Clone Beer Founder's Breakfast Stout Clone

[brewski09]

Thank you. I was very surprised and happy that it placed at both competitors. I put the port in along with the chips. So I was disappointed that the port flavor faded.

I did a Kate inspired stout 2 years ago and I think I calculated 1tsp port added per bottle from info on the Kate thread here (bourbon was 1 Tbsp added per bottle from what people were telling me). I moved across country so it didn't get aged more than a few months but it was great when we moved.

 

[distributistdad]

I just want to add my 2 cents on this one. My father-in-law, brother-in-law and I brewed a 15 gallon batch of this, followed the recipe to a "T" except used Trader Joe's "Joe" for the ground coffee, rather than Sumatra.

We've had it bottled for about a year now and have done several side by sides with different friends with the real thing and I've never had anyone say they preferred Founder's in a side by side taste test .

They are almost identical, the homebrew, I think, has just a touch more coffee flavor than the Founders does. Overall, this is just a fantastic recipe and we want to pass many, many thanks to the OP and others that contributed to the discussion here. Great beer! Brew it, ASAP!

 

[eman14]

Sooo...I brewed a 2.5 gal batch but forgot to half the chocolate and coffee additions. Am I screwed???

 

[Hoppity]

I doubt it. You could always cut it w/something tamer if you find the additions overpowering.

 

[eman14]

I doubt it. You could always cut it w/something tamer if you find the additions overpowering.

What do you suggest?

 

[applescrap]

Sooo...I brewed a 2.5 gal batch but forgot to half the chocolate and coffee additions. Am I screwed???

Let us know how it turns out. Screwed? i seriously doubt it. It could use a little more chocolate flavor anyways

 

[xCSx]

Brewing a 3 Gallon BIAB of this clone, this upcoming weekend

 

[Hoppity]

What do you suggest?

A straight Stout or make a black and tan

 

[xCSx]

Brewing a 3 Gallon BIAB of this clone, this upcoming weekend

pre boil i hit around only 1.07ish

 

[xCSx]

I've never seen an airlock go so rapidly.

 

[eman14]

I've never seen an airlock go so rapidly.

Haha I agree...I wonder why. I have never seen bubbles gushing out of my airlock before.

 

[stjimmyjos]

Is it good to use normal chocolate - for example Lindt 70% chocolate bar instead baking chocolate?

 

[Hoppity]

I've read elsewhere some of the additives are oils or fats or something that may inhibit head creation/retention. Made a double batch yesterday and used 100% Cacao Powder (Hershey's) and a bittersweet 100% baking bar.

 

[stjimmyjos]

According what i've read in thread this clone doesn't have big head. So if I don't bother about retention, I can use normal chocolate?

 

[bolus14]

There's preservatives in some chocolate so you'll want to ensure those won't effect the yeast if you go that route.

 

[Hoppity]

According what i've read in thread this clone doesn't have big head. So if I don't bother about retention, I can use normal chocolate?

I've never had problems with head using this recipe.

 

[applescrap]

I used bakers chocolate and cocoa powder 2x. Has quickly disappearing head.

 

[stjimmyjos]

How do you sanitize coffee, when doing a cold brew? Do you put coffee straight in cold, boiled water or do you put coffee in warm water (158 F?)

 

[TwistedHops]

How do you sanitize coffee, when doing a cold brew? Do you put coffee straight in cold, boiled water or do you put coffee in warm water (158 F?)

You can boil the water to sanitize it, then cool it to cold brew

 

[bolus14]

Everytime I've added coffee I have either just cold brewed the night before in a sealed container then poured into the fermenter/bottling bucket, or I have added whole beans right into the fermenter. At the point you're adding it there's enough alcohol to kill most wild yeast or bacteria. So, if you're using cold brewed just add to the fermenter and seal it up, or add to your.bottlong bucket or keg and rack on top of it.

 

[stjimmyjos]

Everytime I've added coffee I have either just cold brewed the night before in a sealed container then poured into the fermenter/bottling bucket, or I have added whole beans right into the fermenter. At the point you're adding it there's enough alcohol to kill most wild yeast or bacteria. So, if you're using cold brewed just add to the fermenter and seal it up, or add to your.bottlong bucket or keg and rack on top of it.

