Clone Beer Founder's Breakfast Stout Clone

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I bottled my batch on Saturday and since we were having a party I threw two bottles in the fridge to try. Being uncarbonated and with yeast still in suspension it wasn't the best received, kind of what I expected. One guy at the party is also a home brewer, he tends to stick with stuff 6% and under, but makes some good stuff. His feeling was it will be good once it carbonates, the yeast settles, and the flavors meld. My thoughts were coffee up front with muddled chocolate, dark grains, a little roast, and yeast. Me and the other home brewer felt the yeast flavor was definitely there and was likely the culprit for the strange flavors. Once you notice what yeast tastes like it's pretty identifiable.

Never thought about blending some port into a big stout. I have had a Belgian Strong Dark that was aged in Sherry barrels that was one of the best I've had. The brewery had the same BSD aged in oak and sherry, the sherry was by far my favorite and a nice step away from the tried and true oak and bourbon barrel aging.
 
How much of a difference will using 1 Oz of Nugget @ 60 min be compared to the .5 the recipe calls for ?

Don't want it too hoppy , but I need some bite!
 
I think I took some of the mixed info in here incorrectly and brewed my batch with about 60 IBUs. I was quite disappointed at the first sample's near IPA like bite, but it has faded with a little conditioning. I have yet to pop my first bottle (bottled a week ago), but I can tell the bitterness is not too bad. I would go for less on the next go, as I think the coffee adds to the bitterness, but I think you'd be ok up to about 45, which is where i'll shoot next batch probbaly. All of this is my opinion though, and I'm not sure how much "bite" you're looking for. Hope that helps!
 
So I am thinking of brewing this recipe this weekend, atleast the extract version.
I am hesitant because I feel like if ever the was a a batch that was a massive undertaking with the capacity for failure, this is it.

couple questions:
1-
recipe calls for:
2.5 oz. dark, bittersweet baker’s chocolate
1.5 oz. unsweetened chocolate baking nibs
however my LHBS only has Coco powder. .
Would the Coco powder be a good subsititue for the unsweetened chocolate baking nibs?
And then I would just use the dark bakers chocolate.
All the talk about fat and grease a few pages back has me concerned!

2-
should the Kona coffee be added for a 1 week secondary?
Or just prior to bottling?

3-
should the 2 oz Kona coffee be cold brewed? or can the grounds be added to secondary and the cold crashed for removal?
How much water should it be brewed with?
And does this mean I have to purchase a french press?

4-
would you recommend adding a vanilla bean considering this is my first time brewing this recipe?

5-
Am I just over thinking this brew and letting myself get overwhelmed for nothing?

Sent from I-Phone
 
Pyg said:
How much of a difference will using 1 Oz of Nugget @ 60 min be compared to the .5 the recipe calls for ?

Don't want it too hoppy , but I need some bite!
Click to expand...

I've brewed with .5 oz of Nugget at 60 and 1 oz of Nugget at 60 and I totally prefer using 1 oz. Not to mention, I also now use 1 oz hop additions at 30 and at flameout as opposed to the .5 oz hop additions the OP recipe calls for. Oh and I have switched my flavor additions to Willamette over Mt. Hood with favorable results as well! :mug:
 
Pyg said:
So I am thinking of brewing this recipe this weekend, atleast the extract version.
I am hesitant because I feel like if ever the was a a batch that was a massive undertaking with the capacity for failure, this is it.

couple questions:
1-
recipe calls for:
2.5 oz. dark, bittersweet baker’s chocolate
1.5 oz. unsweetened chocolate baking nibs
however my LHBS only has Coco powder. .
Would the Coco powder be a good subsititue for the unsweetened chocolate baking nibs?
And then I would just use the dark bakers chocolate.
All the talk about fat and grease a few pages back has me concerned!

Just go to the grocery store and look for the chocolate baking bars they sell in the baking aisle. I always get Ghirardelli Dark Bittersweet baking bars and Unsweetened baking bars. I've used Nestle baking bars as well with success.

