Founders Oatmeal Chocolate/coffee stout..

[snailsongs]

This is exactly my issue with the head retention. I don't own a press, so just tossed the coffee in. If I make it again sometime I think I'll come up with another way to add the coffee. Anyone have an opinion on adding a little carapils to the grain bill to help with the head?

I just put another bottle in the fridge, so I'll taste sample #2 later on tonight.

Actually I don't own a press either. I'm going to place the prescribed amounts of water/course ground coffee beans in a container in the fridge for 24 hours, then strain through a coffee filter. I got that idea from a thread on HBT, but I can't remember where.

 

[dstar26t]

There's a discrepancy in the recipes. Dubbeldach's "adjusted" recipe is closer to the mark than the BYO with 8.3% ABV and 25-30 IBUs.

If you check their website again, they've moved the bitterness up to 60 IBU since that post. After tasting mine @ 25, it really should be up closer to 60.

 

[Mad_Milo]

It really depends on what version of FBS you compare to. If you are tasting with 2008's vintage, yes it should be more bitter.

However, the older and smaller batches from 2007 and before weren't as hop-bitter as the latest. They really let the coffee and chocolates shine through.

 

[Aubie Stout]

This recipe calls for a mash temp of 155. Every other RIS recipe has a relatively low mash temp 146-150. Gonna make this tomorrow and wanted some clarification. Throwing it on top on a Safale-05 yeast cake from a lawn mower beer I just finished.

 

[Mad_Milo]

I followed Dubbel's recipe, including the 155°F mash spec'ed by both. This beer does well with a thicker body to support the intense coffee and chocolate flavors. It is a chewier beer, but the oatmeal really makes it silky.

 

[dstar26t]

Yes it is nice with a thicker body but I don't think anyone that tried this recipe got it to finish at 1.020. I mashed at 150F and only got 71% attenuation, 1.087 down to 1.024 (which is too thick IMO). I think the chocolate screws with the gravity since I've done 2 other stouts with chocolate and had the same problem. I will mash at 148 next time and even add corn sugar to the primary after fermentation to thin it out if needed.

 

[Aubie Stout]

I ended up with 5.5 gallons instead of 5 gallons. Oh well, OG: 1.076. Mashed at 148 for 75mins. Pitched on top of Safale-05 cake from a lawnmower beer.


Will advise.

 

[Aubie Stout]

Three days and it's gone from 1.076 to 1.016. ABV 7.85 and right at 80% attenuation. The lower mash temps make this a little less chewy than the higher temps, but it was the only way I could get it to finish near target. Might mash at 152 next time. Gonna rack it over at the end of the week onto some more coffee and some more chocolate.

These will be going out for Christmas.

 

[BornInaHoller]

I couldn't find Cocoa nibs anywhere. I bought semi-sweet bakers chocolate and unsweetened bakers chocolate. Does anyone see a problem with substituting the unsweetened bakers chocolate for the nibs?

 

[Aubie Stout]

Transferred to secondary. Still have little bits of chocolate floating around in there. Crash cooled the carboy and they still haven't settled out. Anyone else have that problem?

Tastes fantastic BTW.......

 

[STB]

Tried it. Two months in bottle before it mellowed out. More chocolate hints when it comes up to cellar temp from fridge temp. Much better at cellar temp.

 

[thejerk]

Okay, I am getting ready to brew this. I think. I figure if I brew it now it will be ready for the first giant snowstorm of the coming winter.
I have tried this beer once and loved it. However, I am a bit concerned about the alcohol. I am one of those guys who always wants to make a beer a little more sessionable. I believe a beer should be able to be great without getting my blitzed after one glass. I want to be able to actually drink a couple of these at 7 am and still be able to function for the rest of the day. I take the title "Breakfast Stout" literally. I love a good breakfast beer.
I am thinking of toning the OG down to around 1.65. Any thoughts on this? Will it still end up around 1.020 FG if I mash at 152 with that OG? I hope it to be big enough to stand up to the coffee and cocoa but not too big to get me wasted too quickly. I would love y'alls feedback on this.
I have decided to add the coffee in the secondary after a cold extraction. I am still not sure on how to do the cocoa, however. What deviations have people taken from the instructions, and what kind of results have been seen, either in this beer or in other dark beers with chocolate? I want a big head, and don't want the oils and fats to kill it.
Thanks and Ninkasi bless,
Andy

 

[Grinder12000]

Yea - I tried this beer this weekend for the 1st time - NEXT weekend I'm brewing it. had to search old BYO mags to find the recipe before I saw it here.

