Please Critique - Coffee Stout

I'm itching to create a recipe and brew it. What do you guys think of this? See any problems?

All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.82 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00

Est Original Gravity: 1.055
Est Final Gravity: 1.014


9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt
0.75 lb Roasted Barley
1.00 oz Cascade
1.00 oz Fuggles


Mash in at 154 for 60 minutes.


Planned on adding about 5 oz of local fresh ground coffee to secondary.

What would you think of adding 1/2 pound of Munich,?

BigKahuna said:

What would you think of adding 1/2 pound of Munich,?

Click to expand...

I would think I would like to know why I would think about adding that.

I was researching through recipes and saw Munich in a couple. Care to enlighten me O' Big One?

the description from AHS

Munich malt undergoes higher kilning temperatures than pale malt. The resulting malt will give a full malty flavor and aroma, and an orange-amber color. Small amounts added to the mash-in grist will improve the malty flavor.

Click to expand...

Also...your coffee idea is right on track.

BigKahuna said:

Also...your coffee idea is right on track.

Click to expand...

Well, I got it from reading a post of yours.

Munich 10L ... 20L ???

chefchris said:

Well, I got it from reading a post of yours.

Munich 10L ... 20L ???

Click to expand...

Cool. Guess I still like the idea.

Meh...10L 20L You got a black beer brewing here....go with the dark one (20L)...what the heck!

BigKahuna said:

Cool. Guess I still like the idea.

Meh...10L 20L You got a black beer brewing here....go with the dark one (20L)...what the heck!

Click to expand...

Thanks for your help. Gives me some confidence when ordering supplies.

Now some yeast questions. I have been trying to read up on just dumping on top of a yeast cake. I have 2 beers in the primary right now. London Ale WLP013 in one and English Ale S-04 in the other. I'm still not quite sure how to do this, though, and still have some questions.

Would S-04 be ok in this beer? If so I'll probably just pick up a packet.

Either. You'll find WLP013 attenuates more fully than S-04. In this beer, I'd go with the London Ale over S-04. I'd prefer a drier finish.

Bob

I'm going to use S-04 in my next mild....this is similar enough.
Process of using the yeast cake...very simple.

#1 Rack beer the first into bottling bucket. Being very careful not to disturb yeast cake.
#2 Put lid and airlock back onto bucket or carboy.
#3 Bottle Beer Number the first.
#4 Brew Beer number the second. (preferably the same day at my house...leaving a thin layer of beer on the yeast I've waited a week or more.)
#5 When wort is cool, pour it into the fernentor that once contained beer number the first.
#6 Aerate as usual and stand back sally!

I could use an assistant. Is sally available for hire?

BigKahuna said:

I'm going to use S-04 in my next mild....this is similar enough.
Process of using the yeast cake...very simple.

#1 Rack beer the first into bottling bucket. Being very careful not to disturb yeast cake.
#2 Put lid and airlock back onto bucket or carboy.
#3 Bottle Beer Number the first.
#4 Brew Beer number the second. (preferably the same day at my house...leaving a thin layer of beer on the yeast I've waited a week or more.)
#5 When wort is cool, pour it into the fernentor that once contained beer number the first.
#6 Aerate as usual and stand back sally!

Click to expand...

I would think there would be off flavors from the sediment. Are they noticable?

Do I need to sanitize anything in the bucket or just dump it in?


A side question: I wanted to try brewing with chicory. I picked up 3 oz. I heard that I should make a tea using it. I have a french press.

Any idea how much water?
Should it be cold water?
Should I add the tea to secondary?

I wouldn't use cascade hops. The flavor seems like it might clash with the coffee. I like the fuggle though.

I'm doing a chocolate coffee stout this Saturday that is based on the BJCP category Sweet Stout. I'm going for a malty brew with Fuggles at 60 and 20 min. in the boil giving me 24 ibu's.

I would consider tettnanger, or Northern Brewer with the Fuggle.

chefchris said:

I would think there would be off flavors from the sediment. Are they noticable?

Do I need to sanitize anything in the bucket or just dump it in?

Click to expand...

No Off Flavors...and No sanitation...other than being very careful not to poop in the fermentor while racking. Clean beer came out of it...it's not going to do any harm to put clean beer back in there.

Beards Brews said:

I wouldn't use cascade hops. The flavor seems like it might clash with the coffee. I like the fuggle though.

I'm doing a chocolate coffee stout this Saturday that is based on the BJCP category Sweet Stout. I'm going for a malty brew with Fuggles at 60 and 20 min. in the boil giving me 24 ibu's.

I would consider tettnanger, or Northern Brewer with the Fuggle.

Click to expand...

Well, I went to the LHBS and we had to substitue both hops.

So now the hops will be Williamette and Centennial. Hope it turns out well. I'm also using whole hops this time. Not by choice, didn't know it till he brought them to me. Do I just throw them in hop bags and toss em in? I plan on brewing tomorrow. Should I throw them in the freezer till then?

Anybody have any ideas as far as the chicory goes?

