American Porter Bourbon Barrel Coffee Porter

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Suthrncomfrt1884

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Messages
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Location
Rockford
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)
Batch Size (Gallons): 4
Boil Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.069
Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 33.9
Boiling Time (Minutes): 120
Color: 23.81 SRM

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU

9.60 lb Brewers Malt 2-Row (1.18 SRM) Grain 84.2 %
0.60 lb American Caramel 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.3 %
0.60 lb British Dark Crystal (166.5 SRM) Grain 5.3 %
0.30 lb American Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.6 %
0.30 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 2.6 %
1.00 oz Cluster [8.50%] (60 min) Hops
0.35 oz Northern Brewer [7.90%] (2 min) Hops
0.35 oz Chinook [11.4%] (2 min) Hops
1.00 teaspoon Irish Moss (15 min) Misc
4.00 oz Cameron's Toasted Southern Pecan coffee beans (Secondary)
4.00 oz Oak chips soaked in Maker's Mark bourbon
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale


Mash at 152 degrees for 1 hour. 1.4qt/lb. Collect about 5 gallons and boil for two hours total.

On brew day, I started soaking 4oz. of Oak chips in 12oz. of Maker's Mark whiskey. After 10 days in primary @68, I removed oak chips from the whiskey, dried them, and racked on top of them into secondary. Also added 4 oz. of fresh crushed coffee beans. Secondary for 1 week @62 degrees.
 
It turned out to be a great brew. Not quite what I was going for. I wanted a bit more oak and bourbon flavors, but it's mostly coffee. I plan on trying it again (the base recipe was wonderful) but next time I will pour the whiskey in after soaking the chips instead of discarding the whiskey.
 
This beer has made a complete 180. The last time I tried this (2 months ago) it was good, but it wasn't superb. Now I intend on entering the few bottles I have left into a competition to see how they do.

I now have a new house porter for my recipe book. After allowing this to age for about 4 months, most of the coffee flavor has mellowed into what I like to call "perfect bliss". The oak flavor now shines through with just a hint of whiskey up front. Everything is extremely mellowed out and has turned out exactly as planned.

VERY good beer.
 
What is recomended to sanitizing the coffee beans prior to adding to the secondary? I figure I don't know where this coffee has been prior to the store container and I don't want to risk contaminating my brew during fermentation. Im guessing the bourbon does the sanitizing of the oak chips?
 
You could use the coffee in the boil if you're concerned about contamination. I just dumped mine into the secondary. I'm sure FDA regulations are fairly strict about companies packaging procedures, so I wasn't too worried about it.
 
You could use the coffee in the boil if you're concerned about contamination. I just dumped mine into the secondary. I'm sure FDA regulations are fairly strict about companies packaging procedures, so I wasn't too worried about it.

I imagine adding coffee to the boil would create some undesirable bitterness.
Once I read an article that said that the flavors in coffee that taste good are released at just below boiling, like 211.9 degrees. It further pointed out that the bitterness of the coffee bean was released at boiling temps and above. Since then I've been using a coffee press and my coffee is never bitter.
Something to think about.
 
I imagine adding coffee to the boil would create some undesirable bitterness.
Once I read an article that said that the flavors in coffee that taste good are released at just below boiling, like 211.9 degrees. It further pointed out that the bitterness of the coffee bean was released at boiling temps and above. Since then I've been using a coffee press and my coffee is never bitter.
Something to think about.

I don't brew a whole lot with coffee, but I did a breakfast stout recently that I added coffee to. I added 1.75oz of fresh ground beans to the boil and it worked out great. Yes, you will get some bitterness from the coffee if you boil it, but this is why I usually add it at flameout. At this point, the wort is still hot enough to sterilize it, but probably a bit below 212. Maybe that's why I didn't notice the bitterness you speak of.
 
I have seen some threads saying to cold brew in the refridgerator over night and add to secondary or at bottle time. Im thinking cold brew to secondary or beans at flameout is what I will go with. This will be my first brew so I will start with a kit and add the coffee and bourbon soaked chips to that to lessen the chances of me screwing it up.
 
