Bacon Stout. Please help.

[riverfrontbrewer]

Milehigh, what was so gross about it?

 

[MilehighBrew]

The Flavors did not go well together, I think it was a bacon stout, but I did have a lot of samples from the brews that I did like that day so my recall is a bit fuzzy sorry.

 

[Revvy]

Great thread! Did I miss somehting though? Has the beer been entered in the competition that it originally brewed for?

In reading the list of ingredients I think I would have killed two birds with one stone and gone with one of these,

A gummy mouse.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Unfortunately it was net ready in time for competition. However I am enjoying a glass right this moment.

The bacon flavor is there, but very much second fiddle to everything else going on. I only kegged yesterday and the CO2 has not dissolved as well as it will after a couple of weeks. But I at least have a good idea of what to expect.

Chocolate and coffee are the dominate flavors. Bacon smokiness is a bit in the nose and on the front of the palate. Then completely awash with big coffee and chocolate.

I will say that this is a solid very drinkable beer that will be consumed quickly once the cold weather hits. It's definitely more than just a novelty from having bacon in it.

I will say though that it's not such a far cry from the base recipe that it's something that couldn't be duplicated (at least closely enough) by just adding some smoked malt to the recipe.

Cheers!

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Also Revvy, would gummy mice leave gummy mice turds in my beer?

 

[Homebrewtastic]

So a week later more of this beer has been consumed. It's definitely best at warmer temperatures. Very thick but the sweetness is offset by the huge coffee notes. The bacon flavor is now much more pronounced. It's still definitely on the front of the palate and quickly replaced by other flavors, but very very nice. There's also a lot of complex alcohol flavors going on from the different fermentables in there, along with the bacon infused scotch. On the downside there is a certain mineral like taste from the molasses. I think that a solid month of aging and this beer will be perfect.

I'll say this is definitely more than a novelty and one damn fine brew.

 

[Boyd]

How much bacon did you end up using?

 

[Homebrewtastic]

I took 2.5 lbs of bacon, cooked it. Put all of the fat in a tupperware container and poured in 2 cups of scotch (Johnny Walker Black). I let it sit for 2 weeks, shook it up once or twice a day. I then refrigerated it for a day so that the fat congealed, and then slowly poured it through a coffee filter three times to get rid of all the fat.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Boyd, just saw that you have this on deck. I recommend cutting back the amount of chocolate and coffee I used. The flavors are a little competing. If you're going to do the molasses like I did make sure you do at least a 90 minute boil. Otherwise I would cut it down a shade.

Once again this beer is very good but I'm already thinking of ways it could be much better.

 

[Boyd]

I'm going to do it a little bit differently since I'm doing partial mash. Here's my recipe:

6lb - Northwestern Dark LME
1lb - Northwestern Dark DME
.5lb - Chocolate malt
.75lb - Crystal 200*
.25lb - Smoked malt
1 oz - Brewers Gold @ 40 min
1 oz - Kent Golding @ 0 min (end)
8 oz - Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (end of boil)
2.5 lbs - Bacon
2 c - Woodford Reserve Whiskey
WL English Ale Yeast

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Looks good but I would change those hops. BG has that very distinct black currant flavor that might clash. The horizon hops really work well for this recipe.

Also, no coffee?

 

[passedpawn]

Great experiment. Thanks for keeping this online log.

A few random comments here:

• I've made smoke beers with Breiss Cherry smoked malt and it is sweet bacon. Nothing like the woodsy smokey Beechwood that Weyermann uses. This alone might suffice for those that want to keep their meat out of their drink
• My local whole foods store has vegetarian bacon bits made from soy. They sure smell like the real thing. Unfortunately, they contain soybean oil, so you still have to deal with that. Anyway, might be an interesting experiment to avoid the meat.
• I have made a smoked porter before and the smoke was greatly diminished by the dark grains in the beer. So, if you are making a bacon beer with dark grains (porter, stout) consider using a heavy hand when adding your bacon or smoked grains (or whatever you use for the bacon flavor and aroma). I know that for smoked beers, in competition, the smoke disappears very quickly as the judge works through others, so I'd think heavier flavor would help if you are intending it to be judged.