Ok, here's my final draft, if you guys don't see any more neccessary changes that is. I still have some questions above that haven't been answered if anyone could help me out on those.


All Grain

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.82 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00

Est Original Gravity: 1.058 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.57 %


Ingredients

9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt
0.75 lb Roasted Barley
0.50 lb Munich Malt - 20L

1.00 oz Williamette @ 60 min
1.00 oz Centennial @ 60 min


Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 11.00 lb

60 min Mash @ 154 F
Strike Water: 3.44 Gallons at 170F
Sparge Water: 5.5 Gallons split into 2 seperate runnings (2.75 gal each) at 185F


I'll be pitching on a yeast cake of US-05 (I wrongfully put US-04 in my previous posts). Will this be ok?

After 2-3 weeks in the primary I will rack to secondary. There I will add 5 oz of fresh ground coffee and the Chicory tea.


Let me know if this looks good or see something that could be improved.

Also thinking about adding about 4 oz of chocolate in the secondary. What do you think? Trying to add too much?

Man, I can't wait to brew this batch. There's just something about brewing your own recipe.

Looks to me like you have a chocolate stout....I'd keep this one coffee....mix them in a glass...and see what you think.

The centennial might be a bit strong for this stout. I used that much centennial for bittering in my IPA. I say stick with the Williamette for the bittering and then use maybe .25 oz at 20 and .25 at flame out, if at all.

Looks like an American Coffee Stout on the low gravity side of the style. The US-05 will really shine in that regard.

I really dig Centennial as a finishing hop and like my American Stout to almost be a big black thick IPA. Mine is 1.078 w/ 71 IBUs

I'd stick with the coffee addition and see how you like it, then next batch do a chocolate addition. Then mix a liter from both batches and see what it taste like.

I guess the consesus is it will be a pretty hoppy stout with those hops? I am not a big hop fan. I don't like IPA's and I can stand a Pale Ale every now and then. So I obviously don't want my stout to be overly hoppy.

Should I use the Williamette as a bittering hop and the Centennial for flavor/aroma like Hokie Brewer said?

The style IBU is 35-75
Beersmith is showing me 53 IBUs @ 1.058 if I add both at 60 min.
If I do Williamette at 60 min and .25oz at 20 min and .25oz at flame out of Centennial, it's showing me 24.4 IBUs. (Under the guidelines)

Suggestions? I'm brewing this tonight!

Saaz makes a very nice stout hop IMO! It's pretty low AA...like 4.5% but it's got a nice flavor.

BigKahuna said:

Saaz makes a very nice stout hop IMO! It's pretty low AA...like 4.5% but it's got a nice flavor.

Click to expand...

Would you suggest using Saaz instead of Centennial at 60 min? (if my LHBS has it)

If I'm stuck with the Centennial, how much should I use and when?

What AA% Are your centennials? I wish I had beerSmith at work....

BigKahuna said:

What AA% Are your centennials? I wish I had beerSmith at work....

Click to expand...

10%

Also just saw on Beersmith where Williamette is an aroma hop??? Should I be using it as a bittering hop?

I recommend using some coffee malt, then if that doesn't add enough coffee flavor for you actual coffee can be added after fermentation.

chefchris said:

10%

Also just saw on Beersmith where Williamette is an aroma hop??? Should I be using it as a bittering hop?

Click to expand...

Williamette is an American bred fuggles hop. You can use it wherever in the process.

My dry stout is about two ounces of Williamette @60 and that's it.

You will be fine with the Williamette. I'd go so far to have you throw another .5 oz of it in with the Centennial towards the end of the boil.

The recipe looks solid, good luck.

Ok. The LHBS just got a shipment of Cascade in. So I think I'm just gonna go back to the original recipe and add the 1oz of Williamette and Cascade at 60 min. How's that sound?

I really appreciate everyone's help.

Just got done brewing this. Man ... kind of a hectic brew night. Broke a hygrometer (in my mouth!), broke a thermometer and some other minor things. But, I made beer. Can't check my OG cause my thermo is broke and I don't know the temp of the wort. So tomorrow I'm off to buy a new thermometer ... again .... for the 3rd time.

Pitched on a yeast cake, that was a first for me. I'm a little scared .. but I trust you guys.

I ended up splitting up my chicory additions. I put 1.6 oz in at 20 minutes left in the boil. I will make a tea out of the other 1.6 oz and add that to secondary. Of course I will do this after tasting and this might change accordingly.

I was wrong to have doubted the yeast cake.

[YOUTUBE]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcbw9FXkStk]YouTube - Yeast Cake Fermentation[/ame]
[/YOUTUBE]

This has fermented out in 5 days. I also got great efficiency on this batch! Next Sunday I plan on racking to secondary and adding the coffee and chicory.

Went to the store today to try and pick out the coffee to use. I've had my eye on Sweetwater Coffee which is made here in Gainesville.

I still have to decide between 2 blends. I plan on going to the farmers market this weekend where I will be able to sample each one and I'll make my decision there.

Tasted the gravity sample tonight and I couldn't be more excited to drink this thing out of the bottle.