Sierra Nevada Variety Pack - $13

[Happywanderer]

Yep,

That time of year when grocery stores give steep discounts on booze. For the holidays. Because you can't get through the holidays without ... booze.

Picked up a 12-pack of Sierra Nevada ... had Porter, Coffee Stout, Pale Ale (of course), and Boomerang IPA.

The IPA is ... meh....

Everything else is great. Going to attempt to clone the coffee stout ... it was that good.

Also picked up a bottle of Cap'n and Crown Royal .... couldn't pass up the deals.

 

[Happywanderer]

Ok - so now I'm going to turn this in to a recipe thread.

Because tis strange. Apparently the Coffee Stout is a very limited run brew.

And apparently the website for Sierra Nevada has information from an old batch? My bottle says 6.9% ABV. The website claims 6.2% ...

Here's the website list o' ingredients for COFFEE stout (I love that Sierra Nevada does this btw... truly class nod to homebrewers)

YEAST Ale yeast
BITTERING HOPS Nugget
FINISHING HOPS Nugget
MALTS Two-row Pale, Caramel, Chocolate, Wheat, Brown
OTHER Cold brewed coffee, Lactose

ALCOHOL CONTENT 6.2% by volume
BEGINNING GRAVITY 15.3° plato
ENDING GRAVITY 4.9° plato
BITTERNESS UNITS 53

Here's the NORMAL stout
YEAST Ale yeast
BITTERING HOPS Bravo
FINISHING HOPS Cascade, Yakima Golding
MALTS Two-row Pale, Munich, Caramel, Carafa, Black, Chocolate & Roasted Barley

ALCOHOL CONTENT 5.8% by volume
BEGINNING GRAVITY 15.4° plato
ENDING GRAVITY 5.0° plato
BITTERNESS UNITS 50


So - I'm thinking of going with the website recipe for Coffee Stout and adding some additional grain to hit the 6.9% ABV ... there abouts. I also like the K.I.S.S. approach to hops in the Coffee Stout recipe.

My only question is the addition of lactose... Never worked with it before. When is it added and in what quantities?

And what Ale yeast do you think was used? I'm going to go with a UK or Irish most likely... Thoughts on WLP002 vs WLP004? I've got WYeast 1084 I've harvested as well...

 

[Brettomomyces]

And what Ale yeast do you think was used? I'm going to go with a UK or Irish most likely... Thoughts on WLP002 vs WLP004? I've got WYeast 1084 I've harvested as well...

I haven't had the beer yet...but it wasn't their normal house strain? wy 1056/wlp001

 

[Happywanderer]

I haven't had the beer yet...but it wasn't their normal house strain? wy 1056/wlp001

Not sure. I'd assume that, but have no way of knowing. I've banged together a preliminary recipe based on this list of ingredients. Gets me close anyway.

I posted up on Sierra Nevada's facebook page asking for a hint on the ingredient list for this specific batch of Coffee Stout. We'll see if they come back with anything different...

 

[grizzly2378]

I just picked up one of these packs this past weekend. I agree on the Boomerang...it's alright, but just not to my taste. The stout and porter were both good, though, and of course SNPA is a solid beer.

As for lactose, I'm brewing with it for the first time this weekend in a Left Hand Milk Stout clone. I'm using a pound with 10 minutes left in the boil. You could use a bit more or less, depending on how much sweetness you want.


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[grizzly2378]

I just picked up one of these packs this past weekend. I agree on the Boomerang...it's alright, but just not to my taste. The stout and porter were both good, though, and of course SNPA is a solid beer.

As for lactose, I'm brewing with it for the first time this weekend in a Left Hand Milk Stout clone. I'm using a pound with 10 minutes left in the boil. You could use a bit more or less, depending on how much sweetness you want. I might use less, maybe 1/2-3/4 lb, for the SN coffee stout...I don't remember it having the same level of sweetness as LH milk stout.


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[Zekk]

I read and brewed a clone of their Double Latte Milk Stout they brewed with Ninkasi, and the recipe looks very similar, just minus the wheat. I used WLP 004 because it's what I had on hand, but I'm sure 001, or 05 would work just fine.

 

[dozer5454]

How much coffee are you going to use. I really am looking forward to your tasting notes on this beer. As soon as I tried it I started thinking of ways to clone it.

 

[Happywanderer]

I'm thinking of adding about a liter of cold-brewed coffee to the bottling bucket mixed with the priming sugar....this should retain the maximum coffee aroma and flavor.


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[Zekk]

My current plan is to soak some espresso beans in vodka then dry hop with then, leaving out the vodka. I thin I'm only going to use 2-4 ounces of whole beans.