Wanted: Pipeline Porter All Grain Recipe

Hey all,
Anyone ever had Kona Brewing Co.'s Pipeline Porter? The stuff is awesome. I was just curious if anyone had a good recipe for the stuff. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's a coffee porter that's just awesome.

This is how they describe it:
"Pipeline Porter is dark chocolate in color with a rich roasted malt flavor and smooth coffee finish. Its earthy complexity comes from its diverse blends of premium malts and barley. This celebration of malt unites with freshly roasted 100% Kona coffee grown at Cornwell Estate on Hawaii's Big Island, lending a unique roasty aroma and flavor. A delicate blend of hops rounds out this palate-pleasing brew."

This is what they claim is in it...
Malt: Premium 2-Row Pale, Carapils, Victory, Caramel 80, Extra Special, Chocolate and Dark Chocolate malts, Roasted Barley

Hops: Horizon, Millennium, Warrior, Perle

Alcohol: 5.4% by volume (4.3% wt.)

O.G.: 13.5

IBU: 30

Extras: freshly roasted 100% Kona coffee

I"ve never done any recipe experimentation... But with some advice,
I may have to try.

Do you think they'd be adding cracked whole bean coffee during the boil or just some fresh brewed Joe?

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks!

Joe

I like that stuff too, and have been looking for a good coffee porter recipe. There is a bunch of info here on different ways to add coffe, but most of it is for coffee stouts. I was thinking about just adding some fresh brewed and cooled coffee to the primary, along with the top-off water. Some people throw in fresh grounds 10 to 0 minutes before flameout. I really just don't know how much to add to get a noticeable coffee flavor, but without drinking 1/2 coffee 1/2 beer.

I just tried this stuff this weekend. It tasted great with a nice slice of pumpkin pie!

Thanks guys! Now if we can only come up with a recipe. LOL I have a book that may help give some input on putting my two favorite beverages together into one... I might just have to try brewing up my own concoction.

MMMM Pipeline Porter!

I'll check to see what the fine folks at Larry's have to say when I go there later this week!

just did the tour last week - the guy said they added whole bean kona coffee in a mesh bag into the fermenter.

edit: I guess if you don't grind it and boil it, it only gives the flavor of coffee and not the caffeine - he said you had to drink 40somthing pints of it to equal one cup of coffee.

I just threw together something really quick. Should be pretty good. Not sure about the quantities that they use it in, but I incorporated most of what they used.

This is for 5.5 gallons at 70% efficiency.

9 lb. pale
1 lb chocolate (I'd do 75/25 on the light/dark chocolate)
.5 lb carapils
.5 lb 80L
.5 lb Victory
.25 lb Extra Special
.15 lb roasted barley

For hops, I didn't use millenium. They've got four high alpha acid hops in there, and I'm betting they're all at bittering stage. I went with:

.25 warrior (60)
.25 horizon (60)
.25 perle (60)

that's 30 IBUs, or pretty damn close.

White Labs English Ale might be good, but if you want a really clean profile, 001 would be fine too. As for the coffee, the whole bean in the fermenter sounds like a good idea. I'd cold brew. I like how it turns out. Just normally brewed coffee works too, but it seems to be a little too acidic. I would add to taste.

Sweet recipe!!!

MTBREWDOG said:

Sweet recipe!!!

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I take all credit for how awesome it might be. However, if it sucks, I blame your brewing skills.

Seriously, I did that in about 5 minutes, but it seems like it might work for what you want.

I checked with Kona Brewing Co. and they aren't releasing anything to the public as it is proprietary LOL. Too bad I already found the ingredient list elsewhere. LOL

Well I think this recipe might have to do. I won't be brewing it for a little while though. I have to gather more bottles. Thanks!

How much whole coffee do you guys think you'd need for a 5.5 gallon batch? I would be adding cracked beans into my primary. Thanks!

Cheers,

Joe

MTBREWDOG said:

How much whole coffee do you guys think you'd need for a 5.5 gallon batch? I would be adding cracked beans into my primary. Thanks!

Cheers,

Joe

Click to expand...

Are you adding them after fermentation has ceased? I would go to secondary for that, honestly. As for amounts, no idea.

