coffee, biscotti & HOMEBREW

I'm just sitting here, waiting for my water to boil. I'm brewing a coffee stout with a bit of chocolate malt. I took a few ingredients from a few different recipes I had found online. I needed a cheap/simple stout recipe, as funds are a bit low. This is the first time I've branched out, writing my own recipe - so to speak. I figured I'd throw the recipe up here to see what you all have to say. Please, bring on the criticism!! Here goes:


6lbs Breiss Dark LME
1lb Pale chocolate malt
1lb Medium Crystal malt
1lb Muntons Light DME
6C brewed coffee

1oz cascade hops
safale-05

Heat water to 160 & steep grains for 40 min
Bring to a boil
Remove from heat, then add both extracts & coffee
Start timer for 60 min.
Boil hops for last 40 min
Cool to 80, then pitch yeast


I'm questioning the choice of hops, but there isn't much I can do now.
I plan on brewing this again someday, though.
Thanks in advance!

I'd worry that adding the brewed coffee to the boil will boil off a lot of the coffee flavors and aromas you're seeking. If you're going to use brewed coffee, I'd consider adding it to the secondary, or at bottling/kegging time. I'm also not sure I'd use Cascade hops for this beer. I don't think the citrus flavor of Cascade and coffee flavors will go well together.

Also, be careful boiling unhopped wort for 20 minutes, that is a boil over waiting to happen if your pot isn't large enough.

In order to have a stout, you'd need some roasted barley or some black barley. You've got a "very dark brown ale" there.

I'm not sure I'd like the flavor of boiled coffee, so I'd add that to the wort after boiling is over.

I'd boil the hops for 60 minutes, not 40, to get enough bitterness out of them.