Coffee Malt Porter?

[pythonaut]

Does anyone have any significant experience with coffee malt? I've been thinking about recipe simplification recently, and it seems like I might be able to use this as the only specialty malt in a brown porter - something like:

10lb Golden Promise
2lb Coffee Malt

O.G. 1.056
F.G. 1.014
ABV: 5.5%
SRM: 25

The inspiration comes from a few places: firstly, I've succumbed to a few extremely complex malt bills lately (5-7 specialty malts), one a brown ale, one a winter ale. Both of them taste "brown" - no distinguishing characteristics. Secondly, I've heard of old porter recipes that were comprised of just a base malt and a large percentage of brown malt. The idea of creating a dark beer with a single specialty malt intrigues me.

Is this a crazy idea?

 

[Paps]

Is this a crazy idea?

It doesn't sound crazy to me.
Even if it did, part of the joy of homebrewing is trying new brews.
If it's not that great it's still beer and it could come out great.
IMHO simple is often better.
Good luck and tell us how it turns out.

 

[BarkingSpider]

They show a usage rate of up to 10% for coffee malt (Simpsons) so I'm not sure how that might turn out with 20%. There's only one way to find out!

My experience with Maris Otter has shown me that I do not like it as the only base grain in a bitter, but it may be perfect for a heartier beer like a Porter or Stout, and give that nice biscuit/toast thing as a foundation (to me, it just gives too much of that in a smaller beer). Use some Crystal 80 (5-10%) and Chocolate malt in the 350L area of about 5% should give you some layer and complexity without being just "brown" I would think.

 

[GlenF]

I'm going to try something similar but not nearly the percentage of coffee malt you suggest.

9lbs Pale Ale malt
.5lbs Crystal 120
.5lbs Coffee malt

 

[pythonaut]

So, I actually ended up brewing a 1-gallon test batch of this last week. The recipe was just divided down by 5, using S-04 as the yeast:

2 lb Golden Promise
6.4 oz Coffee Malt (Franco-Belges)

Fermentation is already done, and I couldn't help but grab a sip. It's actually pretty solid! Of course, I had had a few by the time I tasted it, so I don't have detailed tasting notes, but it did taste very strongly of coffee - as if I had added actual coffee to the brew. The coffee flavor wasn't as strong as commercial examples of coffee stouts / porters, though, but it was definitely there. Otherwise, it didn't have much dark roast character - it tasted more like brown malt plus coffee.

I'll make sure to update this once it's carbed in bottles.

 

[rhys333]

So, I actually ended up brewing a 1-gallon test batch of this last week. The recipe was just divided down by 5, using S-04 as the yeast:

2 lb Golden Promise
6.4 oz Coffee Malt (Franco-Belges)

Fermentation is already done, and I couldn't help but grab a sip. It's actually pretty solid! Of course, I had had a few by the time I tasted it, so I don't have detailed tasting notes, but it did taste very strongly of coffee - as if I had added actual coffee to the brew. The coffee flavor wasn't as strong as commercial examples of coffee stouts / porters, though, but it was definitely there. Otherwise, it didn't have much dark roast character - it tasted more like brown malt plus coffee.

I'll make sure to update this once it's carbed in bottles.

I'm fan of fewer ingredients too, and like you I've succumbed to more complex grain bills lately. I do like the complexity when it works well, but simple has a complexity all its own. I like how with fewer ingredients I can taste them playing off each other.

Let us know how your coffee malt porter turns out. I'm interested to know what you think of it without any crystal malt, etc. in there. Did you mash high or low btw?

 

[pythonaut]

I'm impressed! This actually turned out pretty great! The consensus between me, my wife, and my roommate is that I need to brew a full batch of this.

I asked everyone what it smelled like, I got the following reponses:
"Raisins", "Prunes", "Malty", "Coffee"

When asked about flavor, I got:
"It tastes like bittersweet chocolate and cold-brewed coffee" (wife)
"Some raisin flavor with dark chocolate and coffee" (roommate)
My take was that it definitely had a strong coffee flavor, with dark stone-fruit notes and a strong malty flavor, maybe like melanoiden malt? It was definitely a familar "malty" flavor. It didn't have any hints of roast or burnt flavor, however. It was also slightly sweet, as if I had put some amount of crystal or special B malt in it.