Why would you put them into the secondary vs. the primary?

anyone have any updates? anyone try the recipe posted in here??

would love to hear some recent feedback, as i too have been looking for a good Pipeline Porter clone... lucky enough to have lived in HI and discovered it there, and a few places here in Portland have it on tap! Sooooo good. Mmmmm...

rareohs said:

anyone have any updates? anyone try the recipe posted in here??

would love to hear some recent feedback, as i too have been looking for a good Pipeline Porter clone... lucky enough to have lived in HI and discovered it there, and a few places here in Portland have it on tap! Sooooo good. Mmmmm...

Click to expand...

I haven't done this recipe, it does sound nice though. I have done coffee in the secondary though. I would not put it in a primary. I always use the secondary for favor/aroma items such as dry hoping, fruit or coffee if needed or wanted for that matter. It just seems cleaner and able to do its job better this way.

I have heard to always start out using 1/2 lb for 5 gallon batchs

I came up and added 100% Kona coffee into the mash ton and I have beautiful coffee flavor. Found that my target O.G. was about .010 off but my beer taste really good maybe a little thin though. It closed at 1.013 and just was moved into the kegs tonight, if it taste close will reveal the recipe I used. This is an all grain recipe for 10 gallons...Must agree this is the best porter I have had in a long time...


When 10 gallons isn't enough! One and a half barrels here baby mounted on a trailer.
Boltzzzzzz

My latest brew was a coffee porter. I'm listening to it bubble in my closet right now I posted my recipe in this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/coffee-techniques-107296/

I'm sure it's not quite like the Kona one, but it sure looks good =D

I'm planning to add whole beans to the secondary 2-4 days before I keg it, but I'm not dead set on that yet. I'm still not sure how much I'll use either... probably a half a pound or so.

boltzzzzbrews,

So did it turn out? I am still very interested in trying to make this.

Any more updates on this, wanted to know how this turned out for anyone and if they had any recipes for adding the coffee beans.

MTBREWDOG said:

Too bad I already found the ingredient list elsewhere. LOL

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They advertise the ingredients on their site now, just not amounts.

I too would love to know how much coffee to add into the secondary. I'm guessing 1/2 lb, as stated before, but I'd like to make sure.

How's this look for a final recipe:


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Pipeline Porter
Brewer: Justin Howe
Asst Brewer:
Style: Robust Porter
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.92 gal
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 31.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 75.63 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 8.40 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.20 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4.20 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.20 %
4.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 2.10 %
2.4 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 1.26 %
0.25 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 11.8 IBU
0.25 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (60 min) Hops 6.3 IBU
0.25 oz Horizon [12.00 %] (60 min) Hops 9.4 IBU
0.50 lb Coffee Beans (100% Kona) (Secondary 14.0 dMisc
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11.90 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 3.72 gal of water at 170.1 F 154.0 F


Notes:
------
Add .5 lb Kona Coffee into secondary in a mesh bag. Leave for 14 days.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any taste results on this? Pipeline porter is one of my favorite beers.

I e-mailed back and forth with Rich from Kona a few months ago and here is what he had to say about the coffee:

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Aloha Michael,

Mahalo for the compliments re. our Pipeline Porter and your support of Kona Beer - we really appreciate the feedback!

Re. our coffee addition, our specific recipe is proprietary, but I can give you some tips that may help. We use freshly roasted Kona Coffee from Cornwell Estate here on the Big Island and add it late in the brewing process (post fermentation, during cold conditioning). The qty to add will depend somewhat on the base beer style and what your intended target flavor profile is. I would think for a robust porter, coffee in the 1 - 3 oz range for 5 gals would be a good start. It will also depend on the rest of your brewing process, efficiencies and the freshness of the coffee. Maybe brew a batch and split it experimenting with 2 or 3 different coffee addition rates?

Hope this helps - good luck!

Cheers,
Rich Tucciarone, Brewmaster
Kona Brewing Company
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

And in regards to the coffee grind he says:

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

You will probably get more flavor extraction compared to weight used with a finer grind, but also may run some risk of oxidation/falvor degradation from the increased surface area of coffee with a finer grind. We prefer a fairly coarse grind and the roast we use is pretty dark - similar to what the coffee industry calls a French Roast. I tend to prefer a more pronounced roasted coffee flavor/aroma....but that is my own personal preference. Brew what you like right?