Sounds like the recipe is getting god reviews.

 

[Flash]

I'm pretty stoked to give this a whirl on my brewday Wednesday. I've only had past flavor success with using nibs only in secondary, so for flameout I'll add unsweetened and semi-sweet baker's chocolate and hold off on nibs until secondary again.

I cold pressed the coffee for flameout, and will do the same for secondary.

I've read differing primary times here. A few days to three weeks. Really? Is there that much discrepancy batch to batch? I have about a liter of WLP001 starter so far. I'll probably step it up one more time tomorrow before Wednesday and use the Yeast Nutrient also.

Can't wait to brew this one. Been on my "brewing queue" for a while now.

Cheers!
Flash

 

[GIusedtoBe]

I ask because Muntons Roasted Barley and Chocolate malt are darker than the recipe is specifying (avg of 519°L & 387°L respectfully). Briess Chocolate Malt is dead on at 350°L but their Roasted Barley is only 300°L. I wonder what the author used?

Wow this thread has legs! If the author means me I really can't remember (had a few) but I posted it earlier in this thread. Right now I am enjoying one of my "Founders" clones right now and I would rank this right up there with one of my best. i believe if memory serves and sometimes it does'nt, i used Briess. This is an incedibly complex stout and IMO one of the best I've ever tried. (never had the original) Sorry for the ramble but if you like stouts then this one is a definite must.

Regards,
Alan

 

[GIusedtoBe]

I couldn't find Cocoa nibs anywhere. I bought semi-sweet bakers chocolate and unsweetened bakers chocolate. Does anyone see a problem with substituting the unsweetened bakers chocolate for the nibs?

Thats what I used w/ no probs. Good Luck!

Where are you located in TN?

Regards,
Alan

 

[GIusedtoBe]

Transferred to secondary. Still have little bits of chocolate floating around in there. Crash cooled the carboy and they still haven't settled out. Anyone else have that problem?

Tastes fantastic BTW.......

Hey Aubie, I did'nt have that problem but then I put mine in at flameout and it melted and then the residue dropped to the bottom of the fermenter. Hey my Bro lives in B'ham. I'd love to swap one of mine for one of yours to see how they differed. Do you attend Auburn games? Are you going to the UT game? I live in Lenoir City which is just outside of Knoxville and I will be pulling for Auburn in that one. If you are coming up we can swap a few home brews and compare. We will be on the same page at least for one week as I will be pulling for Aub in that one.

Roll Tide
Alan

 

[thejerk]

So has anybody who has brewed this beer gotten good results with head yet?

 

[Mad_Milo]

The beer was too strong for my wife, so the answer would be no.

But seriously, from a keg I would get a small head that would dissipate quickly. If I just cracked the tap at the end of the pour, I could put a decent head on it that would last half way through drinking the snifter.

 

[adamjab19]

I brewed up a version of this. I was too high on my mash temp. and apparently added too much cold water because at the end of the mash I was down to about 145*F!!! Add half gallon of boiling water to boost the temp the last 15 minutes and sparged very slowly. But I hit my 75% efficiency...just worried about the lack of chewiness. Going to use s-04 yeast instead now also to maintain some maltiness since I may have a more fermentable wort.

 

[DubbelDach]

Just brewed a variant of this...

Vanilla Latte Stout

14 lbs. American 2-row
1 lbs. American Chocolate Malt
12 oz. Roasted Barley
9 oz. American Black Patent
7 oz. Crystal Malt 120°L
22 oz. Oats Flaked

.5 oz. Nugget (Whole, 13.00 %AA) boiled 60 min.
.5 oz. Mt. Hood (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 30 min.
.5 oz. Mt. Hood (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 2 min.