When you are adding coffee do you strain the coffee from grounds (by strainer or nylon stocking?) or just put whole thing in?
Also part of beer i'm planning to add with oak chips soaked in bourbon, with coffee, chocolate nibs and maybe maple syrup added

 

[bolus14]

If your cold brewing then yes you filter the grounds out and just use the coffee/liquid, no grounds should be poured in. If you're using whole beans then just pour the beans in and rack on top if your transferring to a different fermenter. I just pour the beans into the fermenter that the beer is currently in.
I have found that 2 days of 4oz of beans gives a noticeable coffee aroma and flavor. 3-4 days and the coffee is much more pronounced, basically the coffee takes the lead and specialty grains take a background role. I have only used coffee in a couple porters and stouts all over 7%, so if you use beans in something with a lower abv or less dark grains the timing will likely be less to make an impact.

 

[stjimmyjos]

If your cold brewing then yes you filter the grounds out and just use the coffee/liquid, no grounds should be poured in. If you're using whole beans then just pour the beans in and rack on top if your transferring to a different fermenter. I just pour the beans into the fermenter that the beer is currently in.
I have found that 2 days of 4oz of beans gives a noticeable coffee aroma and flavor. 3-4 days and the coffee is much more pronounced, basically the coffee takes the lead and specialty grains take a background role. I have only used coffee in a couple porters and stouts all over 7%, so if you use beans in something with a lower abv or less dark grains the timing will likely be less to make an impact.

to part of beer i add cold brewed coffee. To the second part (around 5-6 liters) i add soaked coffee beans in bourbon with rest of spices, for 2 weeks on secondary.

For 2 oz. of coffee i should add around 8-9 oz. of water to cold-brew?

 

[MMJfan]

How do you sanitize coffee, when doing a cold brew? Do you put coffee straight in cold, boiled water or do you put coffee in warm water (158 F?)

I use a French Press to cold brew my coffee. I don't even bother boiling the water. I just add about a liter of water to the ground coffee and put the French Press in the fridge overnight and then add it to my bottling bucket at bottling...

 

[grv]

Wow, there are a lot of pages on this one. I read through the first two and last 8 or so. Just wondering, when people are posting recently that the recipe compares favorably with the Founder's version, are they generally talking about the recipe in the OP? There were some variations discussed later, as often happens in these threads.

Sounds like Founders adjusted something at some point, and their version you'd buy today really does have in the neighborhood of 60 IBUs. That's a long way north from the number in the OP recipe...

I know the goal isn't necessarily always to make a spot on clone, but with about 30 IBUs difference, I want to see what the recent favorable comments are in relation to.

Thanks!

 

[ratinator]

Im gonna make this soon, going to use all nugget hops (ive had alot of success with them) and hitting the 60 IBU and 8.3%abv thats on the founders website 1oz @60 and 1oz @30. I will be using 4oz of cocoa nibs in secondary and no bakers chocolate due to the fat content. As far as the coffee a local brewery just put out a coffee beer stating that they dry hopped with the ground coffee beans so I will be taking this approach and dry hopping 4oz of coffee which is essientally cold brewing and will avoid the bitterness. Going to use a very large hop sock and hang the coffee in the secondary with the nibs. Will also be using safale s-05 yeast like the original byo one does

 

[Brew-Dog]

Has anyone ever infected their beer by adding coffee beans like a dry hop or adding cold steeped coffee post fermentation?

 

[bolus14]

I've done 4 or 5 batches and haven't had a problem. I get my beams from a local coffee shop that roasts their own beans. They scoop them buckets into 2oz sleeves, I bring them home and pour into the fermenter.

 

[applescrap]

I used starbucks cold pressed at kegging. I did not have much luck dry hopping grounds. I think I left them in to long. If you dry hop coffee I think 2 or 3 days max for ground coffee anyways. I used 16oz starbucks cold press straight. They normally mix it with ice. Cool of them really to give me what I needed. They sanatize their stuff I think. Or at least I kind of pressed them on sanitation processes and felt assured.

 

[jammin]

I used starbucks cold pressed at kegging. I did not have much luck dry hopping grounds. I think I left them in to long. If you dry hop coffee I think 2 or 3 days max for ground coffee anyways. I used 16oz starbucks cold press straight. They normally mix it with ice. Cool of them really to give me what I needed. They sanatize their stuff I think. Or at least I kind of pressed them on sanitation processes and felt assured.

Can you describe the taste & how you like it?