 

[bolts]

Isn´t the point here, but won´t some smoked malt produce the bacon flavor to a beer?

Was going to suggest the same. I'm a fan of Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Maerzen -- makes me think of bacon. (Alder smoked beer makes me think of Salmon which I find nasty).

 

[Stuntman]

Great thread! Read the whole thing. Please post your post recipe, after turning down the chocolate, and coffee. Best part is when Revvy popped in, when that one's ear's perk up....it is definitely worth noting.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Here's the exact recipe.

7lbs. Maris Otter
2 lb. Flaked Oats
.5lb. 60L
.5lb. 75L
1/2lb. Chocolate Malt
1/2lb. Chocolate Rye
1 lb. Molasses (16oz by volume)

2 oz. Horizon Hops 12%AA - 60 minutes
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 20 minutes
2 cups Dunkin Donuts Coffee - (goes in the mash)
2 cups bacon extract - at bottliing/kegging


Dry Nottingham Ale Yeast

Next time I'm going to cut the coffee in half and the molasses.

 

[Stuntman]

1) 1 cup of coffee, and no molasses at all.


or


2) 1 cup of coffee, and 8 ozs. of molasses.

I thought that you said a lot of chocolate covering up the bacon, you cutting that one in half as well.

This is way out there, I have to do a five gallon batch. I'll brew a ten gallon brew, and put something else in the other fermenter (hashbrowns)

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Cut the coffee and molasses both in half.

Just an update. A couple more weeks of aging has helped this beer immensely. The bacon is becoming more assertive and the coffee and dark chocolate have both backed down.

I'm still kind of getting a bit of a minerality from the molasses, but I'm sure it's mellowing out considerably. I'm thinking of just leaving it alone for another 2 months before drinking anymore.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Holy crap balls. I just thought I would update all of you. I've had this sucker aging for a few months now and it is AWESOME AND A HALF! I literally haven't touched it since October and just left it in the keg. A few nights ago I decided to re-apply the CO2 to make sure it was properly carbed, and let it set for a few days. I'm drinking a glass now and it is awesome.

The bacon flavor is right up front followed by coffee and chocolate. The minerality from the molasses has all but vanished, and the little bit that's there is actually kind of nice.

The IBUs have knocked down considerably (as was to be expected) with the age on it. This is one tasty brew. I'm probably going to bottle it all up and lay it down until next winter.

 

[dpaul420]

Homebrewtastic, you mentioned you would have cut the coffee and chocolate, and molasses in half. Is that still true now that is it aged? Also, with the molasses, would you recommend using a dark natural maple syrup instead? Any ideas of how this would affect it? Thanks, this is quickly moving up to something I want to brew right away!

Dakota

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Even with age I would still cut the molasses down. The molasses made a mineral quality that dissipated over time, but is still somewhat there. It's not offensive at all, and is kind of a nice additional point to the beer... but I could still do with less.

I did add the maple syrup when I kegged, and as it has aged the maple syrup has shined through more as the other flavors dissipated. However I have a hard time discerning the bacon from the maple, as the two flavors are very much intertwined.

What I would suggest is leaving the grains all the same. Take the coffee out of the boil. Put the chocolate in (1/4 cup) the boil, and cut the molasses down to 1/2 lb.

Then add brewed coffee in after primary fermentation. It also wouldn't hurt to make a larger portion of the bacon extract, or let the extract set for longer than I did.

 

[YonderBrewCo]

I just bake the bacon, and I add it in the secondary about six days. 👍🏻

 

[KPBrews]

Tagging, because I definitely want to try this when I ultimately give All Grain (or BIAB) a try...