Winter Pick-Me-Up Coffee Stout Critique

[mrphillips]

5 gallons - mash @ 154 - 60 min. boil
Predicted OG - 1.072
Predicted FG - 1.012


GRAINS/FERMENTABLES

7 lbs. extra light DME
2 lbs. roasted barley
1 lb. crystal 80
1 lb. crystal 40

2oz vanilla extract
4 cups cold brewed coffee

HOPS
1 oz. Warrior @ FWH (first wort hop)
.5 oz. Warrior @ 30 min.

YEAST
S-05



Thoughts? I've only made one coffee beer before...my first batch EVER...so it wasn't as good as it could be. Any experience is welcomed.

Also, I need a name for this beast.

 

[JosephN]

Take this with just my limited experience, 10 batches in, but that seems like a lot of roasted barley. Most recipes I've seen have it listed in oz not lbs. I just brewed 6 gallons of an oatmeal stout, a Jamil Recipe, and it called for 1oz. Sweetwaters Happy Ending has 3oz in a 6 gallon batch. I think you'll get wayyy to much burnt flavor than you're hoping for. The crystal should be fine, maybe a tad heavy but shouldn't be bad. Personally I might look at adding some victory in your steeping, steep it for like 30 mins at 154F, in place of all that roasted barley. I also didn't have time to plug this into my calculator to see what amount you would need. Anyways let me know how it goes and what you come up with. I do like "pick me up" coffee stout.

 

[m00ps]

agreed, I wouldnt go over 1lb roasted barley. Maybe do 1lb of it and like 1/2 lb chocolate or pale chocolate. Better yet, get some coffee kiln malt. Would fit you desired flavor profile very well.

I also think that too much crystal malts. This will produce a very sweet stout. Much more sweet than I think you realize. I would go 1.5lbs crystal at max. You could add some munich or somethign if you want some more malt flavors

I have had best results adding whole coffee beans (from a freshly opend package for sanitary reasons) directly into the primary. Ive done 7-8 coffee-based beers and Ive found that flameout additions and even cold steeping tends to produce a coffee character that doesnt last as long and becomes harsh and acrid as the beer ages

 

[JosephN]

I have had best results adding whole coffee beans (from a freshly opend package for sanitary reasons) directly into the primary. Ive done 7-8 coffee-based beers and Ive found that flameout additions and even cold steeping tends to produce a coffee character that doesnt last as long and becomes harsh and acrid as the beer ages

Forgive my ignorance, but even if you drop in fresh whole beans from a freshly opened package, wouldn't there still be bacteria on those beans? From what I gather there is bacteria on everything we touch, now maybe it's not the type o bacteria that we are trying to avoid or what do you think? I have just leaned on the side of caution by sanitizing everything, some by boiling and some by baking.

What are your thoughts?

 

[mrphillips]

Good bean question. I was wondering the same thing in regards to cold brewing. Even if I sanitize the jar, water, and filter, wouldn't the coffee still be "contaminated"?

 

[TwistedHops]

This will help

https://byo.com/mead/item/315-brewing-with-coffee

 

[JosephN]

I read that article and it still didn't talk much about sanitation of the coffee bean. Is there someone that has an opinion of experience on this topic of how to sanitize fresh whole or crushed coffee beans before adding, of even if you need to?

 

[m00ps]

hmmm...never thought of it that way. I just figured any wild contaminants would be taken care of during the roasting process of the beans and I just ignorantly trusted the packaging process would be more or less clean.

But on the other hand, Ive added 3-4oz of coffee to 4 different batches so far suing this method without contamination...

 

[JosephN]

hmmm...never thought of it that way. I just figured any wild contaminants would be taken care of during the roasting process of the beans and I just ignorantly trusted the packaging process would be more or less clean.

But on the other hand, Ive added 3-4oz of coffee to 4 different batches so far suing this method without contamination...

I don't know how long after roasting the beans that they package them and if bacteria is carried through contact or on dust through the air there might be a great possibility that some gets on it. Think about this, if a worker uses gloves and tools to move the roasted beans from a sheet to something else or if it's automated and the machine is open to some kind of air flow then bacteria is gonna be all over it.

I kind of wonder about that stuff that is used to cut back on the foam during your boil, ferm something. It's in a little blue bottle. I wonder if that could get bacteria in it when you pull it out to use it and contaminate the bottle. Anyways it's just those little details that I wonder about sometimes.

 

[Calder]

There is no moisture or nutrients to support bacterial growth. There may be small amouts on the surface, but no need to worry about it; the alcohol is more than adequate protection. Just toss in whole beans and be done with it.

 

[WarrynPeace]

Firstly I agree with cutting the roasted barley in half and adding some chocolate. Lastly, I recently listened the a basic brewing radio episode where they talked about adding coffee. The method they suggested was adding 4oz of whole bean in the secondary for no more than 24 hours. They did not get into sanitation, but it seemed they just took roasted beans, put them in a hop bag and tossed into the secondary....

 

[mrphillips]

Great advise all around. Here's my critique


7 lbs. extra light dme
1 lb. roasted barley
1 lb. chocolate malt
1.5 lbs. crystal 80

1.5 oz northern brewer hops @ 60
1 oz northern brewer hops @ 30

S-05 yeast

 

[TwistedHops]

There is no moisture or nutrients to support bacterial growth. There may be small amouts on the surface, but no need to worry about it; the alcohol is more than adequate protection. Just toss in whole beans and be done with it.

True, or a flame out addition if you're paranoid.

 

[JosephN]

There is no moisture or nutrients to support bacterial growth. There may be small amouts on the surface, but no need to worry about it; the alcohol is more than adequate protection. Just toss in whole beans and be done with it.

I just roasted and added some coco nibs to a batch of mine, similar to coffee beans, and I think I "MIGHT" have an infection. It's either an infection or I roused the yeast again and leaving it out at 74-75F caused it to kick up a new krausen again. It looked super funky, but might not be an infection. Why would people suggest soaking coco nibs in vodka for two weeks if they couldn't really hold bacteria growth, and I know we are talking about coffee but it's very similar? Anyways it's just something to ponder. Oh and according to a local "wild yeast" culture company you can have an infection at any point totally invalidating the idea of alcohol being able to take care of whatever infectious bacteria you might encounter.

If I'm wrong about any of this please help me to correct it. Thank you all for this dialogue.