2-
should the Kona coffee be added for a 1 week secondary?
Or just prior to bottling?

I've always added my second coffee addition at bottling. I rack the beer on top of the coffee.

3-
should the 2 oz Kona coffee be cold brewed? or can the grounds be added to secondary and the cold crashed for removal?
How much water should it be brewed with?
And does this mean I have to purchase a french press?

I cold brew my 2nd coffee addition. I just think adding the grinds straight to secondary could get messy when trying to rack the beer to the bottling bucket.

I brew with 1 liter of water for 2 oz of coarsely ground coffee

And I would recommend buying a french press. Not to mention, French presses make damn fine coffee as well!!! :mug:

4-
would you recommend adding a vanilla bean considering this is my first time brewing this recipe?

I don't add any vanilla, but that's just a personal preference for me as I'm not a big fan of vanilla in my stouts. I have heard of people doing it though so it wouldn't hurt anything if you did.

5-
Am I just over thinking this brew and letting myself get overwhelmed for nothing?

Probably. As the old saying goes... RDWHAHB :mug:
Sent from I-Phone
Click to expand...

Hope this helps!
 
MMJfan said:
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Yes, it was a great help, set me at ease.
now means I have buy yet another piece of equipment for brewing......

Last question:
Do you add the 1st coffee addition as course ground coffee or run through the press 1st?
 
Pyg said:
Yes, it was a great help, set me at ease.
now means I have buy yet another piece of equipment for brewing......

Last question:
Do you add the 1st coffee addition as course ground coffee or run through the press 1st?
Click to expand...

LOL. Coffee presses are relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things...

As for my first coffee addition, I coarsely grind the coffee and put it in a hop sock along with the chocolate. I add it all with 10 minutes left in the boil and then I remove the hop sock when I rack the wort to the fermenter.
 
I noticed the extract version uses debittered black malt and the all-grain uses Black Patent. is this a mistake? i am about to brew up the all-grain version and i picked up my black malt, but should i switch to the debittered instead?
 
Either will get you the same color. Debittered will just help the other flavors come through more. Personally, I'd use that.
 
splyn said:
I noticed the extract version uses debittered black malt and the all-grain uses Black Patent. is this a mistake? i am about to brew up the all-grain version and i picked up my black malt, but should i switch to the debittered instead?
Click to expand...

Depends on your flavor profile. I personally like dark, black coffee, so I used black patent to give it a little bit more bite.

Up to you really.
 
I'd do the black patent myself. From my experience the extract efficiency on specialty grain flavors and colors is way better than you get on a full mash in my experience.
 
MMJfan said:
LOL. Coffee presses are relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things...



As for my first coffee addition, I coarsely grind the coffee and put it in a hop sock along with the chocolate. I add it all with 10 minutes left in the boil and then I remove the hop sock when I rack the wort to the fermenter.
Click to expand...


I am thinking I may throw the grounds in a sack and toss & dunk in for the last few minutes of the boil.

I am torn between this method, brewing in my coffee maker or just buying the French press.
Since I intend to brew tonight I am running out of time to French press
 
Just brew the coffee in a small pot and strain it through a fine strainer, cheesecloth, or a coffee filter. No French press needed.
 
Pyg said:
I am thinking I may throw the grounds in a sack and toss & dunk in for the last few minutes of the boil.

I am torn between this method, brewing in my coffee maker or just buying the French press.
Since I intend to brew tonight I am running out of time to French press
Click to expand...


Some people get too much bitterness/astringency from adding the coffee this hot. It's all personal preference. I like to cool to about 180f and add the coarse beans then for a while before finishing cooling. I feel that it's a better coffee flavor. Next time I think I'm just doing a dry beaning to see what that's like.
 
brewski09 said:
Some people get too much bitterness/astringency from adding the coffee this hot. It's all personal preference. I like to cool to about 180f and add the coarse beans then for a while before finishing cooling. I feel that it's a better coffee flavor. Next time I think I'm just doing a dry beaning to see what that's like.
Click to expand...


