oatmeal stout (looking to add chocolate and coffee)

I planned on brewing a basic oatmeal stout today. Here's my recipe...

- 9.4 lbs British Pale
- 1.0 lbs flaked oats
- 0.75 lbs Chocolate malt
- 0.75 lbs Victory
- 0.5 lbs Crystal 80
- 0.5 lbs Black Roasted Barley

- 1.8 oz. EKG

I'd like to add some chocolate and coffee. Any recommendations on numbers for the 2? Doesn't have to be Breakfast Stout amounts. Just something noticeable to make it a more complex drinking experience.

I never used coffee, but if you want to add chocolate (cocoa powder), I use 8oz of Hershey cocoa powder per 5 gallons dropped in the last 10 minutes of the boil. It's a very subtle addition done this way and in this amount.

I used two oz unsweetened bakers chocolate at the 15 min mark in my Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. It's currently conditioning so I can't really attest to the contribution but it did have quite an aroma at bottling time.

I know I used 10 ounces of unsweetened bakers chocolate in a porter a few years ago and all I tasted was chocolate. I also used the Hershey's cocoa powder in a porter years before that. Can't find my notes on that one but the powder one tasted better than the bakers bars.

Coffee addition is what I'm completely unfamiliar with. I'm not a huge coffee fan but love the contributions it makes to a beer as long as it isn't overkill

I bought some Sumatran coffee today. How much for a 5 gallon batch for it to be a noticeable but not dominant flavor?

I just used 2 tablespoons of special dark chocolate cocoa powder in the mash (5G) I thought it helped add a nice richness to the beer, my neighbor tried it and said he could really taste it, but I did tell him I added right before he tried a sample. If you like a chocolate bitterness go with the bakers chocolate in the boil
I didnt put the cocoa powder in the boil because ive had a few commercial examples i felt tasted a little chalky. Which i didnt really care for.

As for coffee, (I havnt made one yet) but when I do im going to cold extract the coffee in the fridge and add during secondary or when kegging

I bought a box of Unsweetened Bakers Chocolate. I'll throw in 2 oz at the end of the boil. With the Sumatra coffee, it's already ground up. Do I just put it in a filter in some water overnight and toss it in the boil the next day? Or add to the primary when I pitch my yeast? Or do a secondary and add it then?

I plan on just using some purified water probably a 20oz bottle. Espesso grind the coffee bean of choice and amount probably about 8 tablespoons. Then adding the 2 together in the fridge covered for probably at least 2 days then filter after i was done.
I used this process once years ago and it made some pretty good iced coffee drinks for me

A simple and effective way is to just steep the coffee for a few minutes after flameout in a hop bag. I would get down to 180-190, which is where you'd brew coffee. See the Mokah clone in My Recipes. Since you just want a subtle coffee flavor, I would use 0.5 oz. Using 1 oz would be very noticeable, and will require several weeks to mellow the coffee flavor. This doesn't sound like a lot, but trust me it takes very little to make a big impact.

SpeedYellow said:

A simple and effective way is to just steep the coffee for a few minutes after flameout in a hop bag. I would get down to 180-190, which is where you'd brew coffee. See the Mokah clone in My Recipes. Since you just want a subtle coffee flavor, I would use 0.5 oz. Using 1 oz would be very noticeable, and will require several weeks to mellow the coffee flavor. This doesn't sound like a lot, but trust me it takes very little to make a big impact.

Click to expand...

I appreciate the input. I think I may go this route. I just want just enough coffee so that it compliments the chocolate and creaminess of the oatmeal. I'm also planning on toasting the oats beforehand. I've got high hopes. Thanks everyone for the help.