Rainy Brew Day

I normally brew outdoors, but it's getting to be that time of year, where I like to move indoors and brew smaller test batches. It was cold and rainy today so I figured, why not try my first BIAB. I'm brewing what I call a "Breakfast Brown Ale," basically a brown ale with coffee additions. Hope it turns out.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 2.75 gal
Boil Size: 4.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 21.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 74.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item
4.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (60 min)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (10 min)
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (10 min)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (0 min) -
2.00 oz Coffee - Indian Monsooned Malabar (Flameout)
1 Pkgs Safale S-04



What a crappy day!






Indian Monsooned Malabar coffee, freshly ground this morning. I'm not adding it all to the beer, I want some to drink too, hehe






Nailed my target temp of 153*°F.

Only lost 3°F over an hour. Not bad, I wasn't sure what to expect using only a blanket for insulation.


Weighing out my hops


First addition.




A little inspiration...one of the best coffee beers out there!


Pre-boil: 1.044 (1.042 + 2 since temp was at 80°)




Adding 2ox. of coffee at flameout. I may add more at bottling, depending on the flavor.

OG: 1.051 (1.050 + 1 since the temp was about 75°)


Dumping in the rehydrated yeast.


Set it and forget it...although I will watch it closely in case I need to rig up a blowoff.

Very cool:rockin:! I have been thinking about doing a biab. I think you are going to need a blow off.

Yeah... you're going to need a blow off! That's really impressive that you only lost 3 degrees in an hour, out of a regular pot. Great brew day!

Great pictures of you brewday. Thanks!

BTW, I love rainy days. It's the earthy smell, especially after, that I like.

Well, I think I might be OK without a blowoff, I would say it's in it's most active stage of fermentation at this point. Been keeping the temps around 60-65°F. It's got a nice krausen and the airlock is not so much bubbling as it is continuously releasing a steady stream of gas.

Deuce said:

Yeah... you're going to need a blow off! That's really impressive that you only lost 3 degrees in an hour, out of a regular pot. Great brew day!

Click to expand...

Hehe, no doubt, I get more heat loss with my Igloo cooler.

Well, it's been two weeks, and she's down to ~1.017 for 66% apparent attenuation. Does that sound about right for the safale S-04? Never used it before, although I have used WLP002 and usually end up around there 65-70% AA.

Here's the finished product! Turned out pretty tasty, coffee is more evident in the nose, the flavor is typical brown ale flavors: malty, nutty with some toastyness, slight chocolate and brown sugar notes, with some roasted coffee character towards the finish, which certainly helps tame the overall sweetness. Definitely something I'll consider scaling up to a full-sized batch some day, with the addition of adding cold-brewed coffee at bottling.