I wanted to try beans, but SWMBO bought fine coffee grounds
 
Pyg said:
I wanted to try beans, but SWMBO bought fine coffee grounds
Click to expand...


It happens. What temp you add them at matters though. There's a whole elite coffee association that's even more extreme than most homebrewers with their rules if you care to look it up.
 
brewski09 said:
It happens. What temp you add them at matters though. There's a whole elite coffee association that's even more extreme than most homebrewers with their rules if you care to look it up.
Click to expand...


I did so much reading on all the methods of brewing coffee.
I was introduced to the world of "craft coffee".
There are people who travel with their French press.
But in order to do a "proper French press coffee" you need to have a scale, grinder, small kettle & timer.
I ended up brewing the coffee on stove top.
Added grounds to coffee after boil.
Filtered and added to bucket
 
This is true. There is also a group of fanatical beer folks who brew their own beer. They have all sorts of elaborate brewing apparatus they have to buy. Some even have mobile jockey boxes and miniature co2 draft dispense systems.

But seriously. I think is probably the easiest to brew the coffee separately and then pour the brewed coffee into boil kettle. After chilling has commenced, once its below 200.

If you prefer to cold brew, I would recommended the same process but consider upping bittering hops to compensate for less acid extraction from cold.brewing process. For second coffee addition, there are even more options.
 
brewski09 said:
It happens. What temp you add them at matters though. There's a whole elite coffee association that's even more extreme than most homebrewers with their rules if you care to look it up.
Click to expand...

I used whole beans after fermenting for 3 weeks. I used 4oz total, 2oz Sumatra and 2oz of Egyptian. I let the beans sit in the fermenter for 4 days and then bottled. The coffee flavor is great, but overpowers the base stout. The coffee isn't bitter really its a real smooth taste, like cold brewed coffee, really no acrid flavor.

Next time I will either reduce the amount of coffee beans or reduce the amount of time that they're in the fermenter.
 
bolus14 said:
I used whole beans after fermenting for 3 weeks. I used 4oz total, 2oz Sumatra and 2oz of Egyptian. I let the beans sit in the fermenter for 4 days and then bottled. The coffee flavor is great, but overpowers the base stout. The coffee isn't bitter really its a real smooth taste, like cold brewed coffee, really no acrid flavor.

Next time I will either reduce the amount of coffee beans or reduce the amount of time that they're in the fermenter.
Click to expand...

Is the beer still young? Let it mellow a bit and see where the coffee flavor ends up.

I have another idea for coffee flavoring. Why not "dry bean" in the keg and pull them once you get the desired flavor profile? Probably need whole beans or a very coarse grind to keep them in a mesh bag.

Just a thought.
 
Yea its young, only in the bottle for a couple weeks so far. I know it will mellow with a little aging so it may end up where I want it. I also have a pretty full pipeline so I have no need to rush into drinking them. I was just giving advise on the premise that many want the flavor to be where they want it when it's bottled or kegged, for that the coffee is strong in mine.

You're idea for dry beaning in the keg would likely work for those that keg, even with beans there's still some of the bean that breaks off and some other coffee "trub" will settle unless you bag them.
 
Bottling my first attempt at this today. I pretty much followed the original recipe, though my coffee additions were modified a bit after I read through some suggestions on this thread.

OG was 1.076, spent 2 weeks in the primary, after which I "dry-beaned" with 2 oz of whole bean Starbucks Sumatran. Secondary was another 2 weeks, and today I racked it onto a French press' amount of cold brew that I made from 2 oz of Giant Eagle's Kona blend. FG ended up being 1.018.

Tasted my gravity sample, and ignoring the flatness and booziness of it not yet being carbonated, the flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel are pretty damn close to actual FBS, based on a fresh 2015 bottle that I had on Friday night. Cannot wait for this to be ready to drink! I just might have to crack a bottle next weekend for my birthday.
 
48 hours into my BYO extract version and I am worried.

