1st stout. Hop pellets.

[Captain Morgan]

I've just gone out and bought the following for my first attempt at a homebrew stout. The tin is an original series Coopers Stout:

• 1.5kg Thomas Coopers dark malt extract
• 1kg Dextrose - but probably only going to use 500g, or should I use more?
• 50g Fuggles hop pellets.

With this recipe hopefully I'll get it around 7% right?

What I really need to know is how to treat the hop pellets? Should I use all of them, or half, a third...?

I think I boil them in water yeah? How much water and for how long?

I know these are probably newbie questions, but I'm still only a newbie.

Any additional suggestions - possible things to add?

[emnpaul]

G'day Skipper,

I'd go with only 500g dextrose. You'd want your stout to be pretty malty right? If you want more Alcohol I reckon reduce the volume down to 20-21 litres.

Hops in a Stout is a matter of preference really. I prefer to leave them out and let the malt do the talking. If you want to give them a go Fuggles are a good choice IMO. Boil 15g or so in half a litre water for 5 mins then chuck em in when you're mixing up.

I also don't mind the kit yeast in a stout, but if you want it to taste more like a Coopers "bought one" you could try reculturing some of their commercial yeast. The instructions for thisare pinned at the top of the Making Beer page.