Surly Coffee Bender Clone Advice

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cobolstinks

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I live an hour south of this brewery but I cant get any surly beers here in Rochester :(, so i have to do the next best thing.... clone their beers. I'm doing 5 gallon AG batches.

Here is some info from their site:

STYLE: Coffee flavored American Brown Ale
MALT: Pale Ale, Aromatic, Medium Crystal, Dark Crystal, Oats and Chocolate
HOPS: Columbus,Willamette
COFFEE: Gautemalan Finca Vista Hermosa Full City Roast by Coffee and Tea Ltd.
YEAST: English Ale

OG: 14º Plato
ABV: 5.5% v/v
COLOR: 45 ºSRM
IBU: 45

For the coffee, I was thinking of racking the beer off the primary and onto 1/2 lbs of course ground coffee in the secondary. Leave it on the grounds for 2-3 days then pull the beer off the grounds and keg it.

What would you recommend for the base beer grain bill?

What do you think about adding the coffee grinds to the secondary?

Thanks!
 
Can't help you on a base recipe granted I've never had that beer, but I can tell you that 8 oz of coffee may be a bit much. I would probably start somewhere around 3 oz at flamout, then add another 2-3 oz of cold brewed coffee at bottling/kegging.
 
I've done 4 oz of my father's homeroasted beans in a 2.5 gallon batch, "dry-hopped" in secondary...it was for a stout though, so the coffee was competing with a roastier grain bill than a brown ale. as I look at it, adding grounds to secondary is essentially cold brewing, except that the steeping of the grounds is with the beer itself instead of water...just my .02, but I've had good success with this method...in fact I'm brewing a 7 gallon batch of robust porter this week, with 5 gallons to be kegged normally, and 2 gallons (in a separate fermenter) to get the coffee treatment. coffee in beer is great!
 
So 4oz for 2.5 gallons is the same coffee to beer ratio that I was thinking of using. I was thinking of using a hazelnut coffee, have you ever tried that type of coffee in beer?
 
I have never used a flavored coffee...my father's roasts are quite robust, often with sumatra coffee...4 oz. in 2.5 gallons makes for a pretty powerful coffee flavor (it does mellow over time, though), but I like it, as does my father...a non-coffee drinker would probably hate it though.

i say go for it with the hazelnut...and let me know how it turns out.
 
I brewed this recipe for a Bender clone. It is very similar to Surly's with regard to color and flavor.

As far as the coffee goes, I can't help you...

Good luck.:mug:
 
Ok I'm ready to order the recipe (much borrowed from cmuech's post) and would like some feedback.

5gallon AG batch
8.0 lbs maris otter
.75 lbs crystal carmel 60L
1.0 lbs crystal carmel 80L
.25 lbs black patent
1.0 lbs coffee malt
2.0 lbs flaked oats

1 oz columbus
1 oz willamette

wyeast 1056 ( i have a bunch of this on hand)

Then i was going to add .25 to .50lbs of course ground coffee in the secondary.

I've never used flaked oats before. Do i just mash them like any other malt grain? I usually mash at 152 and batch sparge. Do the oats add any fermentable sugars?

Thanks!
 
looks solid to me. If you've had trouble mashing wheat or the like in the past, you may want to throw some rice hulls in with those oats, but I wouldn't worry about it. Yes, you can mash at 152 and do your normal batch sparge, but if I were you, I would probably mash that brew at around 155 to get a bit more body out of it.
 
He's what I just purchased:

5gallon AG batch

8.0 lbs maris otter
1.0 lbs crystal carmel 60L
.5 lbs crystal carmel 80L
1.0 lbs aromatic malt
1.0 lbs chocolate malt
1.0 lbs flaked oats

1 oz columbus
1 oz willamette

and I'm going to use wyeast 1056, i know that on surly's site it says british ale yeast, but I have 1056 on hand and I personally cant taste the difference between 1056 and 1098.

I'll do some comparisons after its ready and post back.
 
Finally got around to brewing this last night. I ended up with 6 gallons at 1.050. The wort tasted awesome. The color and taste are pretty damn close. The chocolate malt put a lot of roasty coffee like flavor in this beer. Can't wait till this is ready to drink.
 
I live an hour south of this brewery but I cant get any surly beers here in Rochester :(, so i have to do the next best thing.... clone their beers. I'm doing 5 gallon AG batches.

Here is some info from their site:

STYLE: Coffee flavored American Brown Ale
MALT: Pale Ale, Aromatic, Medium Crystal, Dark Crystal, Oats and Chocolate
HOPS: Columbus,Willamette
COFFEE: Gautemalan Finca Vista Hermosa Full City Roast by Coffee and Tea Ltd.
YEAST: English Ale

OG: 14º Plato
ABV: 5.5% v/v
COLOR: 45 ºSRM
IBU: 45

For the coffee, I was thinking of racking the beer off the primary and onto 1/2 lbs of course ground coffee in the secondary. Leave it on the grounds for 2-3 days then pull the beer off the grounds and keg it.

What would you recommend for the base beer grain bill?

What do you think about adding the coffee grinds to the secondary?

Thanks!

I feel your pain regarding Surly availability. I'm right in your neck of the woods. I just made a Furious clone myself. Good luck
 
Racked this to secondary today with the coffee grinds. I plan on bottling this on Monday night. I'll keep the thread updated on taste comparisons.
 
Bottled this last night. I drank the little bit that wouldn't fill a bottle, its pretty damn close to the real thing. I might have added a little too much coffee though, the coffee flavor is really intense.

I added 9oz of coffee grinds in the secondary and let them soak for 48hrs. I think next time I would do 7oz for a 5gal batch, but maybe the flavor will relax some once its conditioned.

I'll try to post side by side pics when its carbed.
 
robwestcott said:
am i understanding correctly - 2 days total in secondary ?

This is a pretty old thread. If you are thinking about doing this beer, look at the recipe for Surly Bender under Northern Brewers Pro Kits. Coffee Bender is just Bender with coffee added to it. I believe Surly cold steeps the coffee and adds it before bottling
 
Thought I'd post something in this thread since it came up when I was looking for answers on how munch coffee to add and for how long.

I brewed the Northern Brewer Bender AG clone and have had it in primary for a bit over 3 weeks now. After reading this thread I decided to add about 7.5oz of Kickapoo Cast Iron course grounds to my primary. The plan is to rack onto a secondary in two days and then add the vanilla beans and cocao nibs for a week. This is according to Chip's comment below the brewing TV episode 31 "Brew Your Own Bender". Going for Moe's bender minus the oak btw.

Hopefully I can remember to check back and let everyone know how it turns out.
 
Thought I'd post something in this thread since it came up when I was looking for answers on how munch coffee to add and for how long.

I brewed the Northern Brewer Bender AG clone and have had it in primary for a bit over 3 weeks now. After reading this thread I decided to add about 7.5oz of Kickapoo Cast Iron course grounds to my primary. The plan is to rack onto a secondary in two days and then add the vanilla beans and cocao nibs for a week. This is according to Chip's comment below the brewing TV episode 31 "Brew Your Own Bender". Going for Moe's bender minus the oak btw.

Hopefully I can remember to check back and let everyone know how it turns out.

I would do a cold brew coffee toddy, i do this for stouts and only use about 4-5oz always works great, with a cold brew the coffee flavour is less bitter more smooth over all, i add it to secondary or right before bottling, hope this helps
 
Thanks for the tip and specifying how much cold brew to add. So many posts just say add cold brewed coffee and leave it at that. I'd always been worried about diluting my beer too much but if it's only 2/3 cup roughly it's probably not a big deal. I'll have to give this a try next time since I've already added the grounds to this batch.
 
I have used coffee several times with good luck. Cold brewing has always been my process. Probably the best I can relate is my breakfast stout. My most recent batch I cold brewed 1.5 oz of each type of coffee that is in it (3 oz total). I use a french press and the final amount is 2 cups of liquid for each type of coffee(4 cups total). The first addition is at flameout and the second one I pasteurize, cool and then add to the secondary. I give it 2 to 3 weeks to blend and then keg. Cold brewing creates a smoother taste IMO and also limits the oils extracted from the bean. I control the strength of the coffee flavor by the amount of ground bean that I use. The 2 cups of liquid is always a constant for me. I have been frustrated in the past also trying to find info on using coffee. I even emailed Founders and was basically told thanks for the interest but they were unable to help. Hope this info helps a little.
 
Ok I'm ready to order the recipe (much borrowed from cmuech's post) and would like some feedback.

5gallon AG batch
8.0 lbs maris otter
.75 lbs crystal carmel 60L
1.0 lbs crystal carmel 80L
.25 lbs black patent
1.0 lbs coffee malt
2.0 lbs flaked oats

1 oz columbus
1 oz willamette

wyeast 1056 ( i have a bunch of this on hand)

Then i was going to add .25 to .50lbs of course ground coffee in the secondary.

I've never used flaked oats before. Do i just mash them like any other malt grain? I usually mash at 152 and batch sparge. Do the oats add any fermentable sugars?

Thanks!

Surly uses a lot of golden promise. If you have access to it, Id prolly go that route instead of MO
 
I've got Northern Brewer's Surly Bender Clone in the primary. My goal is to create a Moe's Bender clone, but I have never used coffee or vanilla in beer.

From asking around, it seems like cold-pressing the coffee and adding it to the secondary shortly before bottling is the best plan. How do I pasteurize the coffee and still keep the cold-pressed smoothness?

As for the vanilla, I figure I will make an extract with vodka or everclear.

Any advice on how much coffee and vanilla to add?

Thanks.
 
I've got Northern Brewer's Surly Bender Clone in the primary. My goal is to create a Moe's Bender clone, but I have never used coffee or vanilla in beer.

From asking around, it seems like cold-pressing the coffee and adding it to the secondary shortly before bottling is the best plan. How do I pasteurize the coffee and still keep the cold-pressed smoothness?

As for the vanilla, I figure I will make an extract with vodka or everclear.

Any advice on how much coffee and vanilla to add?

Thanks.
Last month I ordered the NB Surly Bender Partial Mash kit, went to my LHBS and bought 50% of each of the listed ingredients, and brewed a 7.5gal batch. When I racked it to secondary, I just added 12oz of cold-brewed Starbucks Komodo blend. I didn't bother pasteurizing as I started with a sanitized French Press and filtered spring water. Fresh whole bean coffee, in vapor-barrier packaging, is naturally inhospitable to bugs. Starbucks offers a very high quality product, and once your beer is finished fermenting the chances of an infection developing in a 4.5% ABV solution are pretty low. Mine's conditioning in the keg right now and it tastes almost spot on. Pasteurizing the cold brew might make you feel more confident, but I don't think it's necessary.
 
milehighrabbi said:
Thanks. Sounds like cold pressing is the way to go.

IMO....it will give you the smoothest flavor with the best head retention due to the decreased oils extracted. Greatest thing about home brewing is experimenting. Do it one way....do it another...and see what's best....generally it's pretty drinkable and you can determine what you like the most.
 
I know this is an old thread, but the Surly Coffee Bender is one of my FAVORITE beers. I just Unveiled my Coffee Bender clone and it was a hit!! I bought a gourmet breakfast blend and I'd say the best ratio is 1oz coffee per gallon of beer. I did a cold toddy of 5oz coffee with 8 oz boiled water that I cooled down prior to ensure sterility. I added it 3 days prior to racking in my keg and it turned out perfect! Bold coffee flavor and delicious English Ale taste.
 
BUMP

Anyone else have any advice on adding the coffee? Still cold brewing the way to go? I've seen a few mentions of adding whole beans into primary or secondary that seems to work well for people.

And what variety of coffee to use? I'm enjoy a cup a coffee as much as the next person, but I'm hardly a coffee aficionado.
 
I've done a coffee stout many times. I cold brew and use 8 oz in to the bottling bucket. This is for a 2 gallon batch. My advise is to add cold brewed at bottling time TO TASTE. That means don't just dump all you think is right at once. You can always add more but you can't take it out later if the coffee is to strong.
 
How much coffee though?

Adding at bottling (or kegging) to taste does seem like a great way to add it so you can dial it into the level you want. Thanks!
 
I've gone with 1oz of coffee per gallon of beer. I've heard that too much coffee can just make it taste like cold press coffee rather than a coffee BEER. I bought a gourmet breakfast blend, whole bean, and put it in a 1gal plastic zip lock bag and used a rolling pin to crush the beans (not grind). I then steeped it cold water for 2 days and used a french press to filter out the crushed beans. As long as you add it to your bottling bucket or keg when you rack it, you'll get the coffee to mix well with the rest of the beer. I've made 2 batches of this in the last 4 months because it's a favorite of my crew.
 
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