Coffee/Rye/Anise Stout Recipe

[polkbar]

Figured I should try something darker for the winter. I had a great Espresso Brown Ale at Cigar City in Tampa last week and decided I'd like to try a coffee beer. The Rye and Anise are flavors I like and I thought they might add something unique to the beer. The hops are chosen from what I have in bulk. Amarillo and Simcoe are also options if either of those might work better.

I've never done a stout and wanted to make sure I wasn't making any major mistakes. Any thoughts on the following are appreciated.

2.5 gallons (3.25 gallon starting boil volume)
SG 1.065
FG 1.015

Partial Mash:
2 lbs 2-row
1 lb. Malted Rye
4 oz Crystal 90
4 oz Chocolate Malt
4 oz Black Roasted Barley
4 oz Coffee Malt

Extract:
2 lbs Light DME

Hops:
90 min. .5 oz Magnum
10 min. .5 oz Styrian Goldings
10 min. 1/2 star Star Anise

Coffee:
3 oz. ground and steeped in carboy for 1 week (maybe coffee/chicory blend)

Yeast: 1 packet US-05

 

[CalebM]

Hey, how did the recipe turn out for you? I've never brewed a stout either and working up an espresso stout myself. I heard that adding the grinds directly to the carboy could make the coffee flavor too strong and bitter. I heard of a couple of other methods to adding the flavor. My brew store guy said to cold steep them overnight in half as much water and twice as many grains as a pot of coffee but I can't remember whether I was supposed to add them to the primary or secondary. I think he said this would "deacidify" the grinds getting mostly the flavor without the bitterness. Then I read of an asian coffee stout that brews the beans in the mash with rest of raw ingrediants to help the flavors meld better. Apparently, this helped the coffee flavor blend well with other malt flavors. Just a heads up. Let me know how it went for you. I think I'm going to brew mine next week.

 

[polkbar]

I ended up tweaking my plan a bit. Brewed 2.5 gallons of coffee/chicory stout and 2.5 gallons of rye stout.

I don't secondary many of my beers. I ended up adding 3 oz ground coffee/chicory blend in a nylon grain bag to my primary after the primary fermentation activity died down. I dropped it in ~48 hours before bottling. The bottles have been conditioning for about 2 weeks now and I haven't tried it yet, but i downed the sample i pulled to measure final gravity. It was awesome. Tasted like the right amount of coffee flavor and I didn't notice if it was overly bitter or astringent, but I'll update after another week of conditioning.

With regard to steeping coffee separately and adding liquid to the carboy, I know in the past I've read there's some reason not to brew your coffee with too much water - it's better to brew with the right amount and dilute with hot water after the coffee is brewed. I don't remember the science behind that advice and I don't know if the same theory applies to cold steeping coffee, but it's worth looking into. If it does apply to cold steeping, it may be better to steep in the fridge and add the result instead of steeping in the carboy, so you can control the ratio of water to coffee.

 

[sconnie]

If you guys are interested in a detailed explanation of the different ways to add coffee to beer, check out next months Zymurgy.

 

[CalebM]

Sweet, man. I cant wait to hear how it turns out. I'm sure if the coffee taste was just right initially it might taper off into a nice back note as it ages. I can't wait to brew mine this week, now.

So, you did some kind of double mash infusion or just stuck with two different beers? I think I might stay with your standard coffee stout for my first batch. I may color outside the lines a little and throw in a hint of vanilla bean or mint leaves. Really just want to get my base down first.

Thanks Sconnie. I sure wish it was this months issue. I'll check it out though for future brews.