Comments on my Coffee Stout recipe

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Walker

I use secondaries. :p
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What do you think?

1917-espresso_stout.bmp


Grains (steep w/ 1.5gal @150F for 40 minutes, rinse w/ 1.5 gal @170F)
1# 90L crystal
1/3# black roast
1/4# roasted barley
1/2# carapils (for head)

Extract/Sugar
6.5# Laaglander Dark DME (5.5# in boil, more at priming time but I don't know how much 1.25 cups of this weighs)
1.5# British Amber DME
1# brown sugar (to boost alcohol since the Laaglander DME is high in dextrins)

Misc
8-16 oz italian espresso (pre-brewed and added at priming time to taste)

Hops
1 oz perle for 60 minutes

Yeast
Wyeast SmackPack of Irish Ale Yeast (1084)

I've also got 0.25 oz of chinook left over from a previous brew that I'm considering tossing in, just to get rid of it.

update: I DID use the chinook, too. added it at 60 minutes.

-walker
 
I haven't actually brewed a beer with coffee as an ingredient and hence have no meaningful advice. However ( :cross: ), I've seen recipes both ways and I would lean towards adding the coffee at bottling time to taste which would hopefully ensure you get the flavor exactly where you want it. If I were to add it post-boil, I would do it after cooling to avoid 'cooking' the espresso.
 
looks great to me, i've done a couple in the past few weeks - all with recipes pretty close to that but using about 16 ounces of percolated coffee, around 6lbs extract and about the same grain bill - and i've been *very* happy with them all, so much in fact i brewed another batch last night.
you've got it right with putting the espresso in after the heat's turned off, you wont want it in the wort until its at least below 200.... speaking of which, anyone try the rideway espresso stout (cask) lately? sounded so promising i had to try it, and gagged when it actually hit my tastebuds, they must've cooked the coffee in there for most of the boil or something equally sinister, a beer to be avoided IMHO
anyway, good luck with the recipe, i've been thinking about upping the bill alittle on this beer, but the last one was soo balanced i didn't change it for this current batch.
 
Looks good to me too. I just did a Stout that had 0.5# Crystal 60, 0.5# Chocolate malt and 0.5# Roast Barley. Tasted at transfer and it was great. Considering your recipe has less chocolate and roasted barley, the coffee will be a great addition.
 
Add the coffee in the secondary or in the bottling bucket. Active fermentation may scrub some of the coffee aroma. All flavoring additives (fruit, coffee, dry hopping, etc.) are typically added during secondary fermentation for this reason and of course so that the flavoring is not left behind in the primary. Otherwise, receipe looks great.

edit: adding .25 oz of chinook can have a sizeable impact on ibu's. It's a very high AAU hop. I suggest you do some calculations before you just toss it in.
 
I'd like to add a vote for the bottling bucket. I put in a half pot of double scooped coffee and the taste came out fine. Subtle and noticeable without taking away from the stout experience.
 
Lost said:
adding .25 oz of chinook can have a sizeable impact on ibu's. It's a very high AAU hop. I suggest you do some calculations before you just toss it in.

I did do the calculations. :D

I happen to like a nice bitterness in my dark beers, maybe more-so than the average person. However, I don't want to make the beer so bitter that no one else will drink it.. hence my pending decision to throw it in or not.

Thanks for the feedback, though. Much appreciated.


-walker
 
the wort for this stout is cooling as I type. smack pack of irish ale yeast is bulgin' at the seams. the house smells like irish heaven.

The new fridge arrived today for the house, and the old one is in the garage attached to a brand spanking new external thermostat and holding steady at 66 degrees. It's just awaiting reception of the carboy now.

today was a good day.

I hope all of you had a good one, too.

-walker
 
yeah.. I'm pretty jazzed about the whole thing. We ordered the new fridge about a month ago, but because of Katrina we had to wait until yesterday to take delivery. I postponed the stout brewing for two days so that I could use the new setup.

This should make brewing here in the summer much easier, plus... I can actually try my hand at a lager if I want (but I don't think I want.)

-walker
 
BeeGee said:
Awesome. I have auxiliary fridge envy.

