First White Stout Attempt

[Andrew Hodgson]

I can’t really advise as it isn’t even a week from packaging. I like to think in a week or two the chocolate vanilla will balance out but who knows. I have seen people universally say that 8oz is going to give you very heavy coffee flavor for a long time.

 

[S-Met]

Don’t leave the beans in there for a week! 48 hours max. You run the risk of your beer tasting/smelling like green peppers with contact time that long.

Thank you for pointing this out. I hate the green pepper flavor in coffee beers and cabernet wine. Too long of coffee contact or under-ripe cabernet. Two things that are easily corrected.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Honestly after seeing how much coffee comes through with 4oz at 48 hours I can’t imagine what a whole week would have done. Beer saving advice for sure.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Chilled and tried another one of these. Head retention and carb are on point. Flavors still melding. I really enjoy it the coffee is mellowing. I bet a couple weeks in cold storage will make these so tasty.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

I have been thinking about this beer and while I enjoy it and think it will get even better while aging in the coming weeks I think when I tackle this recipe again I will add some light munich malt to the grain-bill. Maybe I will start with .5 lb or go right to a full pound and see if it contributes grainy/roasty flavors. I think it will be another step closer to actually mimicking a stout without having the deep dark color. My critique of the beer right now is that there isn't that lingering malty/roasty flavor on your tongue after you drink it. The chocolate/coffee/vanilla notes are there but it does need a bit of malty backbone still.

 

[jready]

I just kegged mine last night. I added the coffee 18 hours before kegging. I cold crashed right before adding the coffee. Tried a flat sample and really liked it other than similar thought of the coffee being overpowering.

Can’t wait to see how this progresses. I modified the original post recipe some and way overshot OG. Came in at 1.09 and finished at 1.02.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

First weekend of having a couple in the fridge. I really enjoy this beer. I may make slight tweaks but at the right temperature it is exactly how I like a stout. First one I tried has almost a carbonic taste but I realized like a moron I was tasting it right out of the fridge. This needs to sit and warm up for 10-15 and is perfect. Definitely will use this to experiment with stout variants.

 

[AnOldOldWoodenShippy]

Did the "dry bean" addition last night. 1 cup of water, boil and cool and add 2oz sugar and 4oz coffee beans (house blend from a local spot). Wow I know the smell will fade but the coffee smell coming off the fermenter is awesome. Will add the cacao/vanilla tincture to the bottling bucket Saturday morning and we will see what we have.

I brewed something similar yesterday and was reading through to decide how to approach the coffee addition. Planning on dry beaning. Did you do anything to the beans before adding to avoid contamination?

Also, how is this beer with the lactose? I didn't add any during my brew and am wondering if it's worth adding during fermentation or at bottling.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

I did not treat the beans any way, just threw them in the FV. The lactose I find to be subtle but it does fill out the mouthfeel a bit.

 

[pvpeacock]

Reviving this thread to see if anyone has any additional tips before I brew a White coffee/vanilla Stout.
To avoid the coffee taking over, any thoughts on how much coffer to use for a 5 gallon batch or how best to introduce it and when? How much vodka to use in the tincture? Any thoughts suggestions would be greatly appreciated.