I think a larger batch is in order...

Rhyss, you asked about mash temperature - my notes have it at 152F. O.G. was 1.062, F.G. was 1.014.

Potato quality pic:

My next test batch - replacing Coffee malt with Crisp Pale Chocolate...

Edit: After drinking a few more of these, I'm still pretty impressed, but I wouldn't exactly call this a "porter". Simply, it doesn't have any dark roasty flavors that I would associate with a porter. I think I might try this as another 1-gallon test batch in an attempt to add a little roastiness: 3/4 Coffee Malt and 1/4 Chocolate malt.

 

[mobilecabinworks]

This makes me excited! I've always been a huge fan of coffee malt. This sounds like fun to try something like this.

 

[JKaranka]

Sounds fine for porter. Some of the weaker brown ones have very restrained toast flavours, instead being deeply malty with dark fruit and toast / dark malt flavours. When using just pale and brown malts you get more of those 'rich' flavours rather than sharp roast flavours.

 

[GlenF]

My porter turned out well, also. It has a deep, very dark brown color but it is not pure black. I don't get a lot of coffee or burnt notes at all. It is very dark toast, with considerable nuttiness. There is a light cocoa powder flavor. A friend described the aroma as "soy sauce" so there is that savory character. I will definitely use it again for a brown/ brown porter but may add more chocolate malt if I want a darker, more burnt robust porter or stout.

My coffee malt was Simpson's.

 

[rhys333]

I'm impressed! This actually turned out pretty great! The consensus between me, my wife, and my roommate is that I need to brew a full batch of this.

I asked everyone what it smelled like, I got the following reponses:
"Raisins", "Prunes", "Malty", "Coffee"

When asked about flavor, I got:
"It tastes like bittersweet chocolate and cold-brewed coffee" (wife)
"Some raisin flavor with dark chocolate and coffee" (roommate)
My take was that it definitely had a strong coffee flavor, with dark stone-fruit notes and a strong malty flavor, maybe like melanoiden malt? It was definitely a familar "malty" flavor. It didn't have any hints of roast or burnt flavor, however. It was also slightly sweet, as if I had put some amount of crystal or special B malt in it.

I think a larger batch is in order...

Rhyss, you asked about mash temperature - my notes have it at 152F. O.G. was 1.062, F.G. was 1.014.

Potato quality pic:

My next test batch - replacing Coffee malt with Crisp Pale Chocolate...

Edit: After drinking a few more of these, I'm still pretty impressed, but I wouldn't exactly call this a "porter". Simply, it doesn't have any dark roasty flavors that I would associate with a porter. I think I might try this as another 1-gallon test batch in an attempt to add a little roastiness: 3/4 Coffee Malt and 1/4 Chocolate malt.

Interesting. Thanks for the update. I'm surprised you get a noticeable sweetness without crystal at that mash temp. Could the temp have fluctuated upwards due smaller batch size maybe? If it worked well, I'd be tempted to go 2 or 3 gallons next time and either try for 154-6F temp.

 

[z-bob]

Is coffee malt the same as brown malt? (I think it is)

I made a porter using 8 pounds of pale ale malt and 2 pounds of brown malt, with just a little chocolate malt and sugar. It turned out black like ink.

 

[GlenF]

English coffee malt is listed at 150L. Crisp brown malt is listed at 60-70L. However, I've seen coffee malt listed as Coffee (Brown) malt. It looks like there might be different malts but that they have similar characteristics. These malts are darkly kilned/ toasted without becoming black so they have fewer, if any, burnt flavors. Instead, they have a rich, toasty quality.

 

[z-bob]

Maybe that's why my beer is so dark; I ordered brown malt at the LHBS, but I'm pretty sure the bags said Coffee (Brown) malt -- I think it was Simpson's but I don't remember.

I bought 2 more pounds from Farmhouse, and this came in a bulk bag. Not sure if it's lighter colored or if that's my imagination. I'm planning to use it by the half-pound in recipes. 2 pounds was too much for 4 gallons.