Cold steeping would still leave you with an issue of unsanitized beans. The point of cold steeping the coffee (in my understanding) is to remove any bitterness like what was discussed above. You'd boil the water, but you wouldn't actually let the coffee hit the water until it was cooled. Then you let the grains soak in cold water overnight and strain when you're ready to use.
 
I don't brew a whole lot with coffee, but I did a breakfast stout recently that I added coffee to. I added 1.75oz of fresh ground beans to the boil and it worked out great. Yes, you will get some bitterness from the coffee if you boil it, but this is why I usually add it at flameout. At this point, the wort is still hot enough to sterilize it, but probably a bit below 212. Maybe that's why I didn't notice the bitterness you speak of.

Adding at flame out sounds like a good way to do it.
I was going to try brewing some espresso or at least really strong coffee and do a secondary for a few weeks.
 
Adding at flame out sounds like a good way to do it.
I was going to try brewing some espresso or at least really strong coffee and do a secondary for a few weeks.

I'd be using espresso if I had an espresso machine. I don't drink coffee though, so I can't see it being a good investment at $600 for a low priced quality one.
 
Why not just pour the bourbon over the chips and coffee together, let them marinate and hold hands, then just dump the whole business into secondary and be done with it? Simplify, people!
 
I brewed a 3 gallon batch of this in May with a few alterations:
I upped the OG to 1.101, keeping the proportions of grain the same.
I changed the hops to cascade, and hopped 1oz @ -20min, 2oz @-10min and 2oz at flameout. I only used Cascade because that's what I had on hand.
I used Safbrew t-58 for the yeast, because that's what I had on hand.
I used 3oz of oak cubes soaked in about 1oz of Woodford Reserve for a week. I didn't drain the cubes and dumped the whole thing in secondary. I left it in secondary for 2 months then bottled.

It's been about 4 months from start to finish, and it tastes amazing. It's 10%ABV but incredibly smooth.

The base recipe is awesome. I'll definitely try it again, maybe with just coffee next time.
 
I brewed a 3 gallon batch of this in May with a few alterations:
I upped the OG to 1.101, keeping the proportions of grain the same.
I changed the hops to cascade, and hopped 1oz @ -20min, 2oz @-10min and 2oz at flameout. I only used Cascade because that's what I had on hand.
I used Safbrew t-58 for the yeast, because that's what I had on hand.
I used 3oz of oak cubes soaked in about 1oz of Woodford Reserve for a week. I didn't drain the cubes and dumped the whole thing in secondary. I left it in secondary for 2 months then bottled.

It's been about 4 months from start to finish, and it tastes amazing. It's 10%ABV but incredibly smooth.

The base recipe is awesome. I'll definitely try it again, maybe with just coffee next time.

Try letting it sit around for a year or more and then taste it. I have a few bottles left from an old batch and it's gotten much better with time.
 
I'm brewing this up tomorrow. When I've brewed other beers with coffee before I steeped a muslin bag of grounds at flame out. I think this time I'll try cold brewing (with french press) up 4 oz of grounds in about a quart of water a night before and dump the cold brewed coffee in at flame out. I'm not really concerned about non-sanitized coffee, but I am interested in how the cold brew will effect the taste over steeping at flame out.
 
I'm interested in making a coffee recipe. When adding any addition to the secondary, there isn't as much of a need for sanitation due to the fact that the alcohol production has already occurred. Thus, since there is less activity in the secondary it allows for unsanitized additions: chocolate, vanilla beans, fruits, etc.

Your thoughts?
 
That has also been my thoughts on secondary additions. Anyways, If you brew this one I wouldn't dump the bourbon that the chips/cubes have been soaking in into the secondary (unless you use very little like Nateo). I soaked the chips in 10-12 oz of bourbon and dumped most of that into the secondary. The result was a way over-oaked flavor. The beer kind of tastes like tree bark right now. I've still got some aging... hoping that the oak flavor will eventually smooth out.
 
