Imperial Brown with vanilla, cocoa and coffee beans

[thehaze]

Hello.

I want to brew an Imperial Brown Ale with vanilla, cocoa and coffee beans. I want the vanilla to be noticeable. I'm thinking the cocoa and coffee should be in the background.

85% English Maris Otter
5.0% English Crystal 160L
5.0% English Crystal 45L
2.5% English Crystal 60L
2.5% English Crystal 90L

+ a few vanilla beans *scraped and cut into small bits*+ 4 oz cocoa beans + 3 oz coffee beans * coarsely crushed* --- All soaked in some kind of spirit for a few days in the fridge

8% ABV
19 SRM
OG: 1.080
FG: 1.019

Do you think it would work or not? If you have some advice and experience you can and are willing to share, I would love to hear it.

PS: I can see almost all recipes include Chocolate malt. Besides the colout it can add, why would it be beneficial for a Brown?

Thank you for taking the time to read the thread.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

5% Crystal 160 will to have a strong influence (may be good, may be bad).

With crystal and roasted malts, there is the idea of a "harsh zone" (see http://beersmith.com/blog/2017/08/31/harsh-zone-crystal-and-colored-malts-in-beer-brewing/ for an overview starting point). Personally, I get a lot of burnt flavors when I chew on a couple of kernels of crystal malts above 80. I don't get those flavors when I chew on chocolate malts.

A good approach to adding flavorings (like vanilla) is to select (or "dial in") a good base recipe and then add flavors that complement the base recipe. So, if you like the base recipe (or can visualize it as a likeable recipe) and the additional flavors blend in (in your mind), it's likely to be a good recipe.

 

[thehaze]

I see... I cannot say I have experienced harsh flavours from any Crystal malts, even when more than 5% was used. I definitely can taste the roast when I use Chocolate malt. I used just a bit twice in two attempts to brew Red ales and that was not tasty. At least not for me. Much too roasty for a Red ale and have never used it since. I now only layer different Crystal malts and I get the result I like.

Would a Coffee malt work in this Brown? Something like http://www.castlemalting.com/Servic...ficationID=194&CropYear=2017&Language=English

It's only around 100L, so I think it could add some mild toasty/roasty notes, without being too much.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I now only layer different Crystal malts and I get the result I like..

In the end, enjoying the result is what matters.

 

[HopNutz]

I use some brown malt in mine. Adds a really nice "brown" flavour if that makes sense

 

[thehaze]

Brewed this on Nov. 3, 2018 and bottled on Nov. 20. Final recipe:

61% Vienna
18% Maris Otter
9% English Crystal 45L
6% English Brown
3% English Crystal 100L
3% English Pale Chocolate

OG: 1.082
FG: 1.021
50 IBU
8% ABV / Final beer pH: 4.2

Bottled 6.1 gallons on 20 Nov. 2018

8 days on 3.5 oz Organic Peru coffee ( coarsely crushed ), 4.5 organic cocoa beans ( toasted and coarsely crushed ), 1.1 lbs lactose and 3 vanilla pods scraped and cut in small pieces.

Aroma and tasting notes at bottling: light toasted/roasted malt, some sweetness, smooth mouthfeel, the lactose adds body and smoothness.