Any idea how many grams/oz's of grounds they used in the 16oz drink you bought?

 

[applescrap]

^^sure, wasnt roasting my own then and now would cold press my own. But taste was exactly what one would want in coffee stout from first sip to last. No harshness, no bitterness from overly long dry hop, just good coffee flavor. Well starbucks coffee flavor that is, not the good stuff we roast.
I do have an idea of oz of grounds. They actually showed me the recipe. Its been awhile now so I will have to recheck but it was plenty of coffee. More than the 2tbl spoons per 5oz or so for hot coffee that they use, if I recall. If I remember correctly it equaled very close to 2oz recipe called for. Haha found the original post from that thread i started on using their cold brew coffee.....i hope you arent angling to rough me up too much. I was in a hurry and thought it was a clever easy idea at the time.

Today I wanted to Rack my beer but hadn't had the time to buy the coffee or cold brew it. I saw a commercial somewhere for Starbucks cold-brewed coffee and it got me thinking. I called them and they said they cold brewed for 20 hours. Recipe is 5 pounds of coffee for 14 liters. So doing a little math I came up with around two and a half ounces for 16 ounces cold-brewed coffee; which is what I wanted to use exactly. I grilled them about their Sanitation and once was pleased bought the coffee. Cost $4 and I figured two and a half ounces of their coffee would cost $2 , so a little price hike. Anyways welcome thoughts, ideas, comments and critique?

 

[brewski09]

Just curious if anyone has tried via packs for coffee additions in the keg or at bottling. Seems like it would work in theory.

 

[applescrap]

^^i agree they would work great but like anything the better the coffee the better the coffee stout.

 

[smalloy88]

Does anyone toast their oats a few days before brew day? Or just throw the flaked oats in with the rest of the mash?

 

[Carlscan26]

Does anyone toast their oats a few days before brew day? Or just throw the flaked oats in with the rest of the mash?

I haven't toasted the oats but I have recently done a batch where we toasted the cacao nibs. Definitely worth doing.

 

[smalloy88]

Interesting! Do you toast the ones you're adding directly to the boil or the ones you add to secondary? Also, might be a dumb question but how do you toast cacao nibs without melting them? I don't have too much experience with them.

 

[Carlscan26]

We did the ones for the boil. Medium high heat. Constant movement. As soon as they started to smoke (really just a wisp) we pulled them off and put them into a room temp bowl. They won't melt. Really developed more of a nutty and dark chocolate taste. So far just the ones in the boil. We're debating what to do with the ones for secondary

 

[jageraholic]

Wow, there are a lot of pages on this one. I read through the first two and last 8 or so. Just wondering, when people are posting recently that the recipe compares favorably with the Founder's version, are they generally talking about the recipe in the OP? There were some variations discussed later, as often happens in these threads.

Sounds like Founders adjusted something at some point, and their version you'd buy today really does have in the neighborhood of 60 IBUs. That's a long way north from the number in the OP recipe...

I know the goal isn't necessarily always to make a spot on clone, but with about 30 IBUs difference, I want to see what the recent favorable comments are in relation to.

Thanks!

I brewed the BYO clone before which is adding coffee at flameout and the lower IBUs. I wouldn't add the coffee at flameout again as it can add acidity and bitterness, so I'd use hops to bump up my IBUs closer to 60 and just add the cold brewed coffee into secondary.

 

[Wiscohio_brewer]

Just brewed this yesterday. I read on a couple sites on how I should add the coffee and I decided to cool the wort to 200 and steep the coffee for 5 minutes and remove it. I melted the baking chocolate and added it right before the wort came to a boil. The wort smelled delicious with a faint smell of chocolate. I hope this process has some tasty results. Still debating on adding cacao nibs in the secondary.

 

[stjimmyjos]

Just brewed this yesterday. I read on a couple sites on how I should add the coffee and I decided to cool the wort to 200 and steep the coffee for 5 minutes and remove it. I melted the baking chocolate and added it right before the wort came to a boil. The wort smelled delicious with a faint smell of chocolate. I hope this process has some tasty results. Still debating on adding cacao nibs in the secondary.

I Split my batch and added to 5l on secondary around 10g Coffee, 50-70g cacao nibs, some bourbon oak chips soaked in bourbon and maple syrop - effect is most chocolate beer in smeel and flavour i have ever tasted