Recipe Help - Café au Lait Stout

[cottagebrews]

Hey all,

I recently moved to New Orleans and I'd like to brew something that brings together three of this city's great loves: café au lait, coffee with chicory, and alcohol. I've devised a recipe that's meant to split the difference between a coffee stout and a milk stout, with the coffee addition being made from the local blend of coffee and chicory. I'd love to get some feedback from the more experienced before going ahead with a boil!

I read a description of Crystal hops and they sounded interesting. If they're hard to come by or people think I should sub something else, please let me know.

Thanks!

Evening Call - New Orleans Café au Lait Stout

OG: 1.070; FG: 1.026; Est. ABV: 5.78%; Est. IBU: 19.8; SRM: 37.01


7 lb. extra light DME
12 oz. lactose

12 oz. chocolate malt
6 oz. caramel malt 120 L
6 oz. de-bittered black malt
4 oz. flaked barley
8 oz. rolled oats, toasted

1.0 oz. Fuggles (4.5% AA), 60 minutes
0.5 oz. Crystal (4.2% AA), 30 minutes
0.5 oz. Fuggles (4.5% AA), 30 minutes
0.5 oz. Crystal (4.2% AA), 10 minutes
0.5 oz. Fuggles (4.5% AA), 10 minutes

Irish moss, 10 minutes

2 oz. ground coffee and chicory, cold brewed in 8 oz. water & filtered; at flameout
2 oz. ground coffee and chicory, cold brewed in 8 oz. water & filtered; secondary

WYeast 1469, West Yorkshire Ale

 

[cottagebrews]

I haven't had any comments on this beer, but a lot of people have looked at the recipe. For the sake of those who are interested, here's a brief update.

I brewed this as above on 12/13, but upped the lactose to a full pound and cut the amount of coffee and chicory to 1 oz. per cup of water instead of two. The latter change was to account for the fact that you use 1/2 as much coffee and chicory as you do normal coffee--a fact I forgot to take account of when I first worked this up.

Yield was greater than expected, and I had to split the wort into two primaries to prevent a krausen explosion.

I stole a taste of each when I transferred to secondary, and was extremely pleased with how this has turned out so far. The batch stored in the kitchen had more fruity esters and a sharper alcohol bite; the one stored in the bathroom was mellower and sweeter. The roasted malt flavors are good so far, and should develop nicely with more time. The lactose is about where it should be for the flavor and texture I wanted.

I was surprised to find that the coffee flavor didn't fade much during fermentation, and that the chicory flavor in particular remains very pronounced. Before adding any additional coffee to secondary, I'm going to let fermentation finish and do another taste test. I may be able to let this go without any further additions.

When I have more to report I'll post another update.

 

[cottagebrews]

UPDATE:

I did a gravity reading and stole a taste two weeks in a row. The first one had a *lot* of fruity esters, so I decided to hold off on bottling and further coffee additions. One week later, these had faded slightly; I'm hoping they will continue to do so as the beer conditions after bottling.

My attenuation continues to be markedly higher than anticipated (what can I say? I must be blessed!). FG settled out at 1.020, making this drier and more alcoholic than anticipated. The coffee and chicory flavor did finally begin to fade, so I added another 1/2 oz. of coffee-and-chicory cold brewed in 4 oz. of water.

I'll be bottling as soon as I find the time, and will report back with an initial taste-test after everything has carbed up.