at a boil, add hops and boil for 90 minutes. Turn off heat and add lactose, stirring well to dissolve. Rack from trub, cool to 65–70 °F (18–21 °C) and pitch yeast, preferably as a 1 qt. (1 L) starter. Ferment at same temperature for 5–7 days before racking to secondary. Leave for 1–3 weeks before bottling or kegging in the usual manner.

Extract with grains option: Replace all the 2-row pale malt with 6.6 lbs. (3 kg) golden liquid malt extract (LME). Steep the crushed grains in 2 gallons (7.6 L) water at 160 °F (71 °C) for 20 minutes. Rinse with 2 qts. (2 L) hot water and top off to 6 gallons (23 L).

Once at a boil, turn off the heat and stir in the LME. The remainder of this recipe is the same as the all-grain version.

Tip: If you keg this beer and have the appropriate equipment you can serve it with mixed nitrogen/carbon dioxide gas. In any case, it is a very pleasant drink, not complex perhaps, but with enough body and hint of roast so it tastes very full and chewy but not cloyingly sweet. As an elusive style, you can consider the above recipe and the additional Sweet Stout II recipe online as merely stepping-stones to formulating your own unique sweet stout.