Fake Porter Recipe...in the works

[torilen]

Okay, so I make coffee wine. Usually, they come out pretty tasty.
I made a "christmas" coffee wine, using a Christmas blend coffee,
some honey and molasses. It did not come out all that great. I'll
drink it just because I don't want to waste it...it is not THAT bad.

Anyhow, I'm sitting here drinking a bit of it, and it just occurred to me...
this almost tastes like a dark porter. I think with a slight adjustment
on the sugars, add in some hops, and maybe brew it with just a little
adjunct grains...a chocolate or Crystal 60 or something sweet like
that...this would taste very much like a porter, except with a higher
ABV (should be around 9% or 10%), and much easier to make.

I'll keep you posted as I get to work on this...might be a while, so
if you're interested, comment here or bookmark or whatever, so you
can be notified when I post again.

Cheers

 

[z-bob]

(Replying mainly to subscribe to the thread 'cuz it sounds interesting) How is that easier than just brewing an all-grain 9% porter?

 

[torilen]

I've never brewed an all grain beer before...all I've ever done is extracts with adjunct grains.
Brewing a coffee wine is dead simple, though. You brew the coffee with enough sugar to get
to the ABV you want, strain it, let it cool, and add yeast. Granted, using hops and any possible
grain with it will increase the complexity some, but you don't necessarily have to worry about
any actual brewing times or temperatures or anything like that. You just brew and go.

 

[Omahawk]

I've never brewed an all grain beer before...all I've ever done is extracts with adjunct grains.
Brewing a coffee wine is dead simple, though. You brew the coffee with enough sugar to get
to the ABV you want, strain it, let it cool, and add yeast. Granted, using hops and any possible
grain with it will increase the complexity some, but you don't necessarily have to worry about
any actual brewing times or temperatures or anything like that. You just brew and go.

Curious if you typically use cold brew or hot brewed coffee? Never made coffee wine, but as a coffee drinker I know cold brew is much smoother and less harsh. I’m assuming in this recipe, it would be like the difference between using black roasted malt and dark chocolate malt. I suppose it would affect the relative roasty /tannic mouthfeel of your “Porter”.

 

[torilen]

Omahawk - I've not used cold brew for coffee wine. I do imagine it would be much smoother,
but it would take a whole lot of coffee to make enough for a batch of wine...way too much
for me to invest into it. You figure, to make good coffee it takes 2 full tablespoons of
coffee per one measured cup of water. To make cold brew, I believe it takes at least
double the amount of coffee, if not triple.

the other problem would be sterilization. Brewing coffee as usual, I get it up to a boil and
kill off anything that might infect the brew. I strain it before it cools off too much, and I
still sterilize whatever I use to strain the coffee out. Brewing cold brew would leave way
too much open for getting bacteria in, unless after brewing it you THEN boiled the already
brewed coffee, but I don't know if that would then ruin the whole reason for making cold
brew coffee.

 

[Omahawk]

Omahawk - I've not used cold brew for coffee wine. I do imagine it would be much smoother,
but it would take a whole lot of coffee to make enough for a batch of wine...way too much
for me to invest into it. You figure, to make good coffee it takes 2 full tablespoons of
coffee per one measured cup of water. To make cold brew, I believe it takes at least
double the amount of coffee, if not triple.

Good point. I use about 2 cups of ground beans per 8 ounces of water. It kicks butt in flavor, but making 5 gallons of it wouldn’t be cheap.

Sounds like fun. I might make myself a small batch some time just to try it. if I do, I’ll make it cold press (sterilization be damned!) and report back.