Clone Beer Founder's Breakfast Stout Clone

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I planned on brewing a basic oatmeal stout today. Here's my recipe...

- 9.4 lbs British Pale
- 1.0 lbs flaked oats
- 0.75 lbs Chocolate malt
- 0.75 lbs Victory
- 0.5 lbs Crystal 80
- 0.5 lbs Black Roasted Barley

- 1.8 oz. EKG

I'd like to add some chocolate and coffee. Any recommendations on numbers for the 2? Doesn't have to be Breakfast Stout amounts. Just something noticeable to make it a more complex drinking experience.
 
Kegged this beer this weekend. It tasted wonderful. I like chocolate so I put 1/2 the nibs during the boil and 1/2 in the secondary. Came out great.
 
Drinking my first brew tonight. It's good but I'd skip the nibs I added in secondary, they just don't belong. Just noticed a secondary addition isn't listed in the OP, not sure why I added them.
 
Cracked open a bottle today after 3 weeks just to see where things are at. Man this is a great recipe. All the flavors are there, and are blending nicely. I only did 1.5 ounces of cold-brewed coffee at bottling, so I wouldn't say mine is too "coffee forward" like a lot of people have said about this brew when it is young. And the smell - heavenly.

One thing: I accidentally added the priming sugar straight to the bottling bucket (didn't boil it in water - I know, idiot). The beer is carbonated, but I'd like a bit more carbonation. Will the beer continue to carbonate over the next few months as it sits in my basement, or is the carbonation process pretty much done after 3 weeks?
 
Cracked open a bottle today after 3 weeks just to see where things are at. Man this is a great recipe. All the flavors are there, and are blending nicely. I only did 1.5 ounces of cold-brewed coffee at bottling, so I wouldn't say mine is too "coffee forward" like a lot of people have said about this brew when it is young. And the smell - heavenly.

One thing: I accidentally added the priming sugar straight to the bottling bucket (didn't boil it in water - I know, idiot). The beer is carbonated, but I'd like a bit more carbonation. Will the beer continue to carbonate over the next few months as it sits in my basement, or is the carbonation process pretty much done after 3 weeks?

It took mine a while to fully carbonate. High alcohol and long aging stress the yeast, but they'll get there.
 
Christmas next year? 3 weeks is WAY too early for this brew.

Pretty sure my post says "after xmas". As in, to bad I didn't brew it earlier in time for xmas. If you make over a thousand posts in one year you are bound to say a few dumb things along the way.
 
hopzicle said:
Pretty sure my post says "after xmas". As in, to bad I didn't brew it earlier in time for xmas. If you make over a thousand posts in one year you are bound to say a few dumb things along the way.

Just trying to help. It is to bad I said such a dumb thing.
 
So I brewed this 12 days ago, OG 1.084, using irish ale yeast (wlp004).

Just tested it today and it's about at 1.030.... definitely too sweet. I just roused the yeast (gently of course) and am hoping to eek out about 5ish points... any other suggestions?
 
raise the temp by 5 to 10*F, depending where you are at now. a brew belt, ferm-wrap or other electric heater is useful as is moving the carboy to a warmer part of the house.
 
So I brewed this 12 days ago, OG 1.084, using irish ale yeast (wlp004).

Just tested it today and it's about at 1.030.... definitely too sweet. I just roused the yeast (gently of course) and am hoping to eek out about 5ish points... any other suggestions?

If it doesn't drop from there after rousing and heating, you can always try some amylase. I put half a teaspoon in a stout that was stuck at 1.030 and it took it down to 1.014 in a few days. The thing is, there is nothing that says how much to use, so use it very sparingly or you will end up with a breakfast wine :)
 
Mine went from 1.083 to 1.025 and I find it to be a bit thin compared to the original so the slightly higher FG may not be a bad thing, unless you really wanted to nail the ABV.
 
My ABV is a bit above 7% (brewed the extract version). I read a lot of people on this thread who have said that this beer takes months to reach maturity. Is that still the case with a beer around 7%? How long will the beers stay "fresh" for lack of a better term?
 
Question: the original recipes says:
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 2 weeks @ 65F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 weeks @ 65F.

But ive also read in this thread people saying to do 4 weeks primary and up to 6 months in the secondary?

If I do the original and bottle it and age for the 6 months will I get the same results?
 
Question: the original recipes says:
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 2 weeks @ 65F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 weeks @ 65F.