Fermenter looks like this:
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445935782.323622.jpg

I had a tough brew because the bag holding the specialty grains broke and some of them went into the wort. Not much though. When I transferred to carboy I had some problems because the tube from the auto syphon kept jetting clogged.

Could the grains that remained in the wort be sticking to the sides? I'm not yet concerned about the lack of fermentation. If it does not go in another day I will repitch.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
What kind of yeast did you use? Did you use a starter? Did you pitch enough?

If yes to these things, or dry yeast, you're probably fine!
 
I pitched enough slurry based on my calculations. I'm more worried about how the how the carboy looks stratified between wort (top) and grains. It's confusing to me because it looks like the carboy is half full of grain/slurry and only has about a gallon of wort on top. It was not such a sludge when I transferred it.

This is the beer with the biggest grain bill for me so far and maybe I am just seeing the grain sticking to the sides. It just looks weird to me.

Hopefully when I get home today it is going along fine.
 
I tried another bottle of mine last night after being bottles for a little over two weeks the coffee has mellowed a LOT. A week ago it was overpowering bit now it's starting to blend into the base stout and becoming really good. I think another couple weeks and it will be excellent.
 
Pyg said:
Considering same method for second addition .
Jut surprised how little coffee aroma I smelled and that this is 2 oz of weight
View attachment 312187
Click to expand...

Are you using ground coffee, whole bean, cold brewed? What type of coffee, Sumatra, kona, ethopian, etc?

I don't get a big coffee aroma but taste wise its there, not hidden, not a note of coffee, it's present but starting to blend nicely. At first it was very prominent, almost too earthy like, but after a few weeks its coming together.
 
bolus14 said:
Are you using ground coffee, whole bean, cold brewed? What type of coffee, Sumatra, kona, ethopian, etc?

I don't get a big coffee aroma but taste wise its there, not hidden, not a note of coffee, it's present but starting to blend nicely. At first it was very prominent, almost too earthy like, but after a few weeks its coming together.
Click to expand...


1st addition- ground Sumatra, brewed on stove top.

2nd addition - ground Kona. Most likely brewed on stove top
 
Eiffel said:
I pitched enough slurry based on my calculations. I'm more worried about how the how the carboy looks stratified between wort (top) and grains. It's confusing to me because it looks like the carboy is half full of grain/slurry and only has about a gallon of wort on top. It was not such a sludge when I transferred it.

This is the beer with the biggest grain bill for me so far and maybe I am just seeing the grain sticking to the sides. It just looks weird to me.

Hopefully when I get home today it is going along fine.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry too much, beer always seems to do weird stuff, looks wise, when getting fermentation going. Give it a day or two and hopefully it starts to kick off. A little grain will just settle out in the fermentation.
 
Pyg said:
1st addition- ground Sumatra, brewed on stove top.

2nd addition - ground Kona. Most likely brewed on stove top
Click to expand...

I did mine as a steep at the end, in my hop sack, then did the final at bottling as cold brew in a $6 french press, as I have all my other coffee beers.

Popped my first bottle last night, and while undercarbed, I can tell it's going to be a winner. I may not even mess with the hops next time, I shot for 60IBUs
 
christyle said:
I did mine as a steep at the end, in my hop sack, then did the final at bottling as cold brew in a $6 french press, as I have all my other coffee beers.



Popped my first bottle last night, and while undercarbed, I can tell it's going to be a winner. I may not even mess with the hops next time, I shot for 60IBUs
Click to expand...


What hop schedule did you use?

I am thinking of French press for second coffee addition. However while reading up on coffee a lot of people indicated you can get same effect by brewing on stove top and filtering.
Not sure how accurate this is, but if it is on the Interwebs it has to be true!
 
I can't remember my hop schedule, i'd have to go look at my notes, but I just upped the given schedule to hit 60 IBUs, mostly through early additions.

From everything I've gathered on here, cold brewing gets a nice coffee flavor without the astringency and bitterness of "normal" hot brewing.
 

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