Coffee porter with the girlfriend

[caseyh]

the girl friend wants to do a coffee porter and think it will be a extract. Don’t think she will be able to handle the time for all grain. Now the question is how do make it worth while. Have been searching for a good kit to buy any suggestions?

 

[davidabcd]

Brewer's Best has what you're looking for. I haven't tried this particular kit but every other one I've had has been better than expected.
http://www.brewersbestkits.com/assets/1027_coffeeporter_recipe.pdf

 

[RM-MN]

All grain doesn't have to take more time than extract. Finely milled grains and BIAB will get your conversion in the time it takes to get the color and flavor from the steeping grains with extract. The biggest hurdle then is the time it takes to heat up the full volume of the wort.

 

[Toxxyc]

I made a kit brew stout a while ago (Mangrove Jack's Irish Stout extract kit), which consisted of a Mangrove Jack's Irish Stout tin, Dry Irish Stout brew enhancer, a liquorice stick and Mangrove Jack's M42 yeast. I brewed as per instructions and added 2 cups of strong brewed coffee, 180ml of plain powder cacao and 300g of lactose to break the VERY dry stout 2 weeks after pitch. I know it's no porter, but it's got a strong coffee/espresso flavour to it and I love it. My profile picture is what came out. I have guys who says they'll buy from me, this stout specifically, but unfortunately I'm not legally allowed to sell (not in South Africa, anyway).

 

[davidabcd]

All grain doesn't have to take more time than extract. Finely milled grains and BIAB will get your conversion in the time it takes to get the color and flavor from the steeping grains with extract. The biggest hurdle then is the time it takes to heat up the full volume of the wort.

How long does it take to do a BIAB the way you described? I do extract so I don't know.
With me, steeping is about a 20-30 minutes and an hour boil (though others do shorter or much shorter boils).
Thanks.

 

[RM-MN]

How long does it take to do a BIAB the way you described? I do extract so I don't know.
With me, steeping is about a 20-30 minutes and an hour boil (though others do shorter or much shorter boils).
Thanks.

As long as the grains are milled very fine, I do a 30 minute mash and then follow that with a 30 minute boil. I've read that 90% of the bittering from the hops happens in the first 30 minutes and it seems to work that way and I usually overshoot my intended OG so I don't worry about boiling off the excess water. Right now I have a (supposedly) 2 1/2 gallon batch boiling where I started with over 4 gallons of wort and expect to put about 3 1/2 gallons into the fermenter. I did it in a 5 gallon pot. Don't try 4 gallons in a 5 gallon pot unless you have experience with how to keep it from boiling over.

 

[NGD]

@caseyh If you do an extract kit, I’d recommend shortening the boil to no more than a half hour. Subjectively I haven’t found much difference in my bittering hop additions. I’ve pretty much abandoned hour long boils with extract at this point. Just make sure you get it mixed well with flame off to avoid scorching and burnt flavors.

 

[davidabcd]

As long as the grains are milled very fine, I do a 30 minute mash and then follow that with a 30 minute boil. I've read that 90% of the bittering from the hops happens in the first 30 minutes and it seems to work that way and I usually overshoot my intended OG so I don't worry about boiling off the excess water. Right now I have a (supposedly) 2 1/2 gallon batch boiling where I started with over 4 gallons of wort and expect to put about 3 1/2 gallons into the fermenter. I did it in a 5 gallon pot. Don't try 4 gallons in a 5 gallon pot unless you have experience with how to keep it from boiling over.

Very nice. I can see how that would work now. Thank you.

 

[Toxxyc]

@caseyh If you do an extract kit, I’d recommend shortening the boil to no more than a half hour. Subjectively I haven’t found much difference in my bittering hop additions. I’ve pretty much abandoned hour long boils with extract at this point. Just make sure you get it mixed well with flame off to avoid scorching and burnt flavors.

I don't think you should boil extracts. It is already hopped, so you'll be messing with the hop profile.

 

[RM-MN]

I don't think you should boil extracts. It is already hopped, so you'll be messing with the hop profile.

Most of the extract available in the United States is not hopped. In that case, boiling to isomerize the hop oils is necessary. Before proceeding to boil, one should look carefully at the malt extract container to see if it is hopped or not.

 

[NGD]

I don't think you should boil extracts. It is already hopped, so you'll be messing with the hop profile.

I have yet to use a pre-hopped extract in any of my batches. As far as I know, pre-hopped extracts aren’t very common in the States as RM-MN stated.

Although should I ever use one then It would be only as a late addition for the reason you stated.