Porter

[arog3000]

I am making a porter and would like to use the following ingredients. Coffee, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and maple extract. The vanilla extract and maple extract I was planning on putting into the secondary(small amount). What kind of coffee should I use(whole bean, ground, etc) and when should I add it? Same thing with the cinnamon? Cheers!!

 

[Double_D]

I'd use maple syrup that way you'll get some fermentables from it too. I'd put vanilla beans in the secondary but you could use the extract there too. Cinnamon (imo) should go in at the end of the boil. I'd suggest lightly crushed coffee to be added to the secondary but you could do some cold process coffee is you wanted to and add that to the secondary too.

 

[BrewDoc22]

I am making a porter and would like to use the following ingredients. Coffee, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and maple extract. The vanilla extract and maple extract I was planning on putting into the secondary(small amount). What kind of coffee should I use(whole bean, ground, etc) and when should I add it? Same thing with the cinnamon? Cheers!!

Wow, sounds like it will be quite a complex porter! I think you're on the right track with adding the vanilla and maple to the secondary as those are fairly delicate flavors that can be dampened by boiling or going through a vigorous primary fermentation.

I would say add the coffee to the secondary as well. I made a breakfast stout last year and put about 6 oz. of cracked (NOT ground) coffee beans directly into the secondary 4 days before bottling. This was a stout, so definitely a stronger flavor profile than a porter, but even then I found that that much coffee completely overtook the beer and I couldn't taste much else (bummer because I had also added 2 vanilla beans soaked in bourbon 2 weeks earlier). I would say for a porter, to add 3-4 oz. cracked beans to the secondary 4 days before bottling. I know it sounds like a small amount, but you don't want to risk covering up all those other delicious flavors!

As for the cinnamon, you can consider a few different things:
1. add desired amount of ground cinnamon during final 5 min. or so of the boil (or at flameout).
2. Add ground or whole cinnamon sticks to the secondary (maybe start with 1/2 or 1 whole stick and do a taste test after a couple days to see if you need to add more).
3. If you are concerned about sanitation in the secondary, soak the cinnamon in a small amount of vodka for a week or so to create a "cinnamon extract" that will also be sterile. You could probably add this right at bottling time and just blend until you get the desired cinnamon flavor.

Cheers!

 

[arog3000]

Thank you!!!