Session Chocolate Coffee Stout

[cwpav]

Today is brew day for light bodied chocolate coffee stout. I'd like it to really pack a coffee punch. I'm currently heating strike water! The following is the brew info:

7 lb Maris Otter Pale Malt
1 lb Roasted Barley
3/4 lb English Brown Malt
3/4 lb English Pale Chocolate Malt

Strike Water Volume: 4.4 Gal
Mash Temp: 152 F
Sparge Water Temp: 175 F
Total Boil Volume: 7.25 Gal

0.5 oz Nugget @ 60 min
0.5 oz Chinook @ 45 min
0.4 oz Cascade @ 30 min

US-05 Yeast

Water Chemistry:
100 ppm Ca
18 ppm Mg
20 ppm Na
45 ppm Cl
105 ppm SO4
***I actually don't currently have access to RO water, so I'm using 3 Gal filtered (Brita) tap water and 1.5 Gal bottled spring water for mash and another 3 Gal filtered tap water for boil. I do not have any data for my filtered tap water or the bottled water. Not ideal, but it's what we've got!

Ferment @ 168 F

6oz Whole Coffee Beans*** @ 5 days prior to keg
***these are coffee beans a family member gave me from their trip to Rwanda, is there a sterilization process that can be done with whole beans that won't remove flavor?

42 F Cold Crash @ 3 days prior to keg

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/523439/session-chocolate-coffee-stout

Any comments/recommendations would be appreciated!

Cheers

 

[NorthwestBrewman2013]

I have a Chocolate Coffee Porter that I brew each winter. I think you'll have a tough time getting the coffee flavor you want by just putting the whole beans in the fermenter. I did a 10gallon batch in which 6oz of ground coffee beans were placed in the boil for the last 15 minutes. This led to a wonderful coffee aftertaste and slight aroma. Not overwhelming but certainly there. Plus, you don't have to worry about sanitization. Just my two cents.

 

[cwpav]

I appreciate the input! I was planning to do ground coffee at a 180 F whirlpool, but I unfortunately do not have access to a coffee grinder (or blender, etc.). I have 1 lb of this coffee so I thought I'd do a series of this beer with the same coffee but with 3 different addition points. 1) in secondary @ 5 days prior to keg 2) ground coffee in whirlpool @ 180 F and 3) ground coffee in the boil

 

[NorthwestBrewman2013]

Helpful tip. Put the beans in a gallon ziplock, take all the air out of the bag, and hit it with a rolling pin or mallet. That'll break up the beans a little and give them more potency in your boil.

 

[cwpav]

Not a bad idea. I'll have access to a grinder for the next brew!

10 min into the boil currently. Great aroma. Hit roughly all my numbers. Only ended up with 6.5 Gal for the boil but I think I'll be okay.

 

[triethylborane]

I have a Chocolate Coffee Porter that I brew each winter. I think you'll have a tough time getting the coffee flavor you want by just putting the whole beans in the fermenter. I did a 10gallon batch in which 6oz of ground coffee beans were placed in the boil for the last 15 minutes. This led to a wonderful coffee aftertaste and slight aroma. Not overwhelming but certainly there. Plus, you don't have to worry about sanitization. Just my two cents.

Id love to see your recipe, if possible :fro:

 

[Lefou]

Curious to know what brand, roast, and grind was used. Ingredients matter.

I've been chasing and narrowing down chocolate as an adjunct ingredient. Like coffee, there are different choices to be made and knowing which one might be the best choice for a certain style application would be really informative.

 

[unviewtiful]

I've had plenty of success adding whole beans into the fermenter. In my opinion, that's the easiest way and you don't get any of the harshness from boiling the coffee. At a rate of 4-6 oz of whole beans in a stout for up to a week. Tons of aroma and flavor that sticks around in the beer for quite a while. I typically don't sanitize the beans at all, just drop them in dry like you would with hops.

 

[NorthwestBrewman2013]

Chocolate Coffee Porter - 10 gallons

Mash at 152 for 60 (I used a Temperature Mash)

15LBS - 2-Row
1.25LBS - Chocolate Malt
1.25LBS - Dark Chocolate Malt
1LBS - Crystal 60L
1LBS - Flaked Rye
1LBS - Rye Malt
0.38LBS - Black Barley

1oz Chinook at FWH
5oz Ground Espresso (I used a local bean) at 10
0.9oz Amarillo at 10
0.8oz Willamette at 5
0.5oz Amarillo/0.25 Chinook at Flameout

Yeast - Safeale-05 2 packets

OG was 1050
FG was 1010

 

[NorthwestBrewman2013]

Curious to know what brand, roast, and grind was used. Ingredients matter.

I've been chasing and narrowing down chocolate as an adjunct ingredient. Like coffee, there are different choices to be made and knowing which one might be the best choice for a certain style application would be really informative.

I used a local coffee from a well regarded roaster in town. I didn't feel like my recipe needed any adjuncts at all (coffee included). But, the coffee did add a wonderful aroma and slight bitterness that worked well with the malts in the grist. I may, once I get to brew again, add some vanilla bean soaked in bourbon to one of the fermenters to see how that does.

 

[cwpav]

I've had plenty of success adding whole beans into the fermenter. In my opinion, that's the easiest way and you don't get any of the harshness from boiling the coffee. At a rate of 4-6 oz of whole beans in a stout for up to a week. Tons of aroma and flavor that sticks around in the beer for quite a while. I typically don't sanitize the beans at all, just drop them in dry like you would with hops.

Thanks! I did a ton of reading on coffee addition timing and that's the conclusion most threads seemed to come to as well for the flavor profile I'm aiming for. This is the one specifically that I got my main coffee addition ideas from, there's a good summary at the bottom of the OP:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=496504

 

[C-Rider]

I've always added 4 oz/gal of cold brewed coffee to the bottling bucket. Came to that figure thru trial and error.

 

[Oldskewl]

I've always added 4 oz/gal of cold brewed coffee to the bottling bucket. Came to that figure thru trial and error.

How many oz of beans goes into that 4 oz/gal of cold brew?

 

[C-Rider]

How many oz of beans goes into that 4 oz/gal of cold brew?

No idea...I use ground coffee...12 oz of 10% Kona Coffee and 7 cups of water in a cold brew kit.

 

[cwpav]

Update! It has been brewed and it was exactly what I was looking for. It's a light, easy drinking stout that packs a huge punch of coffee. A little bit of chocolate, a tiny bit of roasted malt, very light sweetness. And then strong coffee! Not too acidic or bitter, very smooth coffee flavor.

Here's the schedule I followed:

I'm still going to try some future variations just to test out how changing the coffee addition affects the final product, but I'm really happy with the whole bean coffee addition in secondary.

Cheers!