Brewing with rice is common for certain beer styles, mainly light rice lagers and some light ales. Less common is using rice in dark beer to brew something like a Rice Stout. However, rice is able to lighten a beer, and will help to make dark beers easier to drink, whilst still giving a smoothness and body of it’s own. Find the recipe below and watch the video to see how to brew a rice stout.
Rice Stout Recipe Ingredients
Fermentables
2200g Pale Malt (50.7%)
1500g Flaked Rice (34.6%)
200g Chocolate Wheat Malt (4.6%)
200g Roasted Barley (4.6%)
100g Carafa Special I (2.3%)
70g Crystal Malt 60L (1.6%)
70g Crystal Malt 120L (1.6%)
Hops
35g Fuggles @ 60 minutes (30 IBU)
Yeast
White Labs WLP 002 English Ale
Water
Ca: 49 ppm
SO4: 55 ppm
Cl: 70 ppm
% Alc Vol
5.1 %
The Mash
Mash grains for 60 minutes at 67°c / 152°f
Fermentation
Start fermentation at the lower range of the yeast (18°c / 65°f) and let rise to the top end of fermentation temperature over a week (20°c / 68°f).
This yeast always gives me an interesting time during fermentation. Not just when I use it to brew a rice stout. It always ferments strongly for a week, and then slows dramatically, as though it is finished. A test of the gravity at this point will show it’s a few points high on expected attenuation.
I then leave it to continue fermenting for another 4 weeks, by week 3, it is bubbling consistently again, and after 5 weeks, it has attenuated to a much lower gravity than my brewing software (BeerSmith) ever predicts. This yeast can give me an apparent attenuation of 70% or up to 85%, depending on the beer. However, as random as it’s performance is from recipe to recipe, it will always perform the same, time after time if you don’t change the recipe.
Results
Once cleared, and carbonated to around 2.0 vol CO2, the beer should be left to condition for about a month.
Upon pouring, the stout develops a nice tan coloured head. The head sticks around for a while, and is creamy with aromas of dark chocolate.
The first thing you notice is the smell of the chocolate wheat. It comes through as a high quality dark chocolate. There is also a faint hint of burnt sugar and strong coffee.
Taking a sip, you once again get hit with chocolate first, a little coffee, and a subtle sweetness that can not be attributed to the crystal malt. It’s a smooth, lightly sweet taste that comes from the rice addition.
Overall the beer is dark in taste, extremely well balanced and every bit as drinkable during summer, as it is perfect for winter.