Hope this helps!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Here is what I did:

My base beer was Jamil's robust porter. Which can be viewed here. I subbed Williamette for EKG's and S05 for WLP001.

For the coffee I used 3 ounces of Peet's Italian roast grinded for French Press. I put the coffee in a hop bag into the keg (I don't secondary) for about ONE HOUR. At this time the coffee taste was very strong. Probably about 3-5 times as strong as Pipeline. If I were to do it again I'd do three ounces but steep for less time or use less coffee. I was very surprised that I got this strong of coffee flavor out of only one hour of steeping.

I also served on Nitro.

I hope this helps.
Mike

Wow... 3 ounces and only an hour? Hmmmm well I guess that makes sense, since most coffee recipes call for a "brewed pot", and a brewed pot doesn't really touch the beans much longer than a few minutes...

I wonder what would be different about throwing in cracked beans as opposed to ground beans. And just leaving the beans in the fermenter.

So many different methods!

jigidyjim said:

Wow... 3 ounces and only an hour? Hmmmm well I guess that makes sense, since most coffee recipes call for a "brewed pot", and a brewed pot doesn't really touch the beans much longer than a few minutes...

I wonder what would be different about throwing in cracked beans as opposed to ground beans. And just leaving the beans in the fermenter.

So many different methods!

Click to expand...

Yeah. There are a million ways to do this. My guess is that if you just cracked the beans you'd need to leave them in longer or use more. The increased surface area of grinding is what (I think) allows for the short steeping time.

Any updates on this? I tried my first Pipeline last night and this will definitely be my next beer. The description from Kona Brewing says the coffee comes through in the end, but the glass I poured last night had all the coffee up front and it was delicious. I think I'm going to convert to extract with specialty grains and try 4oz crushed coffee after fermentation for 2-3 days.

I have been toying around with an all grain recipie. I haven't decided how I am going to do the coffe. Zymurgy magazine had something on coffee in beers trhis month, but i haven't gotten a chance to look at it.

Its definitely a great porter. I agree that the coffee taste is upfront. If I come up with something I will try to convert it for you.

bferullo said:

If I come up with something I will try to convert it for you.

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That would be really cool of you, thanks. FYI, their website now lists the brew at 23IBU, not 30 as mentioned earlier in the thread.

do you do partial mashes or only extract only. If you only do extract it will be a little trickey since its based mostly on what extract you use (light with lots of speciality grains or dark with less specialty).

You may just want to search for a good porter extract recipie with similar characteristics and then decide how to infuse the coffee in. If you find a recipie I can plug it into beersmith to adjust the amounts to get to the specs of Kona porter (i.e bitterness and whatnot). Its easy to take premade recipies and change the hops and such. I jsut don't have a lot of experience starting from extract and building (i.e how much speciality grains to use when using extract base)

I think you guys might be thinking about it too much. If you brew the Robust Porter from Brewing Classic Styles or the recipe above with the coffee tips from Rich that I pasted above a few months ago you will get something that has the potential to be just as good if not better than Pipeline Porter...

bferullo said:

do you do partial mashes or only extract only. If you only do extract it will be a little trickey since its based mostly on what extract you use (light with lots of speciality grains or dark with less specialty).

Click to expand...

I went with light extract and a fair amount of steeping grains. If any other extract brewers come across this thread you can find my recipe here. I won't know how it turned out for about two months.

Hello to all trying the all grain recipe mentioned a few pages back. I recently tried this recipe an have learned a few things.

1. I added two ounces of coarsely ground coffee straight to the secondary fermenter with the idea that the grounds would settle to the bottom and I could rack the beer to the keg leaving the grounds behind..... This was definitely incorrect. After transferring to the keg and cold conditioning for 10 days I tried to pour a glass. The pick up tube and poppet were completely clogged due to the presence of coffee ground that did not "fall out" in the secondary. When I repeat this recipe I will definitely use a grain bag.