If you use some flavors like peach or vanilla, the flavor you have added does not stay very long in the beer... as the beer ages, the flavor starts to mellow to the point of almost disappearing. How does the oak or coffee flavor hold up?
 
That has also been my thoughts on secondary additions. Anyways, If you brew this one I wouldn't dump the bourbon that the chips/cubes have been soaking in into the secondary (unless you use very little like Nateo). I soaked the chips in 10-12 oz of bourbon and dumped most of that into the secondary. The result was a way over-oaked flavor. The beer kind of tastes like tree bark right now. I've still got some aging... hoping that the oak flavor will eventually smooth out.

That's why I always suggest drying the chips, or at least dumping the bourbon back into the bottle and reusing it later. Commercial brewers wouldn't put beer in a barrel that's still half full of whiskey...so why should we do it? As for the aging...the bourbon won't fade much.

If you use some flavors like peach or vanilla, the flavor you have added does not stay very long in the beer... as the beer ages, the flavor starts to mellow to the point of almost disappearing. How does the oak or coffee flavor hold up?

Oak tends to mellow a little bit, but it depends on how long you leave the chips in the beer. With this recipe, I didn't leave them long, but I've since experimented a lot with oak. The longer you let it sit, the stronger it will get...but it does hit a peak and start to fade again. I found that with 4oz of chips, if I leave them in the beer for 3 months and then bottle, the beer tastes incredible after about 4 months in the bottle and doesn't fade much.

Coffee will fade a little bit too, but not enough to where you'd miss it.
 
Just ran across this thread .... in case anyone is still listening: I've had great success with my annual holiday ale in the following regard: During the mash/boil, I steep some ginger root and whole spices in hot, but not boiling water. Then I strain out the spices and dump the "tea" into the wort at flameout. I would think that might be a good thing to do with coffee beans, no?
 
Spring of 2019 I made a one gallon batch of 6-7% coffee stout using vanilla/caramel flavored coffee beans. I took 2 oz of beans and put them in a new plastic baggie and tapped them with a hammer, just gently enough to break them into large chucks without pulverizing them. I placed them into a sanitized hop sack and tossed them into the boil kettle after flame-out (at around 170°), for a 15 minute whirlpool/steep. Then cooled to pitching temperatures. I fermented 3 weeks and then bottled, no secondary. I recently drank my last bottle at nearly a year from brew day and it was still really good, maybe the best of the entire batch. Nice flavor from the beans which held up really well, but I'm thinking it was more what the beans were flavored with, than the beans themselves. Long story to get to a short answer - you can try steeping them post-boil. It worked great in my case.
 
What is recomended to sanitizing the coffee beans prior to adding to the secondary? I figure I don't know where this coffee has been prior to the store container and I don't want to risk contaminating my brew during fermentation. Im guessing the bourbon does the sanitizing of the oak chips?
You could use the coffee in the boil if you're concerned about contamination. I just dumped mine into the secondary. I'm sure FDA regulations are fairly strict about companies packaging procedures, so I wasn't too worried about it.
I imagine adding coffee to the boil would create some undesirable bitterness.
Once I read an article that said that the flavors in coffee that taste good are released at just below boiling, like 211.9 degrees. It further pointed out that the bitterness of the coffee bean was released at boiling temps and above. Since then I've been using a coffee press and my coffee is never bitter.
Something to think about.
Cold steeping would still leave you with an issue of unsanitized beans. The point of cold steeping the coffee (in my understanding) is to remove any bitterness like what was discussed above. You'd boil the water, but you wouldn't actually let the coffee hit the water until it was cooled. Then you let the grains soak in cold water overnight and strain when you're ready to use.

FYI: Coffee beans are roasted at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees C), give or take 20 degrees F (11 degrees C). I would expect they would be fairly sanitary in the bag. If you have a home coffee roaster, depending on the design, it may be possible to add the beans directly from the roaster while still hot (no cooling cycle).

I wonder what the beer would taste like if you used green (unroasted) coffee beans....
 
Hi,
I'm going to brew this recipe but I can't find cluster hop. How can I replace it?
Thanks
 
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