I'm trying to talk my wife into the idea of buying a new fridge for the kitchen since neither of us particularly love our current fridge. Of course, getting a new one means I have an extra fridge. Anyone here have any ideas for what I could use it for? ;)
 
Strange, when looking at the thumbnail you can see all four of you, but when you click on the thumb it chops Gaelone off. Doesn't matter tho, cuz really I just want to look at your wifes. :cool:
 
El Pistolero said:
Strange, when looking at the thumbnail you can see all four of you, but when you click on the thumb it chops Gaelone off. Doesn't matter tho, cuz really I just want to look at your wifes. :cool:

Cute, real mature ELP...any way, the correct word would be "wives", but that's not totally accurate since only Judy and I are married.

Just to show all the other people on this forum how much of an inconsiderate ass you are :mad: , (you could be drinking a wee bit too much or just making an ill-timed joke), but my wife is 60 years old and we have 4 greatgrandchildren. Do you talk that way about every greatgrandmother? How about yours? :mad:
 
Why is that immature...you have two very nice looking ladies. I thought I was paying you a compliment. :confused:

Edit: And excuse me for the spelling. :eek: It looked wrong, but I couldn't quite figure out why. :drunk:
 
homebrewer_99 said:
but my wife is 60 years old and we have 4 greatgrandchildren. Do you talk that way about every greatgrandmother? How about yours? :mad:
I don't care how old your wife is...she's still a lovely lady. I don't see where you think I was making a joke? :confused: Peace man, I was just trying to pay you both a compliment.
 
El Pistolero said:
I don't care how old your wife is...she's still a lovely lady. I don't see where you think I was making a joke? :confused: Peace man, I was just trying to pay you both a compliment.

OK. I'm cool with that.

Maybe it was just the way I was reading it.

I apologize to you. :D ... and thanks.


EDIT: Just in case anyone has followed this conversation gone wrong, ELP and myself have PM'd each other and all's cool. :D
 
homebrewer_99 said:
EDIT: Just in case anyone has followed this conversation gone wrong, ELP and myself have PM'd each other and all's cool. :D

glad to hear that. I was a little confused as to why offense was taken, but I'm glad it's all worked out.

you guys hug and share a beer now.

-walker
 
Walker said:
glad to hear that. I was a little confused as to why offense was taken, but I'm glad it's all worked out.
It's YOU'RE fault, for bringing up that damn coffee stout.! :mad: ... which by the way suddenly is sounding pretty good. :drunk:
 
hey... just be glad El P didn't ask you to send your wife to his house with two bottles of booze and a half a pair of shorts. he did that to me today, but I'm too lazy to get angry. :D
 
most of them seem to do that. :)

by the way, let me just say that I think all of you folks here are simply great. I am very glad I came across this place. lots of good info, lots of good laughs, lots of good people.

everyone have a good night. the wife is calling.
 
back to the subject of my Kaffe Stout.....

I racked this to the secondary tonight. Due to a small 'incident' with my siphoning, I ended up with a slightly large 'sample' for tasting (close to 16 oz!)

It's slightly sweet right now and not roasty enough, but I think that a little time and the addition of the espresso later in the process will cut down the sweetness and bring out some more roasty goodness.

Since I had such a large sample I drank probably 6 oz of it. Left a nice burn in my belly, so the alcohol content is up where it should be for this beer. (I didn't bother to take a gravity reading... will do so at bottling time.) It was a little too heavy to drink a full FLAT pint of, so some of my sample was a true waste.

I am DAMN impressed with this one, even if I do say so myself. Probably one of my best beers in several years. This should be perfect for the upcoming winter nights.

Now... if I can just hold out until December before cracking the first bottle of this open. :D

-walker
 
Walker said:
Now... if I can just hold out until December before cracking the first bottle of this open. :D

-walker

More than a resource for getting great recipes and advise, this board serves as a great support group for those of us getting antsy.
 
Resurrecting here, but just pulled the first pint of this that I brewed back in May, and aside from me not being patient enough to wait for complete carbonation, it is damn tasty!

Thanks, Walker-san! :mug:
 
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