Coffee Pot Brew

[gypsyhead]

Just a basic learning experience for anyone who wants to get to know the full effects of an under-converted mash:

I tried using a coffee maker to get a feel for the different flavors contributed by various grains and especially grain/hop combinations.

At first I thought I experimented with adding the grains (in a filter) to the normal coffee filter/grain holder and just brewing like a normal cup of coffee... and I definitely don't recommend it. Aside from the massive headaches (which I have no real medical explanation for, other than that it's probably not recommended to drink starch), I ended up with a very dry, very starchy, very cloudy wort, with little real noticeable flavor difference between types of grain (even between Pale and Crystal). If you want to experience an under-converted mash and learn to taste the difference, go for it.

I am now experimenting with allowing the heated liquor to linger on the grain bed for typical mash times (30-60 minutes) and get much better results. Definitely gives you a taste for what kind of flavor to expect from each type of grain, without having to brew a whole batch or chew a bunch of grain.

As far as hop flavoring goes... I used about 5 Cascade pellet hops and normal cold water the first time (with about 1/2 cup grain and for a 4 cup brew), and realized that the coffee pot makes coffee way hotter than is really necessary for a "hop tea." If you've ever thought, "Hey I should chew the hop pellets like grain to get the flavor," and quickly realized exactly where the bitter taste buds are located on your tongue and why nobody recommends this practice, you know exactly what it tastes like to drink a hop tea brewed way too hot. My suggestion, refrigerate the water prior to brewing the in the coffeemaker, it (seems to) create a much more mild hop flavor that actually allows you to experience more than just earth-shattering bitterness.

It's not a bad way to go to get used to ingredient flavors, but, trust me, there will be a lot of lessons learned along the way.

 

[day_trippr]

If you've ever thought, "Hey I should chew the hop pellets like grain to get the flavor," and quickly realized exactly where the bitter taste buds are located on your tongue and why nobody recommends this practice[...]

Word. I did that once and it messed me up big time. I went to University of Denver which is close enough to Golden that visits to the Coors factory tap room was nearly a weekly occurrence (they actually had some good brews there that for whatever reason they never commercialized, and they'd bring full pitchers to a foursome).

But they wouldn't let you make a bee-line to the beer - you had to take the tour first - and after the umpteenth cycle I got bored and pinched some bittering hops from a production bin and started chewing.

It took like a month to get the taste out of my head, and it totally screwed me up for beer. I switched to Crown Royal for nearly a decade before I finally started drinking beer again

Cheers!

 

[YourShoutMate]

I found using a coffee maker for mashing to be a useful kit to have. The hair-brained idea that lead to some discussions have already been addressed on this board, as well as in my preceding blog postings, but the process steps you mentioned I dealt with a few years back in my blog post, which has pics and more detail.

I've now got a 10-12 cup coffee maker and will be re-visiting this idea with a clearer head, but even stil after so many years, the original article, which got updated in 2010, still gets me steamed up for sooo many reasons. Sorry for the rant, hope you find the pics useful.

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Addendum [2012.11.01]
My 1.65L Electric Drip Filter Coffee Pot, Mashes about 800g of grain with approx. 1L of water. It take 3 hours to go from dough-in [30-40°C] to Mash Out [76-78°C] and results in full conversion. I currently have the test brew fermenting at 17-18°C and will let you know the final result, its a Blonde Ale btw. I'll write up the full report and method I uses, and why, on my blog.

Cheers.