Safale S-04 Top Quality Ale Yeast

2 oz. Breakfast Blend coffee - cold pressed and added at kegging
2 Madagascar vanilla beans, split & stripped, steeped in vodka and added at kegging

Original Gravity 1.081
Terminal Gravity 1.022
Color 36.17 °SRM
Bitterness 30.7 IBU
Alcohol (%volume) 7.8 %

Commissioned to do this for an October 3rd wedding. They wanted a sneaky high alcohol pantydropper.

Starbucks + high alcohol = dropped panties. It's science.

 

[Aubie Stout]

Hey Aubie, I did'nt have that problem but then I put mine in at flameout and it melted and then the residue dropped to the bottom of the fermenter. Hey my Bro lives in B'ham. I'd love to swap one of mine for one of yours to see how they differed. Do you attend Auburn games? Are you going to the UT game? I live in Lenoir City which is just outside of Knoxville and I will be pulling for Auburn in that one. If you are coming up we can swap a few home brews and compare. We will be on the same page at least for one week as I will be pulling for Aub in that one.

Roll Tide
Alan

Bottled mine today. Taste a lot of coffee with a hint of chocolate and a slight alcohol burn in the finish. Gonna age this one till December.


I usually try and take the kids to a low impact non-SEC game (read lack of drunks). Doubt the UT game makes the list! ROFLMAO!!!!

 

[adamjab19]

Mine is really good! Nice tan head that dissapears after about 5 minutes but has good lacing. Nice coffee aroma. Missing the chocolate still. Not that I was expecting actual chocolate taste because even in the original it just rounds out the flavors really. I followed the coca nibs amount from the original recipe. I slightly tweaked other amounts and types of grains as well.


I'll give it a few more weeks in the bottle to see if different flavors come through.

One thing to note. Just buy decent medium body coffee if you can't find sumatra or kona. It's not like I can taste the fine notes of the kona coffee in such a strong base beer anyway. And cold press is absolutely the way to go!

 

[CoalCracker]

I am very interested in brewing this. However, I am a newb and will need this in an extract recipe. Does anyone know where I can find this? Or, an extract chocolate coffee stout in general. Everything seems to be all grain..

Thanks,
Brent

 

[adamjab19]

http://www.byo.com/stories/recipes/...ounders-brewing-company-breakfast-stout-clone

Good luck!

 

[D_BLOCK]

Hi All,

Great thread, the recipe looks awesome. I am about to brew the extract version of this recipe and I have a few quick questions:

Based on reading some other threads I am going to use 100% cocoa powder or Dutch process chocolate instead of the baking chocolate. The reason being that I don't want oils from the cacao butter in baking chocolate to affect head retention.

Also, a few other recipes I've seen for chocolate stouts include some lactose (unfermentable sugar) to counter the bitterness of the cocoa and coffee. Is this something I should do, or do the flaked oats provide some sweetness?

Thanks All!

 

[Mad_Milo]

The only thing I've experienced with cocoa powder is that it settles out slowly. I did a Chocolate Cherry Stout last year, and remember more sludge than usual in the bottles.

The head retention issue is really only cosmetic.

 

[DubbelDach]

One thing to note. Just buy decent medium body coffee if you can't find sumatra or kona. It's not like I can taste the fine notes of the kona coffee in such a strong base beer anyway. And cold press is absolutely the way to go!

Agreed! I just did some using Starbuck's Breakfast Blend (whole beans that I put in a ziploc and smashed on the garage floor with a rubber mallet... FUN!!! :rockin: ) that I cold brewed overnight. I need a bigger French press though, because I love putting coffee in stouts!

 

[D_BLOCK]

Thanks Mad Milo... so you think it would be better if I just melted a baking chocolate bar in at burnout because it will settle out better? I'm just throwing all the ingredients (nibs, coffe) in there raw-dog so sludge build-up may be an issue.

 

[MultumInParvo]

Wow, I just read through all of this. I have been a fan of Founder's Breakfast Stout since I tried it early this summer. I am certainly going to have to give this a try.

Thanks for all of the advice everyone.