Choco Coffee Stout Recipe Critique... Advice Needed!

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zandrsn

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Hi all, This is my first attempt at formulating an all-grain recipe and I was wondering if I could get some feedback. As you can see this is basically an oatmeal stout with some 'milk', chocolate, and coffee added. I guess it is more of a desert stout than a breakfast stout, but so it goes. I am thinking that perhaps I should use a pound rather than a half pound of lactose, but I'm not sure. Thanks for taking a look! :mug:

Recipe: Midnight Sun Irish Breakfast Stout
Brewer: zandrsn
Asst Brewer:
Style: Sweet Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.52 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.067 SG
Estimated Color: 38.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 23.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 83.4 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 54.9 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 2 11.8 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.8 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4 7.8 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 5 7.8 %
12.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 6 5.9 %
8.0 oz Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 7 3.9 %
1.00 oz Goldings, B.C. [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 15.2 IBUs
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 9 8.3 IBUs
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 10 -
6.00 oz Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (Boil 10.0 mins) 11 -

1.0 pkg Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) [124.21 ml] 12 -

0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Other 13 -
20.00 oz Cold Brewed Coffee (Secondary 2.0 weeks) 14 -
1.00 Items Vanilla Bean (split) (Secondary 2.0 week 15 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 15.31 qt of water at 168.2 F 156.0 F 45 min
Mash Out Add 6.13 qt of water at 202.4 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 2.88 gal water at 168.0 F

Notes:
------
Toast the oats at 325F for 75 minutes


Coffee--Cold Extraction
This is a way of getting a very smooth coffee flavor to add to your beer. Using a dark Italian or French roast, add 1 lb ground coffee (or twice as much coffee grounds as you would for a regular brew) to 20 ounces of cold filtered water in a sanitized container. Allow this to sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then run the mixture through a coffee filter. Add this extract to the secondary.
 
Looks pretty good to me. Gotta brew it to truely know. I would up the lactose to the full pound. My last 2 milk/oatmeal/breakfast stouts needed the full pound to taste the way I wanted them to. I would highly recommend some kiln coffee malt if you can get your hands on it.
 
Looks good. But add the cocoa powder at flameout. Definetly add at least 12oz if not the full pound of lactose. Also the cocoa will add bitterness that's not going to be calculated in a brewing program so figure that into your hop schedule. But it doesn't look too bitter the way it is so I think you should be fine.
 
Looks good. But add the cocoa powder at flameout. Definetly add at least 12oz if not the full pound of lactose. Also the cocoa will add bitterness that's not going to be calculated in a brewing program so figure that into your hop schedule. But it doesn't look too bitter the way it is so I think you should be fine.

Thanks for the advice!
 
Looks pretty good to me. Gotta brew it to truely know. I would up the lactose to the full pound. My last 2 milk/oatmeal/breakfast stouts needed the full pound to taste the way I wanted them to. I would highly recommend some kiln coffee malt if you can get your hands on it.

Thanks for the advice, I can't get any kiln coffee malt here in Toronto before I brew this batch up, but I will keep it in mind for the future.
 
Make sure you are not lactose intolerant and don't let anyone who is drink it. Just because the lactose is in beer doesn't mean it wont ruin someones day if they are intolerant. :drunk:

Also the cocoa powder will cause a massive layer of pudding to form and you will lose quite a bit of beer to it. I brewed a chocolate stout with 8 ounces of cocoa powder and lost nearly a gallon to the "pudding" the powder formed at the bottom. So I'd suggest upping the batch size to 5.5 gallons if you want to get closer to 5 gallons of finished product.
 
I have a chocolate stout in the fermenter now and it's dome with primary fermentation. There probably is at least 3/4 to 1 gallon of chocolate looking pudding at the bottom. I'm hoping when I cold crash it it will settle more. So I would adjust for a 6 gal batch if you want to get 5 out of it. Also because of the slight amount of fat ( I think that's the reason) there is no krausen during fermentation. It's kinda weird.
 
The recipe looks awesome! I'm looking to do a strong coffee aroma beer similar to Pizza Port's Coffee Monster.
 
derekge said:
The recipe looks awesome! I'm looking to do a strong coffee aroma beer similar to Pizza Port's Coffee Monster.

Thanks, It turned out great! Make sure to make a big enough starter, the high OG can be hard on the yeasties...
 

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