But ive also read in this thread people saying to do 4 weeks primary and up to 6 months in the secondary?

If I do the original and bottle it and age for the 6 months will I get the same results?


Sure, probably. It's all personal preference.
 
I've been eyeing this awesome looking recipe for a while and finally have all tye ingredients and an open fermentor but I have a question. When I feed the recipe into Beersmith as 5 Gal batch with a 70% efficiency, the OG = 1.099, this is hardcore Russian Imperial Stout territory. The recipe calls for OG of 1.086. For those of you who brewed this, what were your OG / FG's for this and any advice. Thanks.
 
I've been eyeing this awesome looking recipe for a while and finally have all tye ingredients and an open fermentor but I have a question. When I feed the recipe into Beersmith as 5 Gal batch with a 70% efficiency, the OG = 1.099, this is hardcore Russian Imperial Stout territory. The recipe calls for OG of 1.086. For those of you who brewed this, what were your OG / FG's for this and any advice. Thanks.

Frankly I was a little perplexed as to what brew pal was telling me when I put this recipe together, too, because it said my OG would be 1.118 and finish at 1.019. The weird thing is, that software doesn't allow me to change my efficiency based on recipe, and getting 85% efficiency on a 8lb recipe is no problem, but this recipe is over 20 lbs in my 10 gallon mash tun.

Long story short, I ended up at 1.088. Pretty close.
 
My ABV is a bit above 7% (brewed the extract version). I read a lot of people on this thread who have said that this beer takes months to reach maturity. Is that still the case with a beer around 7%? How long will the beers stay "fresh" for lack of a better term?
freshness isn't a major concern here, at least not like it is with an IPA. so no need to worry about letting it age too much unless you have it sitting around for years. if you can, give it 3 months rest then taste. wait another month or more, and taste again. if you detect no difference go ahead and start drinking them all. i suspect you'll notice differences and like the 4+ month old better than the 3... so imagine how much better the 5, 6 and 8 month old versions will be.

personally, i find that dark roasty beers really improve with 6 months of aging.

When I feed the recipe into Beersmith as 5 Gal batch with a 70% efficiency, the OG = 1.099, this is hardcore Russian Imperial Stout territory. The recipe calls for OG of 1.086. For those of you who brewed this, what were your OG / FG's for this and any advice. Thanks.
the reason your numbers don't match the OP's is differences in efficiency. the OP had a low efficiency, so it took more grains to reach his desired OG. use your software to tweak quantities until you reach your desired OG (1.086).
 
the reason your numbers don't match the OP's is differences in efficiency. the OP had a low efficiency, so it took more grains to reach his desired OG. use your software to tweak quantities until you reach your desired OG (1.086).

Right. That's what I was attempting to express with my post, but botched that. It's a large grain bill to fit in the rubbermaid 10 gallon.
 
OK, so I tried this thing 2 wks after brewing, and it of course was really bitter, sweet, and just generally not that great. Fast forward to tonight, 6.5 wks later, and HOLY ****.

This beer is amazing. I still have it on primary, but I gotta say, it tastes 100% dead-on like real Founder's Breakfast Stout. That being said, I have NOT added my Kona addition for secondary.

Question for fellow brewers of this recipe -- did yours have a weak coffee taste before the Kona addition? Because mine tastes exactly like a freshly opened breakfast stout. I'm afraid to add the coffee now, thinking that it may not be necessary anymore. I only used 1.25 oz at 2min of Sumatra.
 
I found that the coffee was way to strong, and I like coffee.. I would have backed it off if I brew it next time.
 
I found that the coffee was way to strong, and I like coffee.. I would have backed it off if I brew it next time.

Interesting. As I said, it currently tastes like the real deal with just a 2 or 1 min addition of 1.25oz Sumatra.

I boiled up some water for cold brewing coffee and some mint (for a choc stout), and I used 2oz roughly ground. That is currently sitting cold in the fridge in a coffee mug filled to the brim and mixed pretty well. I will filter that in the morning and add it to the keg little by little.

I figure the best idea is to add a tad bit more coffee than you want, so as to allow the beer to age well, since the coffee will mellow. I think I may just bottle a bunch of these from the keg and then let them warm back up to age.
 
OK, so I tried this thing 2 wks after brewing, and it of course was really bitter, sweet, and just generally not that great. Fast forward to tonight, 6.5 wks later, and HOLY ****.

