Looking for advice for adding oak cubes, vanilla beans, and coffee to imperial stout

[CaptainAugee]

Hi all,

I was going to make an 5.5 gallon all-grain batch imperial stout recipe I found on an old forum post, but I was wanting to add some more flavors to it in secondary and I needed some advice on balancing them. What I'm shooting for is a mimicry of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout.

Here's the base recipe, adjusted to 5.5 gallons

Grain Bill
14.00 lbs. / Pale Malt(2-row) / UK
1.00 lbs. / Crystal 120L / UK
0.50 lbs. / Chocolate Malt / UK
0.25 lbs. / Black Patent Malt / UK
0.25 lbs. / Wheat Malt / US
0.50 lbs. / Roasted Barley / UK

Hops
1.50 oz. Magnum Whole, 60 min.
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole, 10 min.
0.75 oz. Centennial Whole, 0 min.

Yeast
White Labs WLP001 California Ale, with 1.5 Liter Starter

Mash
Single Infusion Mash, ballpark of 1.3 quarts/lb grain
Saccharification Rest Temp : 154 for 60 min
Sparge Temp : 165 for 15 min

Fermentation
Primary: 2-3 weeks at 68
Secondary: 3-4 weeks at 68 with 2.5 oz bourbon-soaked oak cubes
Bottle Aging: 4 weeks-1 year (depending on how patient I am)

If you have anything to add to the above recipe, feel free to comment. My concern, though, was adding more flavors to the secondary. I was planning on adding 2.5 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon-soaked French oak cubes (after draining bourbon back to bottle), but I also wanted to add 1-2 vanilla beans (cut into thirds, innards included). At bottling, I wanted to incrementally add 16 oz of cold-brewed coffee on top of all that.

I was hoping to get advice on whether I have too much or too little of any one flavor with the wood, vanilla, or coffee. Also, I'd like to know if I need to prepare the vanilla beans somehow or consider adding coffee at a different time in the process; or am I just trying to add to many flavors. Any and all advice is welcome.

 

[mattjmac]

There's some good advice/discussion on what to do to attempt a KBS clone in this thread. Mine's 1 month into secondary. I'm hoping to bottle in time to enjoy at Christmas. Tasted great going into secondary. Good luck with your attempt.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/kbs-clone-recipe-zymurgy-185487/#post2182603

 

[hibbleton]

I just did this exact same thing (brewed an imperial stout then split it into oak/bourbon, vanilla, coffee, and lactose versions). Haven't tried any yet but if they turn out well I'll let you know the proportions I used.

 

[CaptainAugee]

There's some good advice/discussion on what to do to attempt a KBS clone in this thread. Mine's 1 month into secondary. I'm hoping to bottle in time to enjoy at Christmas. Tasted great going into secondary. Good luck with your attempt.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/kbs-clone-recipe-zymurgy-185487/#post2182603

Thanks for the link, I'll probably tone down the vanilla and add a bit of chocolate and oats.

 

[kanzimonson]

I made a Vanilla Coffee Porter that was great and a HUGE hit. I split two beans lengthwise, scraped out the goo, and then threw the goo and the bean shells into the secondary. No steaming or prep. I let it sit for 2 weeks and it had a very pronounced vanilla flavor. It was just the right amount I wanted, but I could see how someone else might want it toned down. Very complementary to the recipe.

As for the coffee, I took 12oz (weight) of columbian coffee grounds from a local roaster and cold steeped it in 1.5 qts water. In 24 hours, I strained it out, yielding 1qt of super strong coffee. I poured this in when I pitched my yeast. The coffee blended a lot with the dark malts, so it was hard to distinguish, especially as time went on, but just telling people it had coffee in it was worth it.

 

[sha0056]

sounds interesting. any tasting results yet?

 

[Nanilynn85]

Hi all,

I was going to make an 5.5 gallon all-grain batch imperial stout recipe I found on an old forum post, but I was wanting to add some more flavors to it in secondary and I needed some advice on balancing them. What I'm shooting for is a mimicry of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout.

Here's the base recipe, adjusted to 5.5 gallons

Grain Bill
14.00 lbs. / Pale Malt(2-row) / UK
1.00 lbs. / Crystal 120L / UK
0.50 lbs. / Chocolate Malt / UK
0.25 lbs. / Black Patent Malt / UK
0.25 lbs. / Wheat Malt / US
0.50 lbs. / Roasted Barley / UK

Hops
1.50 oz. Magnum Whole, 60 min.
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole, 10 min.
0.75 oz. Centennial Whole, 0 min.

Yeast
White Labs WLP001 California Ale, with 1.5 Liter Starter

Mash
Single Infusion Mash, ballpark of 1.3 quarts/lb grain
Saccharification Rest Temp : 154 for 60 min
Sparge Temp : 165 for 15 min

Fermentation
Primary: 2-3 weeks at 68
Secondary: 3-4 weeks at 68 with 2.5 oz bourbon-soaked oak cubes
Bottle Aging: 4 weeks-1 year (depending on how patient I am)

If you have anything to add to the above recipe, feel free to comment. My concern, though, was adding more flavors to the secondary. I was planning on adding 2.5 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon-soaked French oak cubes (after draining bourbon back to bottle), but I also wanted to add 1-2 vanilla beans (cut into thirds, innards included). At bottling, I wanted to incrementally add 16 oz of cold-brewed coffee on top of all that.

I was hoping to get advice on whether I have too much or too little of any one flavor with the wood, vanilla, or coffee. Also, I'd like to know if I need to prepare the vanilla beans somehow or consider adding coffee at a different time in the process; or am I just trying to add to many flavors. Any and all advice is welcome.

- With the vanilla beans, take the innards out, chop the pods, let them soak in vodka or bourbon for about a week and add to secondary. Id say start with a little, wait a week then taste and add more if needed until your taste is satisfied.