Kópavogur Dry Stout
A dry, roasty Irish stout at 3.7% that stays light enough to have two. Roasted barley gives the coffee bite, flaked barley gives the creamy head, and a 67°C mash keeps enough body for the lower strength. A pinch of baking soda stops Kópavogur's very soft water from letting the roast turn the mash too acidic.
Ingredients Batch
Grain
- 2.8 kgPale ale malt Maris Otter or Irish stout malt
- 600 gFlaked barley
- 350 gRoasted barley ~1300 EBC, not chocolate malt
Hops
- 50 gEast Kent Goldings ~5.5% AA · 60 min
- 15 gEast Kent Goldings 15 min
Yeast & extras
- 1 packetSafAle S-04 or Irish Ale WLP004 / Wyeast 1084
- 1 tabletWhirlfloc
- 150 gRice hulls flaked barley slows recirculation
Order from brew.is6 items · 20 L
- 2.8Dingemans Pale Alecheck
- 0.6Byggflögur 1kgout of stock
- 0.35Ristað bygg
- 2East Kent Goldings 50gr
- 1Fermentis S-04 11.5grcheck
- 0.15Hrísgrjónahýði 1kg
Not in the list: Whirlfloc. Add them on brew.is if you need them.
Water
- 18 LMash water + 2.6 g calcium chloride, 1.8 g gypsum, 1.5 g baking soda
- 12 LSparge water at 76°C + 1.6 g calcium chloride, 1.2 g gypsum
Pre-boil volume 26 L · Into the fermenter 20.5 L
| Ion, mg/L | Kópavogur tap | After salts | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calcium | 4.5 | 66 | 70 |
| Sulfate | ~4* | 60 | 60 |
| Chloride | ~10* | 78 | 75 |
| Magnesium | 1.7 | 1.7 | — |
| Sodium | 10 | 24 | — |
| Bicarbonate | 0 | 36 | — |
Roasted barley is acidic and Kópavogur water has almost no buffering, so without the baking soda the mash can drop below 5.2 and taste sharp. Aim for 5.3–5.5; if it reads below 5.3, stir in another 0.5 g of baking soda at a time.
Calcium chloride amounts are for dihydrate flakes; use about 25% less if yours is anhydrous. Capital-area water generally isn't chlorinated, so Campden tablets shouldn't be needed.
Volumes assume about 70% brewhouse efficiency, 1 L/kg grain absorption, roughly 3 L/h boil-off on the 1900 W element and 2–3 L left in the kettle.
Method
- Heat the mash water
Fill the BrewZilla with the mash water (18 L), stir in the calcium chloride (2.6 g), gypsum (1.8 g) and baking soda (1.5 g), and heat on both elements to 69–70°C, 2–3°C above mash temperature. Heat the sparge water (12 L) to 76°C in a separate pot with its calcium chloride (1.6 g) and gypsum (1.2 g).
- Mash in
Fit the grain basket with its bottom screen and overflow pipe. Mix the rice hulls (150 g) through the pale malt (2.8 kg), flaked barley (600 g) and roasted barley (350 g), stir it in slowly to avoid dough balls, and fit the top screen.
- Mash, recirculating
Rest 10 minutes, then open the pump to a slow trickle that keeps wort 1–2 cm above the top screen. Hold 67°C for 60 minutes on the 1900 W element; a degree warmer than a stronger stout keeps it from tasting thin. Check pH at 10 minutes and adjust as described under Water.
- Mash out
Raise to 76°C for 10 minutes using the step-mash program.
- Lift and sparge
Lift the grain basket, twist it onto its resting lugs and sparge slowly with the 76°C water, keeping water above the top screen. Collect the pre-boil volume (26 L).
- Boil
Bring to the boil on both elements, then drop to 1900 W only and boil for 60 minutes. Add the Goldings (50 g) at the start and the second Goldings (15 g) with 15 minutes left. Add the Whirlfloc (1 tablet) and the immersion chiller with 10 minutes left, and run boiling wort through the pump for the last 5 minutes to sanitise it.
- Chill, settle and transfer
Chill to 18°C, let the kettle settle for 10–15 minutes, then run the wort (20.5 L) from the tap into the fermenter, leaving the trub behind. Aerate well and pitch the yeast (1 packet).
- Ferment
Hold at 18°C for the first 3 days, then let it rise to 20°C to finish clean. It's usually done in 5–7 days; give it 2 more days on the yeast before crashing.
- Cold crash and package
Crash to 2–4°C for a day or two, then keg or bottle. Carbonate low, to about 1.8–2.0 volumes, or serve on beer gas through a stout tap if you have one.
Notes
Best within 2 months; unlike hoppy beers it holds up well, and the roast softens a little after the first couple of weeks.
If it's too thin, mash at 68°C next time or go up to 0.8 kg flaked barley. If the roast is harsh, drop the roasted barley to 0.3 kg or add it to the top of the grain bed for the last 20 minutes of the mash. If efficiency comes in high and it lands over 4%, take the pale malt down to 2.6 kg.
* Typical Icelandic values for sulfate and chloride; the 2023 analysis didn't list them. pH ~8.9, hardness ~1 °dH. Capital-area cold water is generally not chlorinated.
Sources: ÍSOR 2023 – Efnasamsetning neysluvatns, Hafnarfjörður, Kópavogur og Mosfellsbær, Neysluvatnsgæði og vatnsvernd (Háskóli Íslands)
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