2. The amount of coffee... Like I said before I used two (coarsely ground) ounces of Kona coffee direct from HI. I left the coffee in the secondary for 10 days. This was way too long. The beer is good, BUT the coffee flavor is overpowering. It is more like coffee with a hint of beer instead of vice-versa. Next time I would use the same amount (2 ounces) of coarsely ground Kona coffee but I would only leave it in the secondary for 1 day (or less). I say one day because with this last attempt I was able to still a taste after one day and it tasted (minus the carbonation) almost exactly like Pipeline.

I hope my experience with this clone helps others when they decide to try it.

Cheers,

Jeff

tool3884 said:

Hello to all trying the all grain recipe mentioned a few pages back. I recently tried this recipe an have learned a few things.

1. I added two ounces of coarsely ground coffee straight to the secondary fermenter with the idea that the grounds would settle to the bottom and I could rack the beer to the keg leaving the grounds behind..... This was definitely incorrect. After transferring to the keg and cold conditioning for 10 days I tried to pour a glass. The pick up tube and poppet were completely clogged due to the presence of coffee ground that did not "fall out" in the secondary. When I repeat this recipe I will definitely use a grain bag.

2. The amount of coffee... Like I said before I used two (coarsely ground) ounces of Kona coffee direct from HI. I left the coffee in the secondary for 10 days. This was way too long. The beer is good, BUT the coffee flavor is overpowering. It is more like coffee with a hint of beer instead of vice-versa. Next time I would use the same amount (2 ounces) of coarsely ground Kona coffee but I would only leave it in the secondary for 1 day (or less). I say one day because with this last attempt I was able to still a taste after one day and it tasted (minus the carbonation) almost exactly like Pipeline.

I hope my experience with this clone helps others when they decide to try it.

Cheers,

Jeff

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Hi Jeff. I had a reply back on this same thread were I mentioned to put the grains in a hop bag to avoid those issues. I also suggested a total steeping time of one hour.

I just had some of this porter and I have to say it was pretty awesome. I may have to try brewing some of this myself!!!

how do u put it in the secondary without possible infection? what do you do to avoid contamination? thanks!!

rickyspalding said:

how do u put it in the secondary without possible infection? what do you do to avoid contamination? thanks!!

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What I did and no signs of infection, 3 days after pitching yeast and putting into FV.
star-san a hop bag and a glass marble or 2. Bake the whole beans 50g at 200C for 15 minutes, let cool. put in Hop bag with marble. Toss in FV.

I have a new 7 gallon Conical, so the lid is big and easy to toss in the bag, it floated around for 5 hours and is now out of sight .

I will start secondary on this Sunday (25 Dec). I open the valve at the bottom and the sludge drains into a container attached. Close valve and oohwalla presto bingo, Secondary .

fivehoursfree said:

I like that stuff too, and have been looking for a good coffee porter recipe. There is a bunch of info here on different ways to add coffe, but most of it is for coffee stouts. I was thinking about just adding some fresh brewed and cooled coffee to the primary, along with the top-off water. Some people throw in fresh grounds 10 to 0 minutes before flameout. I really just don't know how much to add to get a noticeable coffee flavor, but without drinking 1/2 coffee 1/2 beer.

Click to expand...

Stout or Porter you add coffee the same way. Best I know of is adding Cold Pressed coffee to the bottling bucket slowly TO TASTE.

MTBREWDOG said:

How much whole coffee do you guys think you'd need for a 5.5 gallon batch? I would be adding cracked beans into my primary. Thanks!

Cheers,

Joe

Click to expand...

I add Cold brewed coffee to the bottling bucket. I use 8 oz in 2 gallons.

Dunkelbiertrinker said:

What I did and no signs of infection, 3 days after pitching yeast and putting into FV.
star-san a hop bag and a glass marble or 2. Bake the whole beans 50g at 200C for 15 minutes, let cool. put in Hop bag with marble. Toss in FV.

I have a new 7 gallon Conical, so the lid is big and easy to toss in the bag, it floated around for 5 hours and is now out of sight .

I will start secondary on this Sunday (25 Dec). I open the valve at the bottom and the sludge drains into a container attached. Close valve and oohwalla presto bingo, Secondary .

Click to expand...

I should really look at dates when I read posts....LOL This was so old. Good luck on your brew.