This beer is amazing. I still have it on primary, but I gotta say, it tastes 100% dead-on like real Founder's Breakfast Stout.
it'll only keep getting better. don't drink it all now. patience!

That being said, I have NOT added my Kona addition for secondary.

Question for fellow brewers of this recipe -- did yours have a weak coffee taste before the Kona addition? Because mine tastes exactly like a freshly opened breakfast stout. I'm afraid to add the coffee now, thinking that it may not be necessary anymore. I only used 1.25 oz at 2min of Sumatra.

i'll be re-brewing this recipe next week, first batch got infected %$&@#*!!!

i'll be cutting back the coffee additions. before the first batch went south i too thought that the coffee was on the strong side. i suspect the coffee will meld/fade with time, but i'm not that big a coffee fiend anyways so i don't want it too strong. the original recipe calls for 2 oz + 2 oz, i think i'll downgrade to 1.5 or 1.25 each.
 
I'll be the guy who didn't think the coffee was too much. I missed my ABV by .5% also, drinking half on tap now at about 5 months from brew date. Remainder is bottled, half of which has 4ml per bottle (8oz per 5 gallon) of Bookers bourbon. Tastes great but bourbon could be bumped up a tad.
 
I'll be the guy who didn't think the coffee was too much. I missed my ABV by .5% also, drinking half on tap now at about 5 months from brew date. Remainder is bottled, half of which has 4ml per bottle (8oz per 5 gallon) of Bookers bourbon. Tastes great but bourbon could be bumped up a tad.

Interesting. How strong is the taste? Like, say, compared to KBS? I want something that's about halfway between Breakfast Stout (no whiskey) and KBS.
 
nickmv said:
Interesting. How strong is the taste? Like, say, compared to KBS? I want something that's about halfway between Breakfast Stout (no whiskey) and KBS.

Well I can't say i was dead sober during tasting or that I had a Founders at the time. The one I drank was bottled for four weeks so maybe more time will blend the flavors more/better/different. I believe the 4ml per bottle would make you happy.
 
8oz per 5 gallons adds a good whiskey character, that's approx 1 cup of bourbon added to the fermenter or bottling bucket.

I prefer to add some whiskey soaked oak cubes to primary/secondary for 2-3 weeks when doing whiskey beers, but that's me. Just chuck 'em (and the liquid) in primary after the main fermentation has settled down.

Cheers,
~Adam
 
As stated earlier in this post, IMO stay clear of the second addition. The first addition of coffee is enough, the second made it way too bitter IMO and I like coffee and coffee beers also. To each their own I guess but that's my two cents!
 
The second addition is all down to taste for sure. I added 1.5oz of cold-brew and for me, it is fine even now (been bottled for 5 weeks). I'd imagine that over the next few months, it will mellow even more. But the benefit of adding the cold-brew at bottling is it allows you to taste as you go. Add 1 oz (about 4 oz. of cold-brewed coffee) and taste it. Keep adding if you want more coffee flavor.
 
As stated earlier in this post, IMO stay clear of the second addition. The first addition of coffee is enough, the second made it way too bitter IMO and I like coffee and coffee beers also. To each their own I guess but that's my two cents!

I ground up 2oz of Kona coarsely, and made a coffee "sludge" of sorts in a mug, and let it sit overnight, then strained that thru a paint strainer cone, and ended up adding about 1oz of the "extract". I was scared to add anymore.

This thing is absolutely delicious, and can only get better as the booze has a few more months to soften its bite.
 
After being done in the primary my gravity went from 1.063 to 1.011 for an abv of 6.83%. Will this change after the secondary? How did I end up with such a high abv compared to the origional recipe? (not a complaint!) Is this due to the mash efficiency?
 
After being done in the primary my gravity went from 1.063 to 1.011 for an abv of 6.83%. Will this change after the secondary? How did I end up with such a high abv compared to the origional recipe? (not a complaint!) Is this due to the mash efficiency?

Sounds like you mashed way low. 1.010 is quite dry for this recipe. Also, the grav is 1.086, so you're 23 pts off. The original recipe is like 8.5%, so I'm not sure what you're talking with yours being higher.
 
I keep forgetting I have this. I brewed it, oaked/bourbon'd it, aged it in the keg.. carbed it... and then bottled it, and left the bottles SOMEWHERE in a box in my cluttered garage.
 
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