Brew 4: Sump Oil Stout

Once upon a time I spent a week in Ireland. The unwritten law for our Ireland adventure was to consume at least one Guinness before midday. This simple rule had a dramatic effect on my general well-being and my digestive system. Black gold alright. 

At Guinness headquarters in Dublin there is a room full of famous Guinness advertisements. The advertisements that caught my attention were from the 50s and 60s. They all had a fascinating and rather specific theme: Guinness is good for you. 

I wouldn't go as far to say it's a health drink but a couple Guinness's do feel like a meal, and Guinness is actually a relatively light dry stout. Inspired by my Ireland experiences I had the dubious idea to create a massive caloric, sweet, blackest of black stout for all those cold Tasmanian winter evenings. Sump oil stout is what I have come up with.  

Sump oil is the last of my four kit beers. The idea was to pretty much throw all my leftover ingredients and a few tablespoons of treacle into a large 24 litre batch of black gold.

Recipe

Volume: 24 Litres 
Yeast: 2 x Kit yeast
Kit: Coopers Stout
LME: Coopers Dark Malt Extract 1.5kg
DME: 800gs Light Malt Extract
Adjuncts: 200gs Treacle
Specialty Malts:  250gs Chocolate Malt

                         250gs Caramalt

Hops:   EK Goldings  18gs  - 20min           
            EK Goldings  14gs -  5min 

            
OG: 1.065 
FG: 1.014 
Estimated ABV: 7.3%

Sump oil in the fermenter

Fermentation temperature: around 22 degrees

Thoughts & Tasting

Viscous and black in the glass, with a thin dark head. Tastes like a sweet chocolate milkshake. A slight estery alcohol flavour, with a little green apple and subtle bitterness. Black, sweet and bold.

Black gold. Sump oil in the glass.

Sump Oil Review

by local beer lover Iain James

Eddie Van Halen the world famous guitarist and recovering alcoholic once said, “never drink anything you can see through” … he was right.

Should we change the name of “Sump Oil” to “Black Hole”? Yes we should, because not a single photon of light gets through this one. If Steven Hawking were to take a sip, he’d be out of his chair in no time and back to solving the mysteries of the universe, plus he’d stop sounding like a 1990’s GPS.

Sump Oil, like a Black Hole, draws the drinker in and doesn’t let go in a hurry, you get caught up in mellow caramel flavours coupled with a cold smokiness which gives the palate a great workout. One also becomes instantly relaxed and warm, wondering what’s at the end of this unusual drink... in my case it was a headache.

Somewhat thick in texture but well worth a bottle or two if you drink it slowly and savour the flavour